How to sew a welt pocket with a zipper

When I made the nappy bag, I wanted it to have a welt pocket with zipper. There are several ways to make such a pocket. Below you find a description of how I learned to do it in class. (Sorry for the dark pictures, by the way. It’s winter, you know…)
What you need
  • 2 pieces of fabric of 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 in) straight grain or 45 degrees of the grain. That’s your own choice. Overlock them before you begin
  • A 15 cm (6 in) zipper
  • A piece of interlining: 6 x 17 cm (2.4 x 6.7 in)
  • A small pair of scissors
  • Pins
  • Sewing chalk
  • An iron
  • A zipper foot for your sewing machine
How to get it all in the pocket
  1. On the right side of your fabric, draw a rectangle measuring 15 x 1 cm (6 x 0.4 in) where you want to insert the pocket. Draw a horizontal line in the middle of this rectangle. This will be your pocket opening. On both sides of the horizontal line, mark 1cm (0.4 in) on the inside of the rectangle. Starting from these marks, draw a line to the upper and lower corner of the rectangle, creating a triangle while doing so.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. On the right side of your fabric, use pins to mark the corners of your pocket. This will help you to draw the corners on the wrong side of your fabric.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. On the wrong side of your fabric, draw a rectangle around the markings: 2.5 cm (1 in) above and below the edge, 1 cm (0.4 in) on each side.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Iron the interlining on the wrong side of your fabric. While doing so, make sure that the pocket opening is in the middle of the interlining.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Draw the pocket opening on the wrong side of your fabric, on the interlining.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. If you haven’t done so yet, remove the pins from the corners of the opening drawing.
  1. On the right side of the fabric, pin one of the pieces of fabric with the right side on the right side over the opening drawing. Make sure to cover 2.5 cm (1 in) on both sides and 3 cm (1.2 in) on top.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. On the wrong side of the fabric, carefully and precisely stitch the outside edges of the pocket opening.
    Note: Start in the middle of a horizontal line, never in a corner.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Cut the middle line carefully until you reach the triangle points.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Cut the triangles very carefully.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Put your hand from the wrong side of the fabric through the opening and pull the fabric through the opening, so the pocket is on the inside.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Trim the edges.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Roll the edges between your thumb and index finger until the seam is neatly folded.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Iron the edges.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. On the wrong side of your fabric, stitch the triangles on the pocket fabric.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Pin the zipper in its place.
    Tip: If it’s easier for you, baste the zipper in its place.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Use your zipper foot to top stitch the pocket opening and thus stitching the zipper into place.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. On the wrong side of the fabric, pin the second piece of pocket fabric on the piece of the pocket that’s already attached to the pocket opening, right sides facing each other.
How to sew a welt pocket with zipper / Hoe naai je een paspelzak met rits
  1. Stitch around the pocket parts, to finish the pocket.
  1. If you haven’t done so yet, overlock the edges. You can also use the overlock to cut the redundant piece of fabric from step 16 off the pocket.
Finished!
Nappy bag / Luiertas

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