Proud to be Quirky Zipper Case
Hey Quirky Friends! This month our Quirky Club project is this too cute for words ring binder zipper pouch! As a part of our diversity month, we’ve included instructions for how to put this together with strips to make your own Pride flag version of the pouch, as well as instructions for putting it together using one main fabric. This project comes together in around an hour depending on how savvy you are and is SO much fun! We hope you enjoy making it as much as we did! xx Stay Quirky!
Materials Required
- Main fabric* Cut 1 at 16” x 10.5”
- Coordinating Fabric Cut 1 at 2” x 10.5”; Cut 2 @ 4” x 1.25” (zipper tabs); Cut 1 at 1” x 6” (loop strips)
- Zipper 10” or longer
- Clear Vinyl ** Cut at 10.5″ x 6.5″
- Piece of string or small ribbon
- Teflon sewing machine foot
*See here for our pride flag dimensions, construction, and pride flag fabric guide. TIP: If using a fabric think about which direction you’d like your fabric if it’s directional.
**TIP: You can use bag making vinyl or a neat trick is table cloth vinyl, many hardware stores sell it buy the metre – including some with sparkles! The lighter the vinyl, the easier it will be to turn out at the end.
Bernina Foot of the Month
Zig Zag Foot with Non Stick Sole #52
Zig Zag Foot with Non Stick Sole #52C
Zig Zag Foot with Non Stick Sole #52D
Instructions
1. Don’t burn your fingers, it’s Ironing time. Take your main piece and fold it in half with the shorter edges together. Press.
2. Next, Press 2” x 10 1/2” strip just like a piece of bias tape. Fold in half lengthwise, press. Open and fold raw edges to centre, press. Then fold down centre and press again.
3. Now your zipper tabs. Press the short ends to the wrong side about 1/2”. Then fold in half and press.
4. Decrease your stitch length to about .30mm and stitch a piece of ribbon or string to one short end on the right side of your loop. Fold in half, long sides together. Stitch down the long side. Use your string or ribbon to pull the fabric right side out. Cut into 2.5” pieces. Alternatively you can press your 1” x 2 1/2” loop strips just like tiny bias tape too. Be careful as these are tiny and you don’t want to burn your fingers. If you want to make it really easy using some coordinating ribbon as the loops will work too.
HOT TIP! (pun intended!!!) A mini iron is a lot easier to use on small pieces of fabric. You can grab one in-store or online here.
5. OK, Now all our bits are prepped let’s get sewing!
6. If you decided to iron the loop piece then sew it together along the folded edges. TIP: These are tiny and fiddly we found it easiest to place the strip over one feed dog and move the needle position over to line up. Wrap the 10 1/2” long folded strip around one long edge of the vinyl piece. Use clips to hold in place and stitch close to the folded edges. This is now your ‘bound vinyl piece.’ This is the step when your Teflon foot works it’s magic as it slides over the plastic.
7a. Wrap one zipper tab around the top (open) end of the zipper. Stitch across the folds.
7b. Lay your zip against the bound piece lining up the zipper tab with one end and cut to the same length. Stitch your zipper tab on the remaining open end. STAY SHARP! DO NOT USE YOUR FABRIC SCISSORS TO CUT THE ZIPPER!!!!
8. Place the bound vinyl piece right on top of one of the zipper tapes. We used washaway tape to keep the zipper in place.
9. The strip will go right across the top, centred, over the tabs, and close to, but not touching the zipper teeth. Stitch about 1/4” from the first row of stitching. Use a zipper foot if you need to. We moved the needle right across to the right and lined the zip up with the foot.
10a. Now stick the folded edge of your main fabric to the opposite zipper tape with washaway. Centre it opposite the bound vinyl piece.
10b. Stitch close to the folded edge, and then topstitch 1/4” away from that.
11. Open the back half of the large folded piece under the vinyl. Fold the loop strips in half and baste in place over the Front side of the vinyl along the raw edge . The loops should be about 3” in from either end, or line up with rings in your ring binder (you can add 3 loops for bigger binders.)
12a. Fold the fabric back right sides together with the vinyl and loops sandwiched in between. Clip in place. DON’T GET CAUGHT IN A JAM! Leave the zipper open to make turning out a little easier.
12b. Stitch around three sides (not the side with a zipper) with a 3/8” or 1cm seam allowance and leaving a 3” opening along one short edge for turning. Clip corners and trim away bulky seams. CLIP CLIP! Use 2 clips to mark your stop/start point for your gap. This helps prevent unpicking when you forget to leave a turning gap!
12b. Turn zipper case right side out. It might seem confusing with the vinyl sandwiched in between the fabric… you’ll just have to peek on either side of the vinyl and turn on the side where the zipper is right side out. If you left your zipper open, it is easy to turn the right way. Press CAREFULLY and only on the BACK. Do not touch the vinyl with your iron.
12c. Topstitch around three sides (not the zipper side), closing the opening. Keep the vinyl side up so it doesn’t stick to your machine and the foot will just glide over the vinyl.
13. And you’re finished! Whip these little cuties up for all of your binders and fill with pencils and pens, or scissors and seam rippers!
A few extra tips! You don’t want your dog feeds to touch your Teflon foot as it will scratch the Teflon away. When sewing really small items or on the edge put a piece of fabric or paper over the feed dogs so the foot is protected. Use clips instead of pins to prevent holes in your vinyl. If you do use pins make sure they are in the seam allowance.
Resources
Bernina’s Big Book of Feet will give you lots of ideas to use all the fabulous feet and accessories by Bernina.
Buy your copy here
Also…Check out Bernina’s you tube clip on this blogs featured foot.