Travel Zippered Wet Bag Tutorial

As promised, here is my tutorial

for the small, diaper-bag sized zippered wet bag.

Gotta say that I LOVE this one

even more than my big one.

I wish I would have not been so scared of zippers

two years ago when we first started my

son with cloth diapers!

Scratch that.

I wish I would have had this bag

right after I had my oldest

to have a place to put in all those spit up clothes

and burp rags and all of the other

kinds of messes such small babies make.

You know what I'm talking about!

The zippered wet bag has all the seams

hidden neatly inside so you can't see them.

I got a little lazy on this one.

You can see the seams,

but it was a LOT faster to make!

For this bag, I tried out the plasticy side of the PUL.

Gotta admit I wish I would have used the other side.

So plan accordingly when you make your own.

{MATERIALS}

A zipper--I chose invisible because I think it looks prettier for just a few cents more

choose the length based on how big you want your bag to be

I chose 7-9 inch

thread

sewing machine with zipper foot attachment

cutting mat and scissors

pins

iron (not optional this time!)

leftover material from the drawstring diaper bag

OR

enough material for:

2 rectangles of cotton fabric

2 rectangles of PUL

You'll want the size to be as long as the full length of the zipper you choose.

And you can make it as deep as you want.

Mine were 12 inches by 12 inches.

I wanted a bag big enough to hold at least 3 wet diapers for longer outings.

{1} cut out your fabric, 2 rectangles each of

This should be the length of your zipper by the depth you want.

Or if you want to be difficult like me,

you can make it a 12 x 12 square

and have to fix up the ends by the zipper later. :)

{2} Place one square of the outer cotton fabric face up,

add the zipper on top, face down

then the PUL face down.

If you made your fabric longer than the zipper like I did,

center the zipper in the fabric.

You'll line them up.

I just wanted to show you what it was going to look like.

I pinned the zipper end together so it wouldn't go anywhere.

{3} Before you start sewing, attach the zipper foot to your sewing machine.

If you're like me, you'll probably have to pull out your book

to figure out how to use it.

But I'm giving myself some grace...this was my first zipper!

So for all you zipper newbies, don't be intimidated!

It looks much harder than it really is!

{4} Pin the sides together with as few pins as you can.

Each time you poke the PUL you make holes...

while this bag wouldn't hold a quart of water,

it still works just fine to keep in all those

dirty diapers or messy clothes.

Then start to sew, remembering to back stitch on both ends.

{5} When you're done sewing, pull back both sides of the cloth

to admire your handiwork. :)

Then repeat with the other side of the zipper

and the remaining pieces of fabric.

When both sides are done, it will look like this:

{6} Iron the seams along the zipper.

Be careful not to have your iron set too hot

or leave the iron on the fabric too long.

PUL does melt!

{7} Top stitch along the zipper.

{8} Open the zipper half way.

Don't forget this step

or you won't have any way to turn

your bag right side out

when you're all done!

{9} Lay your bag completely inside out

(both right sides of cotton fabric facing each other as shown in pic above)

Find where your zipper ends and where it starts.

Use your sewing machine to make a stitch

through all four pieces of fabric

just for that small little length

to help make sure your zipper won't come off

It's just an extra stitch on the same line as the top stitch you just added.

Here's another view from the other side...

{10} Leaving the bag lined up as before, sew around the three edges

but not the edge with the zipper.

I didn't pin it down.

Probably should have...

(Side note: If you want to hide the seams, there is a simple solution I overlooked.

Instead of sewing through all four pieces of fabric at once,

open up the fabric so the same pieces of fabric are touching on each side.

then sew around that entire thing but leaving yourself a

2-3 inch opening on the bottom side of the PUL.

The zipper will be in the middle, so you won't have the chance to sew it down. :))

{11} This is what it should look like when you're done:

(unless you decided to hide the seams)

Clip the corners to help make them lay better.

(If you hid the seams, pull it right side out through the

2-3 inch opening you left in the PUL fabric.

Once it's right side out, stitch up the 2-3 inch opening

with your sewing machine...it's the inside of the bag.

No one cares if it's perfect!)

Now all you have left to do is pull it right side out through

the opening of the zipper!

All done!

This project took me less than an hour.

Simple awesomeness.

I'd love to see some pictures of your finished products.

Leave me a link!