My First Zippered Pouch

I woke up early this morning to help my husband pack for a business trip, and since it was Saturday, the kids were sleeping late.  Once we finished the packing, I had no reason not to tackle the zippered pouch and tissue holder that I already had cut out.

As you can imagine, the tissue holder was a breeze and took no more than 5 minutes to finish.

The zippered pouch took me a little longer.  Maybe an hour.  You see, I have never sewn a zipper into anything before.  The whole idea just scared me, that is, until I actually tried it.

I had used a Simplicity pattern I purchased recently for a $1 at Hobby Lobby, but it was not until I got home and read the instructions that I realized the pouch was not lined.  I couldn't believe it!  Why would someone need a pouch that wasn't lined?  Just seemed really weird to me, so I decided to make mine lined and figure out how to put it all together with a zipper as I went along.

It ended up being much easier than I thought it might be.  You see, the instructions for the unlined pouch called for hemming the top of the pouch and then just sewing the zipper to the inside.  So that is what I did.  I just sewed the outer pouch and lining together first, then hemmed it, then sewed the zipper in.

But the first time, I somehow didn't get the ends of the zipper lined up with the end seams of the pouch, so I had to pick it out and try again.  The second time, I was much more careful to notice where everything lined up, and it went in with no problems!  What a relief!

Now I have this adorable ensemble to use with my matching Pam's Purse! I've already organized my coupons and loaded them up in the pouch.  The inside of my purse is so neat and tidy!  Yeah!

And now I am no longer scared of zippers!  Mission accomplished!