Soccer Zipper Pouch Tutorial

soccer team gift

It’s the day before my son’s school soccer party and I decided I should make each of the 12 boys a gift.  Now what to make?  I know – a zipper pouch of course!  Why do I do this to myself?  Really, 12 zipper pouches in 24 hours?  It’s a good thing I buy my zippers in bulk 🙂
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I was so happy I decided to make these little pouches because the boys (age 11-13) LOVED them.  soccer zipper pouch

Each pouch has their initial appliquéd on it.  soccer zipper pouch 1
The back of the zipper pouch is soccer ball fabric.  This is a great size because it can be a pen/pencil pouch, or hold other items like phone, keys, or in my sons case an inhaler and kleenex 🙂soccer zipper pouch 3

The inside of the pouches are all different black and white prints.  I just used up what I had.soccer zipper pouch 5

These are great for any type of party favor – just change up the fabric!
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Heres how you can make one!

Supplies:

Fabric for outer bag and lining and scraps for appliqué square

12″ or longer zipper

Heat n Bond fusibile stabilizer

Heat n Bond EZ print sheets

Begin by printing the desired initial in reverse on the Heat n Bond EZ print sheets.  If you don’t have the printable sheets, print the letters in reverse on paper and then trace them to a fusible appliqué paper.

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Iron the letters to the wrong side of the soccer ball fabric.  Cut out each letter.  Or, have your daughter cut them out for you while you sew the bags because the clock is ticking!!

Cut (2) outer bag pieces 8.75″ x 5″

cut (2) lining pieces 8.75″ x 5″

cut (2) fusible stabilizer pieces 8.75″ x 5″

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Iron the stabilizer to the wrong side of the outer bag pieces.soccer zipper pouch 10

Cut a 3.5″ or so square (it just needs to frame the letter) of grey denim fabric.  Layer it as pictured below.  Peel the backing paper off the letter and heat set it into place.

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Stitch around the square and the letter.soccer zipper pouch 15

To insert the zipper…..lay the zipper face down on the front of the bag.  Then place a lining piece right side down on top of the zipper, like this: (note, position the front and the lining piece so they line up perfectly.  I moved the lining piece over for the picture so you can tell how they are layered.

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Pin the pieces into place.  Notice the zipper ends are hanging out – totaly ok.  In my other zipper pouch tutorials I have made zipper tabs.  I skipped this step to save time.
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Sew using a zipper foot along the edge like this:soccer zipper pouch 17

 

Now do the same thing to the other side.  This is how it is layered: the backing fabric (soccer balls) face up, the letter piece face down then add the second lining piece so the right sides are together.  Line everything up and sew.soccer zipper pouch 18

It should look like this before you sew:soccer zipper pouch 19

Once the zipper is in, press the sides like this:  
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Top stitch next to the zipper.soccer zipper pouch 23

 

Trim off the excess zipper making sure not to trim the zipper pull.soccer zipper pouch 24

 

I spy a kitty paw 🙂

soccer zipper pouch 30Making sure the zipper is open, place right sides of the outer bag together and right sides of the lining together and pin all the way around.soccer zipper pouch 26

When you get to the zipper, match the seams and push the zipper toward the lining:soccer zipper pouch 25

Leave a 3″ opening at the bottom
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Sew all the way around using a 1/4″ seam.  Turn right side out and top stitch the opining closed.  Use a turn stick or chopstick to push out the corners and the zipper.soccer zipper pouch 28

 

Now make 32 cupcakes with cupcake toppers and dash to the soccer party!!!

DIY Soccer Banner – Meet the Stingrays

diy soccer banner

With spring soccer beginning I thought I would share our last season soccer banner.  We were the Stingrays and we had an awesome season!  In our town, most teams pay over $100 for a custom airbrushed soccer banner.  With a team of only 7 players, this seems to be a lot of cost per family.  This homemade version was much more cost-effective and it was cuter than any airbrushed banner I’ve seen.  We received compliments on it all season long.  You can use canvas or a heavy duty drop cloth as the background fabric.  Click HERE for step by step instructions.  There is not a predetermined or set banner size.  I usually use the width of the fabric as my guide.  Cut the desired size of the banner.  Notch the top 2 corners about 4″ and then fold the sides and the top in and sew a seam.  This leaves a space open in the corners for the PVC elbows.  It’s not fancy at all.  Then we cut the PVC pipe to fit the measurements of the banner.soccer banner 2

I spray painted several blue paints on the canvas to give it a watery look.  I drew the stingray shape on some tissue paper and then cut them out of felt.  I used a combination of Fabric Fuse and hot glue to adhere the stingrays.  I added a little bow on the tail.  The eyes, eyelashes and mouth are cut out of felt.  I printed the letters out on Heat n Bond EZ Print sheets.  I cut out the letters and used fabric fuse and hot glue to attach the letters.  (normally you can just iron the letters but the paint makes it difficult.)  The names are written with black metallic puffy paint.  It was fun to use puffy paint, it always reminds me of high school cheerleading days 🙂  I found a soccer ball image from an internet search and printed it on Heat n Bond transfer sheets.  I then ironed the soccer ball to a piece of felt and glued it to the banner.

I painted stingrays on the coaches T-shirts so they matched.

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Whats fun about this banner is at the end of the season, during our team party, we cut the banner up and each girl got to take her stingray home.soccer banner 3

This year we are the Bengals.  I better get working on the banner!!!
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soccer banner diy