Cosmetic Bags

Now that Christmas gift-opening has come and gone, I can share what I made for the ladies in our family - cosmetic bags. The only difference between a cosmetic bag and a regular zipper pouch is that I lined the cosmetic bag with fabric and a medium-weight clear vinyl.

I roughly followed this tutorial, though I was frustrated by the vague instructions that didn't indicate which side to which the zipper should be applied. Once I figured it out, I ended up making five bags.

To smooth the clear vinyl, I pressed it with a warm iron between layers of batting.

To personalize each bag, I played with one of the four alphabets on my Bernina 770QE, and chose decorative patterns to go with names. I stored everything in memory, in case I want to reuse or modify them in the future.

After posting a picture of my practice pieces on Instagram, I was given the wise suggestion to clip the jump thread between the lower case letter "i," and the dot, so it doesn't look like a lower case "l."

After practicing, I used a size 90 jeans needle to stitch onto Kraftex, a washable paper fabric with a lightweight fusible interfacing behind it. Have you seen Kraftex? I bought a package to try - of course the color is Tangerine Tango. Instructions say to wash it before sewing it into an item. It's neat stuff that has a sort of suede-look. One side is slightly different than the other.

It was a treat to use the dual feed feature and the #4D zipper foot. No more need to ease, to achieve a smooth zipper installation.

The only challenge I had was turning the bag right side out, after sewing the interior. That vinyl is stiff!

I'm keeping this one for me! Quilting is my SUPERPOWER.

These were gifted to family - Lyn, Celina, and Jill - and a friend, Patty.

I used a double-stitched blanket stitch, with matching orange thread, to appliqué the name bands onto the bags.

I sure enjoyed making these, and it felt even better to gift them. Linda