You have seen my massive handbag and you know I am a safety girl, a girl guide, prepared for anything! I am the lady with whatever you need; a Panadol, bandaid, safety pin, nail file or hair tie. I decided I still wanted all my useful stuff but I wanted to carry less. I spent hours designing the perfect thing to carry my stuff and even more working out how to sew it. Even though it was fiddly to make, I was pretty pleased with the results – something that opened flat so I could see what I had, with lots of places to stash stuff, a zipper all round to keep everything safe and something that fitted into my bag without too much bulk.
I thought this was a great gift idea, so I ended up making them for all the women in my life for Christmas a couple of years ago. They were a hit!! I decided to equip each pouch with a few basics but leave room for more personalised items. I equipped mine with:
- 9 x Bobby pins (3 each black, brown, blonde)
- 1 x Thin black ponytail elastics
- 1 x Thick black ponytail elastics
- 4 x Mini nail files
- 30 x Nail polish remover pads
- 5 x Safety pins
- 2 x Lens wipes
- 3 x Band aids
- 4 x Panadols
- 1 x Hand sanitizer
- 1 x Mini lip brush
- 1 x Mini Jojoba day cream SPF15
- 1 x Sachet La Roche-Posay Cleanser
- 2 x Mini nail polish
- 1 x Set of acrylic screw together pots
The set of acrylic screw together pots can be filled with whatever you like to travel with, some suggestions are:
- Hand cream, lotion, aloe vera gel or suncream
- Cream makeup like concealer, cream blush or lip gloss
- Loose powder, blush, eyeshadow or even talc
- Small things like earring backs, earplugs or jewellery
I’ve left you plenty of space to add the things you might need. There are tons of things you could fill the rest of the pouch with but here are some suggestions:
- Tweezers
- Cologne sample
- Lip balm
- Spare pair of earrings
- Facial cleansing wipes
- Mints
- Flashlight
- Panty liner
- Tampon
- Disposable razor
- Plastic comb
- Mini mirror
- One-time use toothbrush pack
- Dental mini brush
- Tissues
- Dental Floss
- Assortment of threaded sewing needles
- Spare buttons
- Antacid individuals
- Foldable scissors
- Postal stamp
You really could use a makeup bag or similar for these but I had something special in mind! A zipper pouch that could open completely flat. That way you can actually find what you need. It took a while to figure out but isn’t too hard. Since I was making a few, I cut and interfaced all the pieces for all the pouches first. To keep things straight, I put the cut pieces, zippers and elastic into snap locks. That way I could sew in batches and reduce how many times I changed thread colours. It made things nice and easy.
For each pouch, you’ll need:
½ metre lining (yellow is pictured)
½ metre fabric (aqua pattern is pictured)
30cm x 21cm medium weight iron on interfacing
2 x 7″ zippers
1 x 22″ or longer zipper
30cm fold over or other flat elastic
To make a pattern for the main body pieces, just fold an A4 piece of paper into quarters and round the corner. This will give you four equal, round corners. Use this pattern to cut one piece each from exterior and lining fabrics and once from interfacing. Fuse the interfacing to the main lining.
For the flat pocket, cut a 22cm wide by 16cm long piece of exterior fabric.
For the double zipper pocket, cut 2 x 10cm by 21cm pieces from both the lining and exterior fabric. You should have four pieces total.
All seam allowances are 1cm unless stated.
Okay, we are going to start with the double ended pocket in the centre. It’s not difficult to sew but it is a little confusing. If you have made lined zipper pouch, it’s very similar but has a zipper both ends. Start by laying the lining fabric right side up. Lay one of the short zipper right side up on top of a short edge. Then lay the exterior fabric on top, right side down. Pin and sew.
Repeat the above, using the other two pieces, attaching them to the other side of the zipper. So far it’s just like making a zipper pouch.
Now we are going to add in the second zipper, using the same process as before, but this time flipping the fabric as shown.
Okay, now you are going to have to flip things around until you can line up that last set of edges. But once you have, you will have zippers sewn in at both ends.
Open up both zippers and turn things around so that the exterior pieces are right sides together and the lining pieces are also right sides together. Pin and sew all the way around. Now pin up the other side in the same way but this time, leave a turning gap in the centre of the lining.
Turn everything out through the lining gap. Yep, it will take a minute but it will come out fine! You can hand sew the turning gap closed or leave it. It’s up to you. Give everything a good press and set the pocket aside.
On to the flat pocket! Align the 16cm edges, right sides together and sew. Turn right side out and press flat. Lay the pocket on the lining as shown. Baste the short sides down, ¼ inch from the edge and trim any overhang. Sew across the bottom of the pocket to attach to the lining and sew as many divisions as you’d like. I think dividing it into two bigger pockets and one smaller one worked well.
Now grab that zipper pocket and find the centre. Align the centre of the pocket with the centre of the lining and sew straight through. You might want to backstitch a couple of times at the edges to secure it well.
Now for the foldover elastic. Align it where you want it and make the loops with pins. I found it helpful to have the first and last inch flat, so it doesn’t catch in the zipper. Other than that, you can make loops to fit specific items or just make different sizes. Stitch where you have pinned, to secure. Trim any excess.
Okay, we are ready to attach the zipper to the main fabric. Fold the fabric in half to find the centre, now make a mark 1” either side of centre on both sides. Open up the zip and place it right sides with the exterior fabric. Start pinning from the marks you just made, all the way to the other set of marks. You should have one leg on one half and the other leg going the other way. Use a zipper foot to baste the zipper to the fabric, beginning and ending at your marks.
Grab your lining piece and lay it face down on the exterior. Pin the two together and sew from mark to mark again. This time sew a little closer to the zipper teeth. Gently pull everything through one of the turning gaps and smooth it all out. Tuck in any extra zipper and pin. Hand sew the turning gaps shut and voila! You are done!
You can now fill your pouch with your chosen goodies! I included a little print out with mine. I just typed it up in word, printed it out and decorated it with some pretty washi tape. It was such a well received gift, everyone loved theirs. It’s very useful for travel to. I love mine (I kept the prototype for ‘testing’) and use it all the time. I even helped a lady out with some safety pins when her dress strap broke!
If you create your own version of a mini emergency pouch or if you sew this one, I’d love to see!
2 Comments
Hi Sarah nice pouch ! I want to make this for my friend as a present, but I am not sure about the measurements of the zipper pouches only 4 cm wide ? That seems very narrow to me? Would 10 -12 cm be too wide ? Or is there a specific reason for ? Thanks for your answer
Christine
Hi Christine,
I’m an idiot! It should have read 4″ or 10cm but somehow I wrote 4cm. Thank you so much for picking up on my error, I have fixed it now! My apologies for being confusing. I’d love to see what you make!
Thanks,
Sarah xx