Sew a pouch

1 Download and print the templates by clicking the button above. Use them to cut two pieces in leather and another two from printed cotton. Replace your regular machine needle with a leather one so the needle can slip more easily into the leather.

2 Cut a 5.5cm x 8cm piece of printed cotton, fold and press in 1cm around all four edges. Cut a 2cm x 4.5cm piece of leather and place the strip in the centre of the fabric label. Insert an eyelet into each end of the leather strip through both layers, using the manufacturer’s instructions as a guide. Position the label centrally 4.5cm down from the curved edge on one of the leather bag pieces. Glue the label to hold in place while you edge stitch it in position.

3 From a scrap of printed cotton, cut two small rectangles measuring the width of your zip and 4cm long. Fold the rectangles in half and position them at each end of the zip, with the raw edges facing the top and base of the zip. Sew along each side, attaching them to the tape on each side of the teeth.

4 Take one of the leather pieces and lay the zip face down onto the curved top edge on the face of the leather. Hold the layers together using clips (pins will damage the fabric). Use a zipper foot to sew the zip to the leather, 5mm away from the edge of the zip tape and the edge of the leather. Repeat to attach the other leather piece to the other side of the zip.

5 Attach the lining pieces in the same way as before, but this time to the wrong side of the zip. Start and stop sewing 1.5cm away from the ends of the zip as this will enable the side seams to be stitched together right at the top of both side seams. Using fabric glue, stick the leather seam allowance on the underside of the zip to enable the seam to lay flat along the edges of the zip on the right side.

6 Fold the lining out of the way while you match the side seams of the two leather pieces together, with right sides of the leather facing. Attach a Teflon foot to your machine and stitch the side seams together and across the base using a 5mm seam allowance. Open out the seam allowances and glue in place.

7 Match together the end of one of the side seams to the adjacent base seam end, matching the cut edges together. Sew across again with a 5mm seam allowance and repeat on the opposite side. Stitch the side and base seams of the lining again with right sides facing. Leave a gap in the stitching line of approximately 5cm on one of the side seams.

8 Form and stitch the gussets, then turn out through the gap in the lining. Close the gap by either hand slip stitching or machine edgestitching. Fold the lining inside the bag and tease out all of the corners.

9 Make a zip pull by cutting a 1.5cm x 8cm strip of cotton fabric. Fold and press all the edges, then fold in half, sandwiching all the raw edges inside the strip. Edgestitch the folds in place. Attach a small split ring to the zip pull, then tie the prepared strip to the ring to finish.