Make Up Bag Tutorial

I love to get a new make up bag. I'm not sure why, but I do. I don't wear a lot of make up, so it isn't that they get worn out or broken from being over stuffed. I just get bored with them after a while, like 2 years, not every month or anything ridiculous. It doesn't make a lot of sense that I get bored with them because it takes me about 3 minutes to put my make up on each morning. (I'm not the most beautiful person in the world, I'm just pretty comfortable with how I look and the only other person whose opinion matters in this area is my husband and he's still here, so I must be okay to him too.)

About two weeks ago I picked my youngest daughter up early in the morning (early to her, not me) and she wasn't ready, so she brought her make up bag with her. Now, I bought her this bag while we were living in China, but that was about a year ago and apparently it has been through a lot in that time. I was horrified to think that her bag looked the way it does. Everyone should have a pretty bag to put their stuff in and look at every day. I decided I would make her a new bag as a surprise. (Hopefully she isn't reading this before I give her the bag.)

The two pictures below are the sad make up bag my daughter is currently using. The zipper is broken and it is being held together by yarn that she has to restring every time she gets in the bag.

I had not made a bag in the past and I didn't have a pattern, I just figured it out as I went a long. I went to the fabric store and picked out some fabric I thought she would like and lucky for me, I already had some fabric that I could use as a liner!

I also got a matching zipper and thread. The only other things I needed were my sewing machine, a tape measurer, a fabric pencil, pins and scissors, all of which I had already. Then I was ready to go!

A word of warning on the fabric. Make sure it is sturdy and if it is a definite pattern that has a direction, make sure to get enough so it looks good when the bag is done.

I decided how big I wanted the bag to be, based on the biggest item in her bag, plus a little more room for other things. She really likes make up, although she doesn't wear that much, except eyeliner. She really loves that stuff!

I used a 9 inch zipper and cut the largest piece to be 11 x 20 inches, which creates the sides and bottom of the bag. I cut one piece out of each piece of fabric.

Next I cut out the sides, 2 pieces of each fabric, to measure 11 x 5 inches. Then I cut in the side pieces so the top of the sides are thinner than the bottom.

This is what the side looks like.

Next I sewed the sides together, with the right sides in, leaving a small amount opened to turn the fabric. I did this for the main part of the bag and both sides.

Before I turned the fabric right side out, I trimmed around the sides and took the corners off to reduce the bulk.

After they were turned right side out, I ironed the pieces and in the section that was still open, I turned the seam inwards to match the rest of the piece and then sewed that portion closed.

This is what they looked like after they were ironed and sewn.

Then I found the exact middle of the large piece of fabric and matched the middle of the sides with it and sewed it in place, just at the bottom.

Now for each side I sewed the sides of the side pieces up to the sides of the large piece. (Are you following me?) The sides were longer than the main part of the bag, so I turned the ends inward to the bag and sewed them in place as well.