You already know how obsessed I am with my local craft store/crafty class mecca, Gather Here. I’ve taken an embroidery class and patchwork class there so far and loved both. This class for the zippered box bag was a sewing class and I was really excited to learn how to sew a zipper! For this post I’m not going to go over all of the exact details – the bag had a lot of intricate instructions that are best understood in a hands on way, I think – but I do want to show you the general pattern and finished bag.
First we went over the project and jumped right in on the sewing machines. Ah, the beautiful Berninas. I’m in love with these machines.
We sewed an interfacing layer on to the exterior fabric that will help keep the shape of the box bag. After the interfacing was on we sewed the zipper on to both sides of the exterior fabric.
We then sewed on the interior lining fabric. Then we sewed the interior halves together and the exterior halves together. This is where it gets a little complicated and is why I don’t want to write out each instruction. Basically for the whole class the project doesn’t look like anything, it’s only until the last few steps that it actually becomes the box bag!
When the two sides of the bag were sewn together we sewed the edges together. We then cut out the corners of both sides which enabled us to make the box structure.
Each cut out had to be sewn down flat and took a while to do. The end result was totally worth it though, the squared off ends really created a beautiful box shape for our bags.
When all the sewing was done it was time to turn the bag right side out. We ripped out a few stitches at the bottom of the interior lining and then slowly pulled the bag right side out.
At first it looked like my inside lining was the outside of my bag but after unzipping the zipper, I turned the bag right side out again bringing the exterior fabric to the outside.
Here is the finished product!
During the process we added a zipper pull and handle to each end. They are such great touches to the bag.
I’m obsessed with this bag. I want to make like a million more because I could probably think of that many uses for a bag like this! I love how it turned out.
I’m so happy I’ve been making the time to take crafting classes. I’m learning so much and really building my crafting confidence. It’s a great feeling!
