Tutorial: little leather cases

Here comes the promised tutorial about how I sew leather pouches. Either as pencil cases or as make-up cases or as little pouches for whatever you want to put inside!

The idea of sewing them like this has it's origin here, I just made some additions.

Step 1: Like always you have to chose your material first. For a make-up case it is a piece of leather about the size 18x35cm. For pencil cases it is 50cm length and the height can vary depending on the height you want for your case (about 12cm is fine). You will also need a piece of endless zipper that is about 2cm longer than your piece of leather, a zipper foot and a decorative ribbon.

Step 2: Open up the zipper on the hole length, you will only need half of it. (Therefor I propose to sew always two cases at the same time) I use fabric glue to fix the zipper along the long side of the leather at the outside. Make sure that the zipper teeth are  not covered by leather and that the sipper is with the right side up. On the downside the zipper teeth are on one level with the edges, on the front they are a bit higher.

Step 3: When the glue is dry, sew the ribbon onto the leather along the zipper covering the edges of the zipper.

Step 4: Fold the leather in half and fiddle on the zipper foot. Therefor I fix the leather with a clip to have my hands free for the zipper. It is working easiest, when the zipper on one side is a little shorter than on the other side. Slide the zipper foot on the longer side. When the foot is on the same height add the second side into it. Normally with a little pull the zipper foot slides on easily.

Step 5: Fix the zipper end with some zig-zag-stitches so it won't rip off again. Then open the zipper at least half, turn the left side of the leather out and close the two open edges. I use these paperclips instead of needles to hold the two layers in place. 

Step 6: At the downside corners, fold the leather so that the side seam is on the bottom seam. This is only working easy at one side. At the other side you don't have a side seam. There you have to fold the leather and mark the fold with a non permanent marker. Mark a line rectangular to the bottom seam. For my beauty case I made the line 4cm long. Sew on the line and cut of the triangle in the corner. 

Step7: Turn the case and you are ready!

You can do those cases with all materials that are not fraying. For example canvas. 

Also you can add what ever application you like to the body before you come to step 4. 

I like this method very much, as it is fast and you have a clean finish. Working with leather I like to have as few seams as possible. When sewing seams that are through more than one layer of leather, the stitches are sometimes not very even, but in the end this is not visible as all those seams are inside. 

I hope this tutorial is useful to you. Have fun trying out!

A bientôt,
Jane