Keep your makeup handy with this nifty makeup bag. Color blocking on the outside, gives
it a modern look, plus it has a zipper closure and lining. Let’s go ahead and get started!
This is a good project to use your fabric scraps on. You’ll need ⅛ of yard of main
fabric, ¼ of a yard of a contrasting fabric, and ⅓ of a yard of lining. For the main
and contrasting fabrics, I recommend choosing a cotton canvas or poplin type fabric. For
the lining, I chose a quilter’s cotton.
The other supplies needed are: one 9” zipper, ⅓ of a yard of fusible interfacing, and
all purpose thread. The tools you’ll need for this project are
a sewing machine, iron, pins and needles, fabric and paper scissors, ruler, paper and pencil.
You’ll need to create three pattern pieces.
The first one is just a rectangle that’s 4 ½” by 9 ¾”. Label it Makeup Bag - Top.
Next, draw another rectangle, this time 3 ⅝” by 9 ¾”.
At the two bottom corners, draw a box that’s 1 ⅜” and 1 ⅛”. You can erase the lines
on the outer side of these boxes because we’re creating a notched edge.
Label this pattern Makeup Bag Bottom. On the bottom notched edge write “place on fold”.
For the last pattern, draw a rectangle that 7 ¾” by 9 ¾”.
At the bottom two corners, you’ll again do your notched boxes, 1 ⅜” and 1 ⅛”.
Here’s a look at this final pattern. Mark it Makeup Bag Lining. On the bottom notched
edge, write “place on fold”. All these patterns have a ¼” seam allowance included.
Next, you’ll want to cut out your fabric. Cut two from your main fabric, using the makeup
bag top pattern. Cut one from your contrasting fabric from the makeup bag bottom pattern.
Don’t forget to place the bottom edge on the fold of the fabric. And from the makeup
bag lining, cut 1 on the fold from your lining and from your interfacing
Let’s start the assembly of the makeup bag. Start with the makeup bottom piece, unfolded,
and match the unnotched edges with the long edges of makeup top pieces. Pin the long edges
right sides together on both sides.
Sew a seam that’s ¼” on both of the pinned sides.
Press the seam allowances, but keep them closed,
going towards the contrasting bottom fabric.
Looking at the right side, top stitch next to the seam line, sewing on the contrasting fabric side and attaching the seam allowances
underneath. Use a contrasting thread color to make it stand out.
Attach your fusible interfacing to your lining piece by placing the textured side of the
interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric. Cover with a press cloth and spray with water
until damp. Place a hot iron over one section and leave for about 5 seconds. Then lift the
iron and move to another section. Keep repeating until the interfacing is completely fused to the fabric.
Take your zipper and line it up with the long
raw edge of one of your makeup top sections. It doesn’t matter which side you choose.
The zipper should be centered. Right side of zipper to right side of fabric. Put a couple
of pins to hold.
Take your lining and place it on the outer shell makeup fabric, lining everything up,
again right sides together. Pin the lining on the same edge the zipper is on. So you’re
pinning through three layers. The main fabric and lining are sandwiching the zipper tape.
Sew this edge at your sewing machine, using a zipper foot and getting close to the teeth
as possible. If you have trouble getting around the zipper tab, keep the zipper unzipped and
then halfway through the seam, you can then zip the zipper and finish the seam.
Lay out your project so the fabrics are facing right side up and the zipper is in the middle.
Now take the bottom long edge of the main fabric and bring it up to match the free edge
of the zipper tape.
Take the bottom edge of the lining and match it with the same edge. Pin all three layers
together and sew this edge at your sewing machine using the zipper foot.
Lay it on your table, it should all be wrong side out and the notched edges should be on
both of the short ends. Make sure to unzip your zipper almost all the way and pin the
two long sides together.
On the lining side, put a pair of X’d pins about 3” apart. You’ll sew a ¼” seam
on the two long edges but on this side, you’ll start sewing, stop when you get to the first
X and then continue sewing at the second X until the end of the edge.
So there will be no stitches between the X’s.
Pull each notched corner apart so that the
seam allowance, ends up in the middle. This will create an angled edge. Pin and sew a
¼” seam allowance.
Through the opening we left in our lining with our X’d pins, we can now flip the whole thing right side out.
It’s even easier if that zipper is unzipped.
Close the opening in the lining using a slip stitch.
I have thread on a hand needle and I pinned my lining hole closed.
So I just tucked in the raw edged on the inside.
My thread is coming up here on the first side.
I'm going to grab a little bit of the folded edge on the second side.
And then gently pull it so I am bringing the edges together.
Now that I am on the second side I go back to the first side.
Grab a little bit of that folded edge
And then gently pull it.
I'm going to keep zig zagging back and forth until I get to the end of my hole.
Put the lining inside of your makeup bag and we’re just about done!
Lastly, I like to top stitch around the top of the bag, next to the zipper. This will
not only make it look nicer, but keep the lining inside so it won’t get caught in
the zipper teeth. It will probably be hard going all the way around because of the zipper
tab, so just go around as much as you can, using a zipper foot.
And here we have the finished makeup bag! The outside looks nice and it’s completely
lined on the inside. Here’s another one I made with a tassel pull on the zipper. If
you want to add something similar, watch our tassel necklace tutorial and I’ll show you
how to make your own tassel. If you make one of these makeup bags, please share a picture
with us on social media.
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please subscribe to get notified of our weekly releases.
Also, check out Professorpincushion.com to view our complete library with well over 350
sewing tutorials. If you would like to directly support us, you can check out our patreon
campaign and earn some exclusive perks. Thanks for watching!