The Last Minute Gifts

Every December, I post about a gift that is fast and easy to make.

This year it is a zipper case you can make in no time at all! (I got it down to 15 minutes!)

Start with two pieces of fabric quilted onto a piece of felt. The fabric should be about the same length of your chosen zipper. For my size, I started with a width of fabric of about 4 inches.We will trim it later.

use your walking foot to quilt
straight lines lengthwise.

Change your foot to the zipper foot.

zipper foot

Add a zipper. Sew it on.

lay the zipper face down onto the fabric piece.
Undo the zipper about half way down.

When you get to the "bump" in the zipper (the zipper head) stop sewing and have your needle down into the fabric.  Lift the foot keeping the needle down and wiggle the zipper head closed. (that is the trick to zipper sewing- sew it on avoiding the zipper head) Continue sewing the zipper along the edge.

Place the piece of fabric with the zipper attached onto the other piece, good sides facing.

Unzip the zipper and sew it onto the other piece of quilted fabric. Do the same thing with the head of the zipper- sew until you get close to it then stop with your needle down, lift the foot, wiggle the zipper head out of the way.

Recap: You quilted some fabric onto felt and attached the zipper in between the two pieces of quilted fabric, right?

Flip what you just made so you can sew on the back side. Attached the 'seam allowance', if you will, to the felt. Increase your stitch length for this part. Essentially you are top stitching from the back side.

Do the same thing with the zipper head if it gets in your way.

You can trim the outsides now. Mine is about 3.5 inches from the zipper.

I change the thread colour at this point to the same colour of the felt.

Fold the entire thing in half, good sides facing, and sew the pieces together at the bottom.

I sew using a 1/4 inch seam allowance
Then I go back and zig zag the edge making
sure the needle goes off the fabric so
the thread 'closes' the edge.

Fold the 'tube' so the zipper is in the middle. Trim one end. Sew end closed at 1/4 inch seam allowance and zig zag the end.

Before repeating at the other end UNDO ZIPPER!!!!

Close up the other end same as you did.

your zipper pouch should look like this.

Turn inside out.

It is perfect for pens or sewing tools.

In mine, I keep my double-pointed knitting needles for my sock making.

I even found a perfect charm for the zipper!

To see past ideas click here and here and here.

Happy present making!