This quick and easy clear bag tutorial will show you how you can sew your own clear bag! Great for keeping supplies and projects together. You can see all items inside!
Finding that it is sometimes hard to keep fabric in groups, or quilt kits all together, a clear bag is just the thing I needed! These are super easy to sew together and have a zipper top so they can be closed without letting little bits and pieces sneak out and get lost.
I thought that these are Perfect for project keepers….either sewing, paper, or whatever else you have in mind.
Besides being quick to make, you can adjust any of the sizes to accommodate whatever you had in mind to put inside. You could even make them a little set of 3 different sizes.
Materials Needed:
- 1 zipper per bag
- 2 strips of fabric per bag
- Plastic for the bag– I used the table plastic cover you can get from Joanne’s. I did medium thickness. Sewed great. If you get the thicker stuff or you find your plastic sticking terribly when sewing lay a piece of tissue paper under and on top of it when sewing. Then it can’t stick to your feed dogs or your pressure foot. ALSO: We cut our bag size (the length of the zipper + the width we wanted) with the fold at the bottom. This makes your life easy when trying to line things up before sewing the sides. Believe me!!
Want an ad-free, printable pdf of this tutorial? Scroll to the bottom for more details!
Additional Supplies
- Rotary cutter or a new sharp blade
- Cutting Mat
- Quilt Ruler
- Sewing Machine this brother is my favorite!
- Iron here or here
- Thread
- Bobbins
- Scissors
- Seam Ripper not my favorite thing to do!
Clear Bag Tutorial Instructions:
Pick out your zippers and cut 2 strips per bag.
Cut to 3″ by whatever the length of the zipper was. If you would like your bag smaller than the zipper than leave it long right now. you can trim it later.
To save some time and an extra step fold over one edge 1/4 inch to the wrong side and iron.
Line up the ironed edge to the zipper edge. Then sew in place using your zipper foot. That way you can get sort of closer to the zipper. We didn’t make ours invisible as you can see.
Repeat for both sides.
Lay open and flat the sewn strips- Place on top of the plastic. Sew this down using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Repeat with the other side.
Now you sort of have a tube. Open the zipper up so your hand can slip through (not fun to try and turn when it is closed). Fiddle with the sides and get them all lined up so there are no puckers or problems. Having the clear plastic fold at the bottom makes this very easy to adjust!!
Right sides will be facing.
Sew down each side of the bag.
Sew over the zipper too. –if the zipper is too long you may trim at this point. Then turn it right sides out! Tada!!
How cute is that?!
The smaller ones in the 1st picture at the top are the left over scraps.
They still had the fold on the bottom, but were a little longer and skinny. They work just as well.
If you are looking for a ‘fatter’ bag, you can box the corners.
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Click the button below and download the Printable Tutorial.
Here is a quick reminder on how to do this.
I found these kind of addicting. I have a pretty nice collection of different sizes. They are each full.
WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THE CLEAR BAG TUTORIAL TO YOUR FAVORITE DIY PINTEREST BOARD!
Becky Jorgensen is the creative quilter behind Patchwork Posse, the Patchwork Planner and her online quilt group Patchworkers Plus. You can find her patterns in books, magazines, and her quilt membership. Gather your quilting supplies, organize your sewing space, explore the process of disappearing quilt blocks, or finish a free quilt pattern. I'll help you use what you have, finish what you start and make your quilting journey fun!
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looks great……..
Do you plan to sell any of these? They’re fabulous! I’d make my own, but I have a Featherweight that doesn’t have a zipper foot.
How cute are these! Thank you
Thank you for all the great tutorials for beginners. Hope I can learn how to do some of the projects they look fun and like something I could do at the ripe old age of 66 I still love learning new stuff..
Jude in So Calif
thanks. 66 is the perfect age to start!!! 🙂
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This is a great idea, you could even use the scraps from the project that you are making to make your project bag. Thanks for the idea and I need to get busy!!
muy bueno tu tutorial!!! gracias
that would be totaly cute to have a matching set! thanks for the additional idea.
Adoreiii!!…vou fazer para colocar dentro de bolsa para praia ou piscina…obrigada..Bjsss JU
These would make super cute travel bags for cosmetics and such – Easy for TSA to see the contents.
That is a great idea! I hate it when they have to dig through all my stuff.
I am a beginner sewer and I wasn’t sure after sewing the cotton fabric to the zipper, where I was to add the vinyl to it. Couldn’t tell from the photo. I sewed it to the opposite end of fabric (from zipper) and it’s ok, but from the back the vinyl is attached completely to the upper fabric piece but on the lower fabric piece is where the vinyl is attached only to that lower fabric piece. It’s hard to explain. Maybe if you added a picture of the back of the completed bag, I could see what to do and if mine is correct. I could send you a picture of min if I had an email address for you. The bag turned out fine, just unsure if it’s right. 🙂
Love your tutorials!
Ok, what do you mean, the fold is at the bottom? Your picture does not show the bottom, so I am lost.
There must be a step missing in the tute. After sewing the zip to both fabrics the tute says “lay open and flat the sewn strips”. Not sure what that means. I’m thinking that the back is all vinyl; front is fabric and vinyl. So the vinyl top edges (fr and bk) are to be sewn to each fabric raw edge, making a tube; then reposition it so all fabric is on the front side. Open zip and sew both sides together. Turn RSO. Done. By the way, I read in a tote instruction book that you can press vinyl seams using freezer paper. The vinyl seams stick together. Anybody try this?
Looks great thanks for all the free Tutorials
Gracias, es una gran idea para hacer un estuche de lápices!!!
I love this idea for keeping bundles of my projects together. However, I did make a change to make these bags work better for my purposes. I added a clear pocket to the front of the bag a bit bigger than the size of a business card and inserted a card with info about the project: who it’s for, what pattern, where is the pattern, do I need anything else to complete the project, etc.
what a wonderful idea! I might have to add that suggestion with a new bag and tutorial. thank you!
Great idea for quick project bags – these would make perfect little gifts for my quilt group. What type of thread did you use?
Cyndi, you don’t need a zipper foot! In fact the narrow little st stitch foot on a FW is great for this. GIve it a try.
I LOVE this idea! Seems to be just what I needed to be motivated to organize my pending projects. Having them ready to use like this will save me time and allow me to just pick a bag and get started on a new project “just like that”! Thanks you so much!
Thank you for showing us how to make these project bags. Can you please tell me what gauge or what color paper is behind the vinyl? I went to joanns and they had a lot of different vinyls. Also, what size needle did you use to sew the vinyl? Thanks for giving me any answers to help.
When I get this far, there is no page number to click! “Click the page # below to finish up your bag”. Am I missing something? Thankyou
The instructions seem to be incomplete. How do I find the rest of the tutorial?
The instructions are incomplete. How can I get the rest of the instructions?