Beach Pouch DIY

Remember how, back in November, I posted about destashing?

That I claimed to have a list of project ideas to work on?

Well, my friends, I finally used some of that fabric, and made this cute stripy pouch with an embroidered nautical design. 

Summer might be months away, but dreaming of those warm and dry days is a nice way to forget about the grey skies and damp air, don't you think?!

There are a zillion and one zipper pouch tutorials out there, but here's another. ;)

You'll need:

Stripy fabric

Neutral fabric*

Fabric for lining (I used thin polycotton)

5"-6" Zip (mine was old and a weird size)

Embroidery thread

Sewing thread

Optional: thin ribbon

Tools:

Sewing needles

Sewing machine

Zipper foot

Ruler

Scissors/rotary cutter

Dressmaking pins

Optional: pinking shears

*I used some loose-woven neutral fabric, but it was a total pain in the butt to sew. I could have done with some interfacing on it! Lesson: take care in your fabric choices!

Okay, on with the tutorial!

1. Cut two lots of each:

Lining: 19 x 20 cm

Stripe: 19 x 15 cm

Neutral: (A) 19 x 6 cm, (B) 7 x 3 cm

2. Align piece A of neutral fabric against edge of stripe fabric, right sides facing, and stitch together.

3. Fold/press neutral fabric down and topstitch.

From this point, I'll refer to this combined stripe-and-neutral fabric piece as 'outer' or 'outer fabric'

4. Fold piece B of neutral fabric in half width-wise and topstitch along the fold to make a tab.

5. Align the tabs in the top corners of one piece of the outer fabric and tack down at the edges.

6. Time to make a sandwich! Lay the zip face down on the outer fabric and tabs, and lay a piece of lining over the top. Ensure all pieces are aligned, pin down and stitch with a zipper foot.

7. Sandwich part 2! Fold down the fabrics you just stitched, to reveal the zip.
Layer the other piece of outer fabric (right side up), then the pieces you sewed together in step 6 (outer side facing down--align the zip with the top edge), and finally the second piece of lining fabric (right side down). Stitch the top edge with a zipper foot.

8. Open your work out so that the zip is in the centre, with a outer piece and lining piece each side. Press down and topstitch either side of the zip.

9. Stitch on the embroidered design at this point, paying heed to seam allowances.

As the combination of red and white stripes alongside the neutral coloured fabric reminded me of a deck chair on a sandy beach, I opted for an anchor design for the embroidery, but you could change it up according to what inspires you!

10. Undo the zip about half-way, so you can turn the project once the seams are sewn.

11. Open out the work so the two sides of outer fabric, and the two sides of lining fabric, are together, right sides facing. Pin around the edges, leaving a gap in the bottom edge of the lining for turning.

12. Sew around the edges, remembering to leave that gap! I added a line of zigzag stitching on the neutral fabrics.

Important note: When you get to the tabs, make sure the edges are folded down over the stripe fabric, not over the lining as seen in the picture. I did this part wrong because I wasn't paying attention, so the top corners of my pouch turned out a bit messy. Booo.

13. Optional: For squared-off corners at the bottom of the pouch. At each corner, align the bottom and side seams and stitch across, a couple of centimetres from the corner. Trim off the point--I used pinking shears to reduce fraying.

14. Turn the pouch the right way around, through the gap left in the lining.

15. Hand-stitch the lining closed and push inside the pouch.

16. Optional: For a finishing touch, add a piece of narrow ribbon to the zip pull, and you're done!

I was definitely on a roll the day that I made this! Other scrap-busting projects included:

This tissue pouch, made from a scrap of pink gingham and more of the white polycotton that I used for the beach pouch.

A whole bunch of lavender sachets, because I still have lavender left over from two years ago, and it still smells divine!

Another pouch, using fabric left over from a skirt I remade. I made this one before the beach pouch, and now I use it as a purse!   

As you might expect, I've still got a ton of fabric that remains unused! One day, I will get to sewing it, though I might have another bout of destashing: I'm not sure that I really need all of this fabric...