change purse tutorial

as promised, here's the tutorial.pattern for the little change purse I made yesterday.
be warned there are a lot of pictures. (you can click on each picture to get a bigger view)
if you would like, you can also view the tutorial as a slide show from my flickr album


gather your materials
you will need:
2 4x6 pieces of fabric, a short zipper (length isn't too important, so don't worry if all you can get is a longer zipper), sewing machine and thread, scissors and an iron.


fold each of your pieces of fabric in half, with right sides together. Press.


With zipper closed, place the zipper in the fold of one of your fabric pieces. Center the fabric on the zipper, making sure the pull tab is out of the way.


Sew along the folded edge


Unfold fabric and refold wrong sides together, press. (be careful not to melt your zipper!)


Repeat on the other side of the zipper with your other piece of fabric.


press again.


Unzip the zipper so that the pull tab is "inside" the fabric.


Fold the zipper in half so that the teeth are on top and the fabric pieces are together.
Sew each end of the zipper several times along the edge of the fabric.


Trim away the excess zipper, being careful not to cut where you just sewed everything together.


Making sure that the zipper pull tab is in the center of the fabric. Unfold the very top and very bottom piece of fabric so that you now have two flaps of fabric (right sides together) above and below the zipper.


Sew along first one side, then the other side. Making sure the back stitch several times over the zipper to secure it.


Sew along the top edge (the piece that will be the outside of your purse, if you are unsure which end this is, it's the one where you can see the top of the zipper and the pull tab from.)

Then sew along the bottom edge, leaving about an inch gap unsewn in the middle. Trim your corners. And trim the ends of the zipper flush with the fabric. (not shown in the picture)


Pull everything right side out through the gap you left in the inside bottom edge.
Make sure to poke out your corners. And sew up the hole.


Push the lining fabric inside the change purse, making sure everything is neat and tidy, and admire your handiwork!