Fully lined zippered box pouch - pattern and tutorial

I love the look of a zippered box pouch...so incredibly cute.  I found many tutorials on the internet, but was disappointed after making pouches following these tutorials to find that they were not fully lined; looks so much nicer when you open your pouch and there are no seams.  It took me a long time to figure it out and I thought and thought and thought...then I got it♥  I don't want to keep this knowledge to myself, so here it is.  I'd like to thank Jane at Projects by Jane (the only other tutorial like this that I was able to find on the internet - wish I'd found it sooner).  Her photos may help you out too if mine fail to communicate properly.  If you like what you see and this tutorial was helpful, please help me by making a small donation to my site (click mauve button on top right on homepage).  

♥♥♥Thanks so much! ♥♥♥

The finished pouch is 3 high x 4 wide x 7 long (inches)

Here's what you need:

1 twelve inch zipper

2 10x7 inch panels for the lining (my lining fabric is the green one)

2 10x7 inch panels for the exterior (my exterior fabric is the brown floral one)

4 10x7 inch panels of fusible interfacing to give the lining and exterior fabric some structure (I have already ironed the interfacing onto the fabric in the photo above)

2 4x3 inch pieces of complementary fabric for the pulls at the end of the zipper

STEP 1.  Start by cutting out all of your pieces and ironing the interfacing to the lining and the exterior panels (iron with the bumpy side touching the fabric).

STEP 2.  Make marks on your zipper for guidance.  Mark the edge of the fabric and mark a point 1/2 inch away from the edge (the tutorial used to suggest 1/4 inch...I have received feedback that people find making this mark at least 1/2 inch from the edge a little easier for the overall project...) - keep this mantra in the back of your mind..."you will not sew beyond this line".  Mark this on the lining and exterior fabric as well (note once again..."you will not sew beyond this line").

STEP 3.  Next, it is time to attach the first set of exterior and lining panels to the zipper.  Sandwich the zipper between the two panels as pictured below:

At the bottom, the lining panel is right side up, then the zipper right side up and on top, the exterior panel right side down (overall, the right side is always facing the zipper and the fabric covers the zipper).  Later, you will pull back the panels to expose the zipper and then top stitch...you will see shortly.

STEP 4.  Pin the exterior and the lining to the zipper, like so:

STEP 5.   Now, put the zipper foot onto your sewing machine (it looks like a ski).  Set it up to sew as pictured below: NOTE - start sewing at the line that you created on the fabric as pictured (very important) and stop sewing at the line you made on the other side...do not sew right to the edge of the fabric:

STEP 6.   After sewing, pull back the exterior panel:

pull back the lining and then press:

STEP 7.   Make the sandwich of the lining, zipper and exterior fabric for the other side:

and repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 for this side of the pouch.

STEP 8.   Time to top stitch beside the zipper to give the pouch a nice finished look.  You can take off your zipper foot and use your regular sewing foot.  Make sure to top stitch on both sides of the zipper and start and stop at the lines that you drew (AGAIN...do not sew over these lines).  You probably don't need to pin before top stitching, but I did here:

STEP 9.   Put the right sides of the exterior and the right sides of the lining together and pin for sewing.  When you sew, make sure to leave an opening in the bottom of the lining for turning right side out later on (see where I am pointing):

STEP 10.   Sew along the exterior panel where pinned using a 1/4 inch seam allowance; sew end to end along the exterior panels.  

Sew along the lining where pinned leaving a gap in the middle (I have only sewed down so far.  Sew from the other side and then stop so that there is an opening in the middle of the lining.  Make sure to go back and forth to secure your stitches):

STEP 11.   Fold your pouch so that the seams sit centred on top of the zipper with the exterior on top of the lining (here are two photos to illustrate):

and press like this (make sure seams are centred on top of zipper):

STEP 12.  Now is time to put the pulls in place.  These help to make the zipper easier to open and close and overall make the pouch more functional (in my humble opinion).  

I made the pulls by folding the 3x4 piece of complementary fabric in half, pressing and then opening.  Then I folded the edges towards the centre line created and pressed in place.  Then fold the whole thing in half and press again (sorry no pictures...let me know if you have any questions).  Then I top stitched up each side to keep the pulls together and look nice and finished.  Here are my pulls (they complement the exterior fabric quite nicely):

Start at the non zipper head end (as pictured below).  Fold one pull in half and sandwich it between the exterior panel layers with the loop facing in and the edges sticking out far enough so that you will be able to sew over them (like this):

STEP 13.   Pin the exterior panels together for sewing.  Make sure to keep the lining panels out of the way and DO NOT sew over them (see photo below).  Sew right over top of the zipper and go back and forth over the zipper once or twice to secure it nicely.

STEP 14.   OPEN THE ZIPPER!!!!  This is a super important step for two reasons: 1. The zipper head will get stuck on the outside of your sewing line & 2. You won't be able to turn your pouch right side out later on (I've done this before and it sucks if you forget to open the zipper).  Open it at least 3/4 of the way open.

Repeat steps 12 and 13 to put the pull in place on the zipper head side of the zipper (I like to pin my zipper to help keep it in place since it is now open♥) and to sew the exterior panels together on the other side:

STEP 15.   Repeat the above steps to sew the lining panels together on both sides.  This time you will not be sewing over the zipper; just the lining:

It is a good idea to trim the excess fabric and the excess pieces of zipper at this point:

STEP 16.   This is the fun part!  Now we get to make the corners boxy.  This gives the shape to the pouch that makes it so darn cute.  First, pinch one of the four corners of the exterior panels:

Here's another angle just in case it's unclear (see photo below):  Make sure that the fold visible on top is perfectly lined up with the seam underneath it:

Measure 1 and 1/4 inches from the corner...:

...and draw a line that will be approximately 2.5 inches long:

Sew along that line:

and cut off the excess material:

Repeat for all corners on the exterior fabric.  It will look like this when all four corners are done:

Now, repeat STEP 16 for all four corners of the lining.  

It will look like this when corners are complete (one lining corner left to trim in the photo):

♥ FINAL STEP:  Gently pull the pouch right-side-out through the hole in the bottom of the lining.  Make sure to poke out every corner so that your pouch has a nice boxy shape.  Hand stitch the hole in the bottom of the lining.  CONGRATULATIONS!!!  You have one fully lined zippered box pouch.

Here are some others I have made:

Whew! I've been busy.  Guess that's why I get caught at the sewing machine so often these days...

Happy pouch making :)

PS: Nail polish worn throughout this tutorial is "For Audrey" by China Glaze.

Comments

[Anna]

I just wanted to drop in to say that yours is probably the best box pouch tutorial I've come across in all my Google-ing. :)

Thank you so much for taking the time to do it. I'm new at sewing (started about 3 weeks ago) and well-written tutorials like yours go a long way in helping people like me.

[PrettyModern]

Thank you, Wendy. I am a teacher of sorts by profession so spelling is very important to me ;) Grammar I'm a bit more liberal with. I'm glad you enjoyed this tutorial. I can't guarantee my spelling in this comment because my iPhone is sure to autocorrect something...

[mariana]

I can't thank you enough for that! I've just finished mine. I still struggle a lot with the sewing machine (this was my 5th project, I think) and, with your detailed instructions, it turned out amazing!! I didn't put the lining, because I'm using it to store coloured pencils, and I like the mix of colours in the inside. I also didn't topstich my zip, as it was the first I ever done one and it looked a bit complicated for me. I love my pouch, thank you for posting this.