A while ago I bought this super cute cat fabric on Etsy but I found the ink bled in the wash. I really love this fabric but was afraid it might stain anything against it red. Then I read about how to make my own laminate fabric using an iron with this Thermoweb Iron-On Vinyl
This is the first time I’ve worked with Thermoweb iron-on vinyl and I find it’s pretty easy to use. This is a great post I found sewing with laminate fabric and the author also used this same brand of iron-on vinyl to make their laminate fabric. One thing not mentioned was using a walking foot
I wanted to use french seams for the interior of my pouch so I wouldn’t need to sew up the gap left after I turned the fabric right side out. You can also take a look at my reversible drawstring pouch where I used french seams. I left a 5/8″ gap on either side of my zipper end by putting in a zipper tab so the french seams wouldn’t encase part of the zipper. I didn’t show this step but if your zipper is too long, just cut a little longer than the length you need and then sew in the zipper tabs on each end.
To sew in the zipper, you need to make a sandwich. On the bottom is the lining fabric right side up. The middle is the edge of the zipper with the zipper pull facing up. The last piece is the exterior fabric wrong side up. Here is a picture of the fabric order. Note I turned up the exterior fabric to take this picture.
The end result looks like this before you sew with your zipper foot. When you are done sewing one side, use the same fabric sandwich to sew the other side of the zipper.
Here is the zipper sewn in. Topstitch each side so the edges won’t get caught when you open and close the zipper.
Sew wrong sides facing each other with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Then turn your pouch inside out and sew with a 1/2″ seam to make sure the 1/4″ seams sewn on the outside are encased. I found the laminate made the edges bulky so I’m not sure using a smaller seam allowance would’ve worked.
The vinyl wrinkled a lot even turning it inside out to sew the french seams. Make sure you save the waxy paper the vinyl was adhered to. Place the shiny side of the paper on top of the vinyl to iron out the wrinkles. DO NOT IRON THE LAMINATE SIDE DIRECTLY BECAUSE IT WILL MELT! If you laminate the exterior and interior make sure you don’t iron with laminate sides touching because the heat of the iron will make them stick to each other.
Now I have a cute laminate pouch I can use the next time I travel =)
What a practical little pouch….and quite pretty too.
Love this plaid pouch!! It’s adorable!!! Thanks for rejuvinating this post at Tuesday Archives!!!
I bought some iron on vinyl a little while back and so was very interested in reading about your experience. Your little pouch is darling! Thanks for the tips.
Love that pouch! The cat fabric is very cute indeed! I had no idea about iron-on vinyl! Thanks for the links.
-Soma
Very cute pouch! Great way to mitigate potential bleeds.
I’ve pinned this to my tutorial page. It’s not only informative about laminate, but also about zippers, which I’ve yet to try. Thanks!
Such a cute pouch. I’ve never heard of thermoweb before, but now I have I really want some!
What a cute pouch! Thank you for the tutorial, and a big THANK YOU for the sewing with laminated fabric tutorial site! I just bought some for a project and have been a bit intimidated about trying it.
Cute pouch and laminating it was the perfect thing to do!
Love your cute little pouch! I may have to try out the thermoweb, if I ever get the nerve to sew zippers!
Cute!
Gorgeous fabric!!!
Cute travel idea! While I am not big into sewing yet, I have pinned this for when I start taking off with it. Poppin’ in from The Creative Exchange Link Party.
This looks so incredible! Loving it! Pinned and tweeted. Thanks for being a part of our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7. Lou Lou Girls
VERY cool! I had no idea you could make your own laminate fabric! Definitely pinning to try this one. Found you on the Sew Many Ways linky party. Thanks for sharing!