You can never have too many zipper pouches, right? I use them for everything imaginable and they are so handy when traveling.
I made this leather zipper pouch probably about ten years ago. I have had it so long that I have forgotten just when I made it. Probably more than ten years ago. It was one of my first experiments with leather. Leather is a unique beast to sew. It can be done on a home machine with some patience and a few learned skill sets. A walking foot is very helpful also.
The zipper has gone kaputt. I won't toss the pouch just yet because I am hoping that maybe I can fix the zipper teeth somehow. I've seen some magical solutions to this problem though I don't remember them exactly at the moment. If nothing else I will tear it apart and resew with a new zipper. That option will change the dynamics and dimensions of the pouch however. Unlike with fabric, ripping out a seam from leather leaves holes. Unsightly holes. So it's a project for another day.
The project for this day is to make a replacement leather one-piece zipper pouch with a small header. I found some fun leather at Tandy Leather and made this lovely little number.
Materials:
1 9" zipper with plastic teeth
1 8"x 12" piece of leather
1 8" x 12" piece of fabric for lining
Coordinated thread
Place 8" side of leather edge to zipper tape edge, right side of leather facing right side of zipper. I arrange so that the metal stopper beads on zipper are out of the way of fabric edges so they won't be in the way when sewing the sides in a future step. On the other side of the zipper tape place 8" side of fabric to zipper tape edge. The zipper will be sandwiched between the leather and lining fabric. Right sides of leather and lining fabric will be touching. Be sure to align along sides.
After sewing the leather and lining to zipper, finger press back and topstich. I change stitch length to 4 for topstitching leather.
Now do the same for the other side of the zipper with the other ends of the leather and fabric pieces. You will have two loops of fabric.
Unzip zipper and turn. Topstich the second side. It's a little bit of a pain to reach the edge where the zipper head is but you can use a longer zipper if wanted. I just sew as close as I can get because the edges will be sewn in the next step anyway. Turn it back inside out.
Now open zipper at least halfway. If you forget this you won't be able to turn your pouch after sewing sides. Align pouch so that there's about 1" of material above and the rest below.
If you want a tab or ring, tuck it into side, raw end out, along bottom zipper tape. Or you can add a grommet in the header when pouch is finished. Or you don't necessarily need one at all. I cut a slim piece of leather long enough to provide a thumb loop and inserted it by zipper at the loose end before sewing up the sides. I insert tab on side where zipper opens from.
Sew up sides. Be careful of metal stopper beads on zipper. Do not sew over those. Hold zipper securely in place at its loose end until secured with stitching. Backstich and sew over zipper several times to reinforce it. I sew over it, backstich to edge of zipper and sew over it again at least two times.
Dealing with raw edges options:
1. just let them be. The original pouch had raw edges for ten years of use and was not a problem.
2. zig zag along edges to minimize fraying
3. cover with binding
4. trim with pinking shears
If you choose option 2 or 3, only do the edges below the zipper.
Now turn bag right side out. Poke out those corners into nice neat points then topstich 1/4" or 1/2" from zipper to hold header in place. I line up zipper foot with edge of leather along zipper tape.
Just lovely.
The leather pouch on top is my old pouch with the worn out zipper.
I made this leather zipper pouch probably about ten years ago. I have had it so long that I have forgotten just when I made it. Probably more than ten years ago. It was one of my first experiments with leather. Leather is a unique beast to sew. It can be done on a home machine with some patience and a few learned skill sets. A walking foot is very helpful also.
The zipper has gone kaputt. I won't toss the pouch just yet because I am hoping that maybe I can fix the zipper teeth somehow. I've seen some magical solutions to this problem though I don't remember them exactly at the moment. If nothing else I will tear it apart and resew with a new zipper. That option will change the dynamics and dimensions of the pouch however. Unlike with fabric, ripping out a seam from leather leaves holes. Unsightly holes. So it's a project for another day.
The project for this day is to make a replacement leather one-piece zipper pouch with a small header. I found some fun leather at Tandy Leather and made this lovely little number.
Materials:
1 9" zipper with plastic teeth
1 8"x 12" piece of leather
1 8" x 12" piece of fabric for lining
Coordinated thread
Place 8" side of leather edge to zipper tape edge, right side of leather facing right side of zipper. I arrange so that the metal stopper beads on zipper are out of the way of fabric edges so they won't be in the way when sewing the sides in a future step. On the other side of the zipper tape place 8" side of fabric to zipper tape edge. The zipper will be sandwiched between the leather and lining fabric. Right sides of leather and lining fabric will be touching. Be sure to align along sides.
After sewing the leather and lining to zipper, finger press back and topstich. I change stitch length to 4 for topstitching leather.
Now do the same for the other side of the zipper with the other ends of the leather and fabric pieces. You will have two loops of fabric.
Unzip zipper and turn. Topstich the second side. It's a little bit of a pain to reach the edge where the zipper head is but you can use a longer zipper if wanted. I just sew as close as I can get because the edges will be sewn in the next step anyway. Turn it back inside out.
Now open zipper at least halfway. If you forget this you won't be able to turn your pouch after sewing sides. Align pouch so that there's about 1" of material above and the rest below.
If you want a tab or ring, tuck it into side, raw end out, along bottom zipper tape. Or you can add a grommet in the header when pouch is finished. Or you don't necessarily need one at all. I cut a slim piece of leather long enough to provide a thumb loop and inserted it by zipper at the loose end before sewing up the sides. I insert tab on side where zipper opens from.
Sew up sides. Be careful of metal stopper beads on zipper. Do not sew over those. Hold zipper securely in place at its loose end until secured with stitching. Backstich and sew over zipper several times to reinforce it. I sew over it, backstich to edge of zipper and sew over it again at least two times.
Dealing with raw edges options:
1. just let them be. The original pouch had raw edges for ten years of use and was not a problem.
2. zig zag along edges to minimize fraying
3. cover with binding
4. trim with pinking shears
If you choose option 2 or 3, only do the edges below the zipper.
Now turn bag right side out. Poke out those corners into nice neat points then topstich 1/4" or 1/2" from zipper to hold header in place. I line up zipper foot with edge of leather along zipper tape.
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