Round zipper pouch step-by-step tutorial (a zakkaArt sewing kit)

Thank you everyone for the overwhelming response for this round zipper pouch sewing kit! It was an unexpected pleasant surprise. There will be more coming to my new big cartel shop soon. 

Above are two of the three kits that were debuted a month ago. I personally love each of them so much. 

As promised, I'm writing a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these adorable round zipper pouches. They are fun and easy to sew, just perfect as gifts for your loved ones!

Each sewing kit is different and unique. Not two kits are ever the same! 

Here is what you will get in each kit, plus a one-page hand drawn instructions. Needle and thread are not included in the kit. All templates are cut as much to precision with hand drawn stitch lines. **THERE IS NOT A NEED TO TRIM ANY FABRIC/BATTING ALONG THE WAY.** The bindings are cut at bias for flexibility during curved sewing and ironed for visible stitch lines. 

#Since each of us uses different tension during sewing, the templates may shrink and seem smaller than the batting or interior fabric when laid on top of one another. It doesn't matter at all. They will eventually match up during binding. And anyway, sewing is not about perfection but enjoyment!#

##If you are new to hand sewing, please feel free to read up #handsewpatchwork series to learn about hand sewing. You will probably need basic sewing knowledge/skill to handsew this round zipper pouch.##

(note: please drop me a mail if you are unclear of any step or picture. The pictures look a little darker because they were taken on a rainy day.)

So let's start sewing now! 

Step 1: Take one of the triangles, pin to match the points and sew from point-to-point. Take a few stitches at a time so you will be sewing a straight line. Do a back stitch at the beginning and end, and also after every 4-5 stitches. Tie a knot at the starting and end points.

Step 2: Repeat the same Step 1 for all the triangles. You don't have to press the seams now.

Step 3: Take the curved template and align it to one of the triangles. Here, there are two ways to sew. The easier way is to sew from point-to-point-to-point again. It's Y-seam sewing here. However, I prefer the other method which is sewing from end-to-point-to-end. 

This picture shows how to sew Y-seam at the point. When you reach the meeting point, unpin then pin the neighbouring triangle before you continue sewing. Remember to give a back stitch at the meeting point. You can read more about hand sewing Y-seam here, here and here.

Then sew all the way to the end on the hand draw line (my preferred method).

This is how the front looks like. Do not press the seams now.

Step 4: Take another curved templates to the triangles using the same method (whichever you choose) as step 3. For my method, the idea of of sewing all the way to the end is to secure the seams down. Here I show the back on how I pin the next curved template.

Repeat sewing for all the curved templates. 

There you go! You have completed the patchwork! Now you can iron down and press the seams towards the hexagon. They should lie on top of one another quite nicely.

Step 5: Now you are ready to quilt the patchwork. Place the patchwork on top of the batting and interior fabric (right side down). Pin in place and hand/machine quilt to your desired pattern. There is no fixed rule to the quilting pattern.

ps: can you see that my patchwork is a little smaller than the batting? It's perfectly ok! Do not trim anything!

Step 6: Now it's turn to hand/machine quilt the back of the pouch. Place the back fabric on top of batting and interior fabric (right side down). Pin in place and quilt to your desired pattern. Again, no fixed rule to quilting this. I used simple lines for quilting. 

*note: I have always emphasised how important it is to learn to hide your knots during hand sewing or quilting so that your work doesn't look messy with knots everywhere. I hide every single knot I have.  To hide a knot, simple tie a knot first then using your needle to go through the same hole as the knot and give a little tug. The knot will disappear into under the fabric.*

Step 7: Next is the binding. This pouch uses single fold binding. Align the bias binding around edge of the pouch and pin in place. Sew along the ironed-line. You can use back stitch to sew the binding but I don't. I just use continuous stitches and back stitch at every 4-5 stitches. They work just as good.

This is the easiest way to sew the binding end is to just fold in about 1 inch of one end of the binding then overlap the other end and sew through the layers.

Use ladder stitch to sew the binding down.

When you reach the end of binding, I find it easier to sew down the bottom layer first then overlap sewing the top layer. It looks neater this way too.

Now you have the front and back of pouch all quilted and bound! The circles do not actually lie flat. There should be dome shape. 

Step 8: Here comes the zipper! It's really not so scary to sew a zipper. In fact, I enjoy sewing zippers a lot! It's really easy. First, align the teeth of the zipper to the edge of the pouch. The tail and head of the zipper should be aligned at halfway mark on both sides of the star patchwork (see pic 2). I chose the length of the zipper for this easy purpose. Remember to pin the zipper tail a little inwards because we don't want the zipper to get in the way later during sewing.

Back stitch the zipper in place.

There are two ways to stitch down the bottom of the zipper. The first way is to use blind stitch  (see pic 1). The second way is to use herringbone stitch (read more about how to sew herringbone stitches here). I always use the latter as decorative stitches.

Step 9: Repeat step 8 to sew the other side of the zipper to the back of the pouch.

Step 10: Last step is to whip stitch the two sides of pouch close! Do a triple stitch at the beginning to secure. Sometimes I do four stitches (see top pic). Be sure to start your sewing just beside the metal catch of the zipper. Use small stitches so your pouch will not have gaps.

For the last stitch, make sure you sew it very very close to the zipper end so when you flip over the pouch, there is no gap.

Flip the pouch inside out and here you are! Your very own finished round zipper pouch! 

Enjoy! xxx