Ruffled or Pleated Zipper Pouch Tutorial ~ DIY Tutorial Ideas!

I tried to use the same basic tutorial to make 3 different types of pouches. Either boxed bottom for a more 3D feel or flat for those who like that style more. I also did either a ruffled strip across or a pleated strip. I think I personally prefer the pleated strip but they are both pretty cute.

You will need:

2 - 9”x8” pieces of outer fabric (cotton, linen, denim, or home decor all work great)
2- 9”x8” pieces of lining fabric (quilting weight cotton works best)
2 - 9”x8” pieces of fusible interfacing (not needed if using a heavier weight fabric)
1 - 3”x 18” piece of coordinating cotton fabric
1 - 7.5” zipper
Sewing Machine
Iron
Pins

Step 1:
Cut out all your pieces, outer, lining, and interfacing

Step 2:
Apply fusible interfacing to the WRONG side of your outer fabric.

Step 3:
Grab your 3”x18” inch strip of ruffle fabric and fold it in half right sides together. Press with your iron then stitch across one short side and down the long side. You should have one small opening left. Turn your ruffle strip right side out and press, taking care that the seam side is even all the way across.

(I use a chopstick to help me turn long strips right side out)

(strip ready to be turned into a ruffle or a pleated strip)

Step 4:
(For a Ruffled Strip, to do a Pleated Strip instead see the end of the tutorial)
Set your sewing machine to a basting stitch and stitch down the center of the whole strip. I like to leave extra thread at the beginning and end to make it easier to gather.

(what the basting stitch looks like on my machine)

Pulling gently on one piece of thread, gather your strip until the length of it matches the width of your outer piece (9”)
Pin one end of your gathered strip to a center side piece of one outer panel and the other end of the strip to the other side.

Evenly space out the ruffles all the way across, pinning as you go.

Set your sewing machine back to a regular stitch and stitch down the center of your ruffle strip. Once it’s secured, you can use a seam ripper to gently pull out the basting stitches if you like.

Step 5: If you want to add a decorative button, do it now but remember not to stitch it too close to the edges or it will get in the way when you sew the pouch together.

Step 6:
Sewing on the zipper.
There are 2 ways to sew the zipper on. One way is easier, and better for beginners and the other way is faster but easier to mess up.
For the easy way, take your zipper and lay it top side down along your ruffled outer piece. Pin in place.

Using your zipper foot, stitch along the top end of the zipper, getting close to the actual zipper part but not on top of it. With my zipper foot if I line up the edge of the foot with the edge of the zipper it’s just perfect. Stitch almost all the way to the zipper head. This is the tricky part but once you get the hang of it it seems simple.

Make sure your needle is raised then raise the presser foot as well. You can’t really tell in the picture but the presser foot is all the way up and I’m slowly opening the zipper and pulling the zipper head past the presser foot till it’s out of the way. Lower the presser foot and continue stitching to the end of the zipper. Don’t forget to backstitch at the beginning and end. Zip the zipper closed.

(for the faster version, sandwich the zipper between the lining and outer fabrics and stitch them both at the same time)

Step 7:
Grab one piece of lining fabric and lay it on top of the outer panel and the zipper. (so the zipper is sandwiched between the two fabrics)

Pin in place then flip over and stitch exactly where you stitched before. You’ll have to raise your needle and presser foot again and slide the zipper head under when you get to that point. It’s a little more tricky this time because the zipper is in between the layers of fabric.

Flip your lining fabric over and press along the seam on the zipper. Do the same for the outer fabric then carefully top stitch along the zipper.

(your fabrics and zippers should look like this after you’ve pressed them)

Step 8:
Follow all the same steps to add the back outer panel and lining. So basically you’ll be placing the back outer fabric on top of your other outer fabric (right sides together), pinning, and stitching. Again you’ll have to lift and push under the zipper head. After you’ve sewn all four fabric pieces to the zipper it should look like this along the zipper:

Step 9:
Open the zipper ¾ of the way. Fold the two out panels in together so that they are right sides together and both ends of the zipper line up like this:

Pin right beside the metal ends so you can sew as close to the ends as possible.

Fold the two lining pieces together as well and pin all the way around both the lining pieces and the outer pieces. (Everything should be right sides together)

(if you are adding a tag, don’t forget to pin it into place now, before you stitch it all closed. You can see the ends of my tag sticking out at the top)

Step 10:
Sew all the way around your pouch except for a 3-4 inch space along the bottom of the lining pieces. That opening will be what you use to turn your pouch inside out.

Step 11:
Trim all seam allowances. I like to use pinking shears but if you don’t have them you may want to double stitch your lining pieces or zigzag stitch the edges to prevent fraying.

Step 12:
If you want your pouch to be flat this is almost the end. At this point you can flip your pouch right sides out through the opening in the lining and you’re nearly done. If you want boxed bottoms however there are a few more steps.

For boxed bottoms:
Go to one of the corners of the outer fabric and pull it open and fold so that the seams run along the middle. You should have a little triangle and the back and front seams should match up perfectly if you want perfect boxed edges.

(at this point you can press the corner to make sure it stays in place while you stitch)

Measuring from the top point, mark one inch down and stitch all the way across.

Do this to all four corners (2 outer and 2 lining) and trim along your new stitch lines.

Step 13:
Now you can turn your pouch right sides out through the opening in your lining. Push all corners out with a point turner (or chopstick like I use). Hand stitch the flip hole closed and voila! You’re done!

(yah, it’s really time for me to get a new ironing board cover... I know :P)

ALTERNATIVES:

For a pleated strip instead of ruffles follow step 3 then....

Pin one edge of your pressed strip to the center of one side of your outer panel.

Measure in (or eyeball) about an inch and fold over the strip on top of itself. Pin pleat in place and continue to make pleats all the way across the strip pinning as you go.

Stitch in the center of your strip all the way across, removing pins as you go. Alternately you could sew a bottom and top seam if you don’t want your pleats to “fluff” out a bit.