How to Make a Boxy Pouch with Lining ~ DIY Tutorial Ideas!

How to make a Boxy Pouch with a lining and zipper, a multi-purpose mini bag including blind stitch and hand sewing. Free Sewing Tutorial.

Although small in size, this mini-sized boxy pouch is suitable for storing small, bulky items.

1. Cutting and Materials

The outer fabric is Oxford cotton, and the lining is twill cotton.

The pattern needed for cutting is basically a 'rectangle.' Vertical = (height of the finished bag + bottom width) multiplied by two, horizontal = width of the finished bag + bag height. Once these dimensions are determined, draw a rectangle and add seam allowances of 0.7 to 1 cm on all sides to create the mini bag pattern.

It is better to cut the lining about 0.5cm smaller in height than the outer fabric. I forgot about the bottom and cut it the same way, then trimmed the height part a little bit before sewing the zipper. When finished, the fabric shrinks less. If you attach interfacing to the outer fabric, its durability improves. In the cutting stage, it is pre-attached and then cut. This time, I forgot and ended up sticking it in the middle.

I prepared a coil zipper that can be cut to fit the width of the pattern, and I also cut fabric pieces to connect the decorative ring and the main body of the bag, so you can easily hang the mini bag anywhere (decorative ring width 1.5cm *4, length 4~5cm). I added a D-ring here.

2. Preparing the decorative ring

Divide the fabric pieces for the ring connection into four parts, fold them to face each other, and make them to match the width of the decorative ring. The decorative ring used this time has a finished width of 1.5 cm.

Fold the completed link in half and temporarily secure it by combining the decorative ring and D-ring. The D ring and decorative ring can be omitted according to your preference.

3. Attaching a zipper

Sew the zipper to the outer fabric with the right sides facing each other. I recommend using a zipper foot. I just moved the needle toward the zipper and used the regular presser foot out of habit.

Layer the outer fabric, zipper, and lining in that order, align the seam allowances neatly, and sew them together.

Turn it inside out so the zipper is visible, separate the unsewn side of the zipper, and sew it in the same way to the seam allowance on the opposite side of the outer fabric.

In the same way, layer the outer fabric, zipper, and lining in that order and sew them sequentially.

Flip the fabric. Pre-stitch (tack) the outer fabric and lining so that they touch the zipper side and do not get caught in the zipper head.

To ensure smooth zipper movement, I secured the stitching with a margin of 0.4cm to 0.5cm.

4. Before sewing the outer fabric and lining, what needs to be done

You need to position and temporarily secure the pre-prepared decorative ring, D-ring, or label, etc., at the center between the zippers on the outer fabric.

You need to attach the zipper head to the zipper.

5. Sewing the side seam after turning it inside out

Turn it inside out so that both the outer and lining fabrics are visible from the inside, and when viewed from the side of the bag, align the zipper so that it is centered on the side seams of both the lining and outer fabrics. Both side seams.

Sew the side seams of the neatly stacked bags with a seam allowance. Since the lining had the bottom part pre-cut, I was able to compare it with the outer fabric, which had not had the bottom part cut, and understand the pros and cons of both. If you pre-cut the bottom part, it is easier to align the center, but if the sewing is not done accurately, the fabric can shift, causing the symmetry to be off.

6. Making the bottom of the bag

The width of the bottom will be about 3cm, so cut in 1.5cm (excluding seam allowance) from each corner to make a square.

[Regarding the location of the opening] Since mini bags have narrow openings, they are difficult to turn inside out, so they are usually finished with bias binding along with the seam allowance on the outer fabric side. It seems that dividing the lining pattern into two pieces and creating a seam along the length of the bottom to make the opening will make it easiest to turn it inside out. Of course, an extra line will be created. This time, I had no choice but to leave one of the floor pillar surfaces and flip it over, and it was indeed tough.

Fold the cut outer and lining fabric accurately at the bottom, layer the outer and lining fabric, and sew with a seam allowance.

The side of the bottom portion where the outer fabric and lining are sewn together.

When turned inside out thru the window hole, both the outer and lining fabrics were finished cleanly, but only the seam allowance at the window hole remained messy. It feels like a lot of effort was put into flipping it because the turning hole was too narrow. Traditionally, the opening should have some extra space. For a small bag like this, I usually finish it with bias tape made from the same fabric as the lining, but this time I plan to do a hand stitch.

7. How to sew a window hole by hand

Prepare the thread and needle for hand sewing. I usually use 1 to 2 strands of thread. Depending on the thickness of the fabric to be crocheted.

Push the seam allowance inward and draw a line with chalk on the part to be gathered, which serves as an excellent guide.

I tidy up the messy seam by placing it inside the drawn guide line.

I will properly close the window hole with hand sewing using the running stitch. The running stitch, true to hand sewing, is slow in speed but is often used to close window holes because it leaves almost no visible stitching on the surface.

When hand sewing is finished, tie a knot to prevent it from unraveling, and then reinsert the needle back into the seam line and pull it out. When finishing by cutting the thread with scissors, be careful not to damage the fabric.

Completion and Use of the Mini Pouch

With the zipper turned inside out, the lining and outer fabric are distinguished, and the three-dimensional mini pouch is completed with all seams hidden.

On one side of the zipper, I attached a decorative ring, and on the other side, a D-ring. It can be used for various purposes according to the situation, and it also serves as a handle when opening and closing the zipper, making it quite useful.

Thanks to the zipper being attached in a ㄷ shape, it opens wide and feels spacious, making it easy to put in and take out items even tho the bag is small. So I think I came to like this three-dimensional pouch design.