DIY ZARA SEQUIN POUCH- Tutorial

I said it would happen, so here it is! Just in time for christmas. A DIY version of the Zara Sequin pouch. If you're not keen on forking out $60 for a little bag, then read on and follow the instructions below. Happy DIY''ing!

Zara People

What you will need

1. sequin fabric in colour of choice

2. Scrap fabric for lining

3. scissors

4. needle and thread

5. zipper

Optional

6. 'facing'

7. Sewing machine

The Fabric

I chose this black sequin and hand beaded fabric that I had sitting in my fabric box for over a year. I’ve never really had any use for it until now! Sequin fabric can run on the expensive side, so I would recommend checking out the scraps/remnants box at your local fabric store. This is where fabric goes when there is only a small amount left, and so not enough to stay on the roll. I picked up over a metre of this fabric from a remnants box for only $4.50! So shop around and I’m sure you’ll find something that isn’t too pricey. Even if you cant find any in the remnants box, you should be able to get away with buying 20-30 cm’s from the roll, depending on how big you want your pouch. A word of warning- even though the hand beading on this fabric is beautiful, it was such a hassle to sew! So if you are planning to use a sewing machine, do not get beaded fabric! 

The Zipper

I love the big gold zipper that you can see in the picture below as it is more true to the Zara version. But it was too small for this project. So I opted for a regular black dress zipper, mainly for the cost advantage. It will set you back about $2 at your local fabric store. 

Step One

Cut 2 pieces of the sequin fabric and two pieces of the lining fabric into rectangles of the same size. Make them about 1.5 cms bigger than you would like the final pouch size to be. This will allow for seams when you sew them together. 

So you should have 4 pieces of fabric (or 6 if you are using ‘facing’)

Step Two

Pin the lining fabric to the inside of the sequin fabric and stitch it down. If you are using the facing you will need to stitch this in as well. You should have now have a piece of fabric that is two layers thick; the sequin layer and the lining layer (or three layers with the facing). Repeat this step for the other pieces of fabric. You will now have two pieces of fabric, with each being two layers thick (or 3 with the lining.. I think you get the point :). 

Step Three - adding the zipper

Place the two pieces of fabric together so that the ‘right sides’ of the sequin fabric are facing each other. What I mean by 'right sides' is the side of the fabric that will be on the outside when the pouch is finished. So place the fabric together so that the sequin sides of the fabric are ‘kissing each other’. This is important, so that when you eventually come to turn the pouch out, the right side of the fabric will be on the outside. Now pin the fabric together along the side where you would like the zipper to be.

Take some white cotton (or any other bright colour) and make some very wide ‘tack’ stitches along where the fabric has been pinned. This stitching can be wide as it will be taken out later.

Now unfold the two pieces of fabric by opening the side that is unstitched and lay it out flat so that the 'wrong' side of the fabric is facing up- or in other words, the lining should be facing up. You should be able to unfold a flap where you have just done the tack stitching. This is where you place the zipper. 

Place the zipper face down in the middle of the part that you have just unfolded and pin the zipper down. Use a needle and thread or sewing machine to stitch the zipper down on each side of the teeth. Make sure you do a nice tight stitch all the way along the zipper, from the very top the very bottom. There is nothing worse than a loose zipper! 

Now you can unpick the white tack stitching  to  'reveal’ the zipper!  

Step Four

Now fold the 'right sides' of the fabric back together (i.e the sequin sides are 'kissing' again) and stitch all the way around the edge of the pouch . Make sure you unzip the zipper before you do this, otherwise you wont be able to turn the pouch out when you have finished.

Once you have stitched all the way around the rectangle, you can turn the pouch out the right way. In other words you are doing to opposite of turning it inside out. 

et voila!