Make Up Bag Tutorial

         This was originally written as a guest post for Janel at Hating Martha.  I thought I would go ahead and share it here just incase you missed it the first time around...or if you're new...I kept all of the same text from the original post, so you can get the full picture of how excited I was to do a guest post!
     First, a huge thank you to Janel for inviting me to post over here at Hating Martha!  I’ll let y’all in on a little secret – I’ve never guest posted before, so this is a huuuge deal for me, and I couldn’t be more excited!  I love the whole idea of this blog – perfection is overrated, and I think we all just need to cut ourselves a little slack sometimes.  Also…I’m not great at the whole tutorial writing thing so you’ll have to bear with me.

    When Janel first emailed me, I spent a few days trying to figure out what I should post about.  At first, I had this simple little idea about a headband made out of some left over t-shirts with some flowery embellishment.  I guess that was okay, but it didn’t really grab me, so I started digging through my fabric box and found all new inspiration!

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     In case you can’t really tell, that is some adorable purple floral (that I previously had made into an applique shirt for my niece) and denim (which I have a ton of).
    With no planning, pattern, or idea of what I was doing, I leapt into making a make-up bag.  Now, you lucky readers get to relive that journey with me…
You will need
     two 6x12 in. rectangles of denim (if you’re smart…I was not…you will leave about 1/4 in. for seam allowances) – for the front and back
     two 2x12 in. rectangle of denim (again with seam allowances) – for the top and bottom
     two 2x6 in. rectangles of denim (do I have to say it again…) – for the sides
     one zipper (mine was 14 in.)
     three 2x24 in. strips of whatever fabric you want (mine are the ones pictured above) – to decorate the front
How-to (sort of)
     1.  Place your bottom strip of fabric on the (future) front of your bag – I made the mistake of starting at the top…possible but not easy.  Gather into pleats and pin all the way across, leaving no excess fabric.  Sew in a straight line across the top.

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Shown with pins before stitching

     2.  Repeat with the second and third strips, making sure to cover your stitching, except at the top.
     3.  This is where it gets a little crazy…also where I mostly quit taking pictures – sorry!  Take the bottom piece (2x12) and lay it face down, or right side to right side, with your ruffly front piece.  Line it up along the bottom and sew in a straight line making sure to catch all of your ruffles in between so they don’t pull off.
    4.  Sew the back piece (6x12) to the bottom piece in the same way you did the front making sure that when the front and back are upright that all of the wrong sides are toward the “inside.”
     5.  With the “bag” inside out, place one of the side pieces right side to right side with the front, lined up along the edge.  Sew in a straight line.
     6.  Repeat with the other edge of the same side piece, sewing it to the back piece.  You will have to maneuver very carefully from here on out.  Lots of pinching your fabric so you don’t resew something you’ve already done!
     7.  Very carefully sew the bottom edge closed.
     8.  Repeat 5-7 with the other side piece.  It should look something like this:

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Hopefully yours is tidier…but I won’t judge you if it isn’t!

     9.  With the bag still inside out, take the last piece of fabric (2x12), and cut it in half lengthwise.  Take one of these pieces and place it right side to right side with the top edge of the bag, and sew along the top.
     10.  With your zipper still zipped, line it up (right side to right side) with the edge of the 1x12 piece you just sewed, and sew in a straight line as close to the zipper as you can get.
     11.  Repeat 9-10 with the remaining strip of fabric and the zipper.
     12.  I switched to hand-sewing for this part.  Sew along the short edges of your top making sure to connect the top pieces with the sides and getting in as close to the zipper as possible so there aren’t any gaping holes.  Also be sure to leave any tails or excess zipper on the inside of the bag (unless you want to get industrious and shorten your zipper)!

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     I really hope that this was at least somewhat clear for all of you!  I (obviously) didn’t use a pattern, but I’m sure there is one for something similar.  This could easily be modified to have a liner on the inside, and the outside could be decorated however you want; I’ve just been itching to try ruffles!
     Frayed edges? Check.  Wildly uneven seams? Check.  Totally visible marking on the inside? Check.  Good enough and entirely useable? Double check.
     If you managed to survive this tutorial, I hope you’ll all stop by Cupcakes and Candy Canes and follow along!  Thanks again, Janel; I had a ball!

Allyson

14 comments

Mae said...

Love this!!! Soo cute!

Whitney @ EHFAR said...

Love this! I wish I knew how to sew!

Allyson McGuire said...

Thank you so much! I have never done anything with this many steps - I'm so glad it turned out!

Allyson McGuire said...

Thanks! This is more complex than anything I've ever done, but surprisingly it wasn't all that hard!

Melissa {www.grinandbarrettblog.com} said...

I love your blog! This tutorial is so awesome!

I cannot wait to see more posts.

xo,

Melissa
Grin and Barrett Blog

rebecca said...

props to you lady! I'm impressed.

Allyson McGuire said...

Thank you so much! I'm not great at tutorials, but I'm glad this one was ok!

Allyson McGuire said...

Thanks! I was kind of shocked that it worked out!

Allyson said...

This is so cute! I'm a new follower but already know I will love your blog, just because your name is Allyson and you spell it the correct way. ;)

Allyson McGuire said...

Thank you so much! When I first saw my notification that you left a comment I thought it was from me...I'm just not used to seeing it spelled right!

Kerrie Williams said...

adorable!

Allyson McGuire said...

Thanks! I still haven't figured out what I want to do with it!

Lisa @ MMT said...

So cute! I really, really wish I knew how to sew so I could make one of these! You got to mad sewing skills girl :)

Allyson McGuire said...

Thanks! This was so much easier than I thought it would be!