Tutorial: Cosmetic Bag with Exterior Card Pocket

I like to carry business cards with me, in case someone asks where I got my bag, at which point I'm all like: 'Thank you, I made it myself.  There's one for sale in my etsy store; here's my business card!'.
I got a free metal business card holder when I bought the cards, but it sucks and I don't like using it.  But I love cosmetic bags and carry loads of them - different bags have different genres, like one for kleenex and headache pills, another for cosmetics, another for loyalty cards. So making a cosmetic bag with a card pocket really does two jobs! Yay! I love multi-taskers!
I thought you might like one too, so here's a tutorial:

Fabric and Interfacing and Notions:
You’ll need:
Small amount Exterior Fabric
Small amount Interior Fabric
Small amount Fusible Interfacing
One 7 or 8 inch zipper (I know the one in the pic is a 7 inch, but I actually used an 8 inch and I’ll explain it later)
A little bit of Iron On Velcro

The measurements for the large pieces are:
•    6 inches by 8.25 inches / 15 cm by 20.5 cm
•    One Small Piece:  2.5 inches by 4 5/8 inches / 6.5 cm by 12 cm
•    One Really Small Piece: 2 inches by 4 5/8 inches / 5 cm by 12 cm

Large Pieces, Cut:
•    2 x Exterior Fabric
•    2 x Interior Fabric
•    2 x Fusible Interfacing (I used woven because I prefer its adherence properties)

Small and Really Small Pieces, Cut:
•    1 x Ext. Fabric
•    1 x Int. Fabric
•    1 x Interfacing

1. Ready Your Pieces: After you’ve cut everything out, iron the fusible interfacing onto the exterior fabric pieces:

2. Make up the outside pocket and flap: Pin those pieces with Right Sides Together (RST), and sew using ¼” seam allowance (SA).  Make sure you leave a gap so you can turn them out, and ***Important!!*** Make sure you leave the gap at the bottom of your pocket piece, and at the top of your flap! This is because we’re going to sew the gap shut when we attach those pieces to the front of your cosmetic bag!

Ok, so now you need to cut the corners off and turn those little pieces Right Side Out (RSO) like the little flap on the left above – Iron them like crazy, and when you’re happy, place them on the exterior piece and pin them down.  Make sure the flap covers over the pocket, but not so much than you can’t get a card in there!

Put your pins around the edges to test whether you can get a card in there and whether there's enough room for your little velcro tabs.

Now, stitch the pocket and flap in place, and iron on your little velcro pieces, like in the pic:

3. Zipper Attachment: Okay, now I’ll explain why you might want to use a longer-than-necessary zipper.  You know how when you’re sewing a zipper on, and you’re doing it all straight and pretty, and then you get to the zipper pull and your stitches go all WonKy? Well, if you use a longer zip, and ‘hang’ the zipper pull end of it off the side of your fabric, you won’t have that problem! Let me show you what I mean:

Place your zipper at the top of an interior piece, with the zipper pull hanging off the end, and pin in place (see pic for details).  If you’re happy with the placement, move on:

Now sew that zipper down using your zipper foot.

Now place an exterior fabric piece FACE DOWN (with top side up, too) on top of your zipper and interior piece:

Pin in place and stitch again using your zipper foot.

Ok, now we have to do that again for the other side of the zipper, so put the other side of the zipper on your other interior piece, like so:

This just gives you an idea of placement - you should pin and sew all the way across, not halfway like it's implied in the picture!

Stitch that down, then place your other exterior piece FACE DOWN on top of what you’ve just sewn:

Stitch that down, iron, and admire your zipper! Well done!

4. Optional: Topstitch along the edges of the zipper, like I’ve done in this pic:

5. Cut off extraneous ends of zipper, like in the pic:

6. Unzip your zipper Now!! Then, lay out and sew edges: Ok, now you need to put the interior pieces facing each other RST, and the exterior pieces will do the same.  Your zipper will be sandwiched in between, like in the pic:

Remember: It’s more important to match the top edges of the exterior up than the bottom ones – so make sure that each side of the exterior is lined up before you pin.
Pin the edges, and mark a 4 inch opening at the bottom that you’ll keep open so you can turn everything RSO at the end (see my 2 purple marks there?):

Ok, here are a couple of tips from someone who’s made loads of these—through the layers of fabric, find the bottom end of the zipper.  Mark where it ends, so when you’re sewing, you can make sure you don’t try to run over the end of your zipper, but stitch just beside it.  Also, after you’re done stitching, go back and snip the excess tops off the end of the zipper.  You don’t need them and they’ll just be in the way when you turn it out.  Don’t snip your stitching!!

Here’s what it looks like after it’s been sewn:

7. Turn it out! But first, clip the corners, and iron your little gap open so it’s easier to sew it shut at the end.  Now, turn the whole thing out through your gap. Iron like crazy to get it all pretty.

Then, pin your little gap shut, and edgestitch it shut! Done! If you have any problems, questions, or suggestions, leave a comment or email me!

© Copyright J C Excell, 2011
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