How to Add a Zip Opening to a Bag

Life is hard. It’s even harder if you’re stupid.
–Anonymous

I meant to do this post a while ago, but between the new ipad and the good weather I got distracted. I actually wanted to write the post on the ipad. But it would have taken me forever Devil . So I’ve only played around with the pictures on it, but done the rest on the PC.

Last month during my April Challenge I made a bag which I could not close. At the time I did not want to waste time as I did not know how long the other projects will take, but I always wanted to add some kind of closure. After adding a zipper to the Hobo bag from Amy Butler’s Style Stitches I was sure I’ll do the same thing with this one. It was just a matter of time.

So this is how I did it.

Out of the coat my work friend gave me some time ago, I still had plenty of fabric left for this so I just used it to make the zip closure. I did not have any more of the red,black, grey fabric left so I decided to use the coat lining on the zip lining. I already used it on the bag handles so that the contrast is not as big on the outside.

But I needed a bit more so I also used this: Every time I pushed him over, he decided that I needed help and he needed to protect my tools. So I gave up, and accepted Ginger’s help Rolling on the floor laughing . He is such as sweetheart. In my case, because I knew I will need to add a closure was only attached to the main body of the bag through the topstitching. You might need to undo the bottom of the lining, turn it over and undo the lining, main fabric stitching at the top. I measure my lining, as it was easier, you can measure for best results your bag. Mine came to 41cm. I picked a zip 4cm smaller than the opening, for ease in inserting it. So my zip + seam allowance on both ends resulted in 40cm. I marked the position on the lining from where I want the zip to start on one end at 2.5cm away from the side. I divided by two the difference between my zip length and the one of the lining. This way your zip will be centred. I drew my rectangles directly on the fabric, but if you find it easier just make a paper pattern that you can then pin to fabric and cut. I made my piece 6cm wide including the seam allowance. You can make it wider if you want. Just keep in mind how much distance you have from side seam and make it no more than 1cm wider as your back closure will be to wide for the bag itself. I missed some pictures here. I pined and then tacked the main fabric to one side of the zipper. Then I did the same with the lining piece. Once both sided were tacked I stitched them together. You may stitch after each stage. I just wanted so save some time. Then again I got a bit carried away, and forgot to take some pictures. But remember we made a mark on the lining/bag. I pinned my zip to the bag and then tacked in place, then i did the same with the lining. Once that done I’ve done that, I did two rows of topstitching from the front.