One Fat Quarter Project Bag - Sort Your WIPS!

I have so many projects to do.  There's new ones, ones that I've been planning for a while, and then the ones that have been hanging around for way too long.  My main issue, besides a lack of time and energy, is that they're all piled up in boxes and I've lost track of them completely.  So now I have this sudden free time on my hands, I thought I would get organised, and maybe finish some of them.

Instead I'm going to NOT do that for a moment and make some pouches to organise my projects into.  I thought of this project initially as a way to sort out my various projects, but I a) didn't want to invest too much time and b) didn't want to invest too much fabric.

So this unlined project bag takes about 1/2 an hour, and only uses a one fat quarter and one 30cm zip.  I used Ellen Baker linen fabric, and this zip.

First up, the cutting.  From your fat quarter, cut a 2" strip off the longest side.  From this strip cut 2 x 4" strips, and then discard the rest.  Cut the remainder of the fat quarter in half.

Take the two 2" x 4" strips, and press in half, and then a 1/4" hem on each short edge.

 Sandwich one of the ends of the zip centrally in the fold you've just created.  Place it so the zipper stop is a couple of millimetres inside the fabric.

Sew the flap closed.  Be careful as you sew across the teeth of the zip.

Repeat for the other side.  Then centre this zip (complete with tabs) face down along the longest edge of one of your large rectangles. Line up the raw edge of the fabric with the zipper tape (the tabs will overhang), and sew into place.

Flip the zip the right way up and topstitch on the fabric about 1mm away from the edge.  Go from edge to edge on the fabric - even on the part that doesn't attach to the zip.

Repeat for the other side of the zip, centering it face down in the middle of the other half of the fat quarter.

Sew, flip open, and then topstitch as before.  Trim off the excess of the tabs.

Now, we're going to veer away from normal here, as this is an unlined pouch, and we want to make it look neat inside.  So we're going to do french seams!

Turn your pouch the right way out and line up all raw edges.

Sew around the three open edges with a 1/4" seam.  Make sure to line up the top as best as you can, as this will be the most noticeable part.  Once you've sewn the edges, trim down the seam allowance to half of what it was.

Turn inside out and push out the corners as best you can.  Then re-sew the edges at 1/4" again.

Turn the right way out, and you're done.  This pouch is a nice roomy bag, but if you want more space, try using a fat quarter for each side for the ultimate big pouch.