I've been working on many pouches lately and I thought it would be fun to write a tutorial for one of them. A few days ago I needed a small pouch that I could attach to my keys and this is what I came up with.
Pretty Little Coin Pouch
When finished, this tiny pouch is 3 inches tall x 4 inches wide. Hanging loop on the side makes it very easy to attach it your keys to keep some spare change.
Materials needed:
Because of the small size of the pouch you can just go ahead and use some bigger scraps of your favorite fabric. Here's what you need to cut.
1 piece 1.25 x 4.5 inches (top part of the front of the pouch)
1 piece 2.5 x 4.5 inches (bottom part of the front of the pouch)
you will also need to cut one 2.5 x 2.5 inches square for the loop
or use 1.5 inches x 0.5inch wide ribbon
From the lining fabric: cut the same pieces as you did from the main exterior fabric except for the loop
From medium interfacing: cut the same 3 pieces as for the lining
1 zipper (mine was 7 inches long so I had to shorten it)
Seam allowances are 1/4" and are already included in your measurements. This is an easy pouch to sew but since it's quite small it's very important to keep all your seams the same size.
Let's start, shall we?
Iron your interfacing to corresponding main fabric pieces. Now that all the fabric is cut and main pieces interfaced we can attach the zipper. Don't worry, it's quite an easy process.
We are working only with the front of the pouch fabric. Put your two 3.75 x 4.5 fabric pieces aside for now.
With your 2.5 x 4.5 main fabric facing up, put the zipper, zipper pull down !!!!, along the 4.5 inch part. Baste to keep the zipper in place. Now put the lining fabric right side down on top of the main part with the zipper basted (make sure your fabrics line up perfectly). It will look like this. Pin and use your zipper foot and stitch in place. Turn the fabric wrong sides together and iron flat so the zipper is nice and flat between the fabrics. The bottom part of your pouch front if done now.
Now on to the top part of the front of the pouch and zipper. Do the same thing we did with the bottom part, now using your 1.25 x 4.5 pieces of main fabric and lining. Note: make sure the edges of your fabric line up precisely and the zipper is in the same position on the top part as on the bottom.
When you are done with both parts of the front of the pouch flip the fabric so the wrong sides of both exterior fabric and lining are touching, iron, and topstitch 1/8 inch from the zipper on both sides. This is what it will look like. Now let's trim the zipper to correct size.
First, make sure to move your zipper pull within the pouch area that will not be cut off. Secure both sides of zipper with a few stitches on both sides (I used orange thread to make it clear where the stitching goes). Trim the zipper. This is what it should look like.
Let's make a loop for hanging now. Fold the 2.5 x 2.5 inch fabric in half. Iron in place and then fold the ends in towards the center and iron again.
Topstitch the loop along both sides, fold in half, and baste right above your zipper. (on the side where your zipper pull will be when zipper is closed)
Now all we need to do is finish the back of the pouch. Put the lining part (3.5 x 4.5) right side up, place the front of the pouch on top, right sides of lining are touching.
Pin in place and baste 1/8 inch all around.
This is what it will look like
Now on to the last part, attaching the back of the main exterior fabric (last 3.5 x 4.5 fabric piece left). Keep the pouch the way it was in the last picture and lay the main exterior fabric back on top , right sides together.
Use 1/4 seam allowance and stitch all around, leaving about 2 inch opening on the bottom. (this is what we use to turn the pouch right side out)
Trim the corners, careful not to cut into the stitches.
Turn the pouch right side out, you might need to use something like a knitting needle or a pencil to make corners nice and pointy. This is what your pouch will look like, there should be a 2 inch hole in the bottom (I'm holding it upside down in this picture) of the pouch, slip stitch that closed.
And ta-dah!!! , your Pretty Little Coin Pouch is all finished.
And, just so you know, this is my first ever tutorial and I'm open to all your suggestions and advice. Please let me know if parts of it are unclear or hard to follow. I hope you do give it a try. I'd love to see the pictures of what you come up with.
Happy sewing, Svetlana.