Project organizer bag

by Linda Theil

This is a 21x18-inch project-organizer bag with:

#5 double-headed, zippered opening;
#5 double-headed, zippered, and interlined front pocket;
quilted back;
see-through, vinyl window;
and bound edges.

The fabrics for this bag are a selection from the 2020 "Winter Flower Show" collection by Liberty Fabric for Liberty Fabric.

The bag was inspired by a Missouri Star Quilt Co. video titled "Create a vinyl zipper pouch with Misty" available on YouTube. Follow Missouri Star Quilt Co. video (linked here and below) to make bag; to make my changes see information that follows.

I made changes to the bag by increasing the size of the bag to 21 x 18-inches using a fat quarter of fabric, and adding a zippered pocket to the front of the bag. I also used a traditional zipper insertion to the top of the bag instead of the pre-flanged zipper used in the video.

Materials needed:

two pieces coordinating fabric 21 x 18-inches
one piece of batting 20.5 x 17.5-inches

Sandwich batting between fabric pieces, and quilt for back of bag, and set aside.

one piece of coordinating fabric 21 x 18-inches
lightweight, iron-on interlining 20.5 x 17.5-inches

Iron interlining to wrong side of fabric for front pocket.

two 22-inch #5 zippers with double zipper pulls; one for front pocket, and one for top of bag
two pieces coordinating fabric 21 x 4.5-inches for zipper insertion at top of bag -- folded in half and pressed with steam-iron
transparent, medium-weight vinyl plastic 21 x 10-inches for transparent window front of bag. I cut this larger, and adjusted the size before final insertion.
2-2.5 yards of prepared binding. I use 2.5-inch strips folded twice for my binding and sew one layer to the back, fold over to the front at the center pressed line, and topstitch the folded-under second half of the binding to the front of the project. You will need two yards if you use the top of the zipper flange to bind the top of the bag; you will need an extra half-yard if you bind the bag all around.

For zipper insertion on top of the bag, I sewed the folded edge to the top half of the #5 zipper, topstitched, and left loose edges free to adjust size of bag-front if needed; I use extra length to bind the top of the bag; or you can trim even with back and bind all around with binding strips, instead, if you prefer.

For the bottom of the bag zipper, I sewed the loose edges to the zipper, topstitched, and folded the fold of the fabric into an "M" shape, forming a channel where I could sandwich the top of the vinyl panel and then topstitched the vinyl in place.

Here is how I added the zippered pocket:

I applied iron-on, lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of a 21 x18-inch fat quarter of fabric.
I applied a 22-inch, #5 zipper with two zipper pulls to the 21-inch width of the fabric with one side of the zipper tape on each of the raw edges of the fabric, creating a tube of fabric when the zipper was closed.
With the zipper unzipped, I topstitched each side of the zipper.
I zipped the zipper, and folded the interlined, fabric tube in half with the zipper placed about three inches from the top of the tube.
I pressed the tube with an iron and then cut the top of the tube along the pressed crease at the top.
Then I folded each raw edge, wrong-sides-together, about 1/2-inch from the cut edges, and pressed with iron.
I inserted the vinyl between the two folded edges and topstitched the vinyl window in place above the pocket zipper.

Put the completed bag-front face-up on the quilted bag back, and trim the edges all around.