Quilted Zip-Top Bag with Handle Tutorial: Sew a Fully Lined Organizer with Quilting Backdrops™ Designs

Turn DBJJ Quilting Backdrops and designs into a fully lined zip-top bag with a handle for a stylish and functional finish.

I like to stay organized. But it’s so much more fun to stay organized when the organizer is cute as well. I came up with this design for a zip-top bag with a handle using Designs by JuJu’s Quilting Backdrops. I added a little gnome applique on the front, but any design will work that helps you remember what’s inside. I chose a cute gnome fabric for the inside to coordinate, but a nice laminated fabric would be good if you wanted to use this as a beauty bag so that it could be wiped out easily. Let me show you how to make one for yourself. 

We will be placing a zipper, but it doesn’t have to be scary. I’ll show you some tips and tricks to make it as simple as sewing a straight line, and before you know it your bag will be ready to go on an adventure!

Supplies

Check out the DBJJ team’s favorite supplies in the Designs by JuJu Amazon store.

• Fabric for the outside of your bag
• Fabric for bag lining
• Fusible fleece
• Designs by JuJu+ loftySOFT™ Batting
• Designs by JuJu+ magicMESH Cut-Away Stabilizer
• 24-inch zipper that matches the outside of your bag
• Pins or clips
• DBJJ designs used in this project:
  • Floral 1 Quilting Backdrops Design
  • Summer Gnomes

We are going to start by making the outside of our bag using the Floral 1 Quilting Backdrops Design. For this bag I’m going to make the pieces 6” x 8” for the top, bottom, front, and back, and 6” x 6” on the right and left ends. We will also use a 2” x 5” block for the hinge. If you’re new to the Quilting Backdrops, check out our in-depth blog post here on how to use them.

Start by hooping your stabilizer.

Stitch out your placement stitch.

Cover your placement stitches with batting and stitch the tack-down stitches. Remove the hoop from the machine and trim the batting close to the stitches.

Cover the batting with your fabric. Make sure you leave at least ½” extra on each side. Place your hoop back in the machine and stitch your tack-down stitch, then continue with your decorative stitches. If you want to add an additional design on one (or all!) of your panels, do that after you do your quilting design.

Take your hoop out of the machine and your design out of the hoop.

On the back side trim the stabilizer close to the stitches.

And on the front, trim the fabric to ½” from the stitching line.

We will make four 6” x 8” panels, two 6” x 6” panels, and one 2” x 5” block. Add as many designs to the panels as you’d like. Two 6” x 8” and the two 6” x 6” panels will be the front, back, and sides. The other two 6” x 8” blocks will be the top and bottom of the bag.

We are going to take our two 6” x 8” panels for the top and bottom and round their corners. I found this to be much easier when it comes to placing the zipper. I used a roll of painters tape, but a small plate or CD would work too. Place it on the corner of your design. Line up the edges of the circle with the edges of the trimmed fabric, and trace that curve.

Repeat for all four corners, and do this for the top and bottom bag pieces.

Trim on the lines. 

Now we are going to draw the stitching lines on the back of each piece for the curves. Turn the design over and measure to the inside stitching line. Mine was just a little bit bigger than ½”. I used a ballpoint pen and marked that distance from the curve and drew the line all the way around so it joined up with the outside stitching line on both sides of the curve. I found marking only a little bit as I moved the ruler around the curve worked best for me. Repeat for the other panel.

Now we will work on the fabric for the lining. We need to cut two blocks at 7” x 7”, four blocks at 7” x 9”, and one at 3” x 6”.

From fusible fleece we will also cut two 7” x 7” blocks, four 7” x 9” blocks, and one 3” x 6”.

Then fuse one piece of fleece to the wrong side of each matching lining piece.

Take two of your 7” x 9” lining pieces and trace the curve from the top/bottom pieces on the back of each of them.

Trim the curves so the lining matches the top and bottom.

Now we have all our pieces. Here’s the breakdown of what we have so far. (We will add the handle later.) The Quilting Backdrops are given in their finished size and not their actual size with the edge outside the stitching line.

• (2) 6” x 8” front/back outside fabric pieces
• (2) 7” x 9” front/back fused lining fabric pieces
• (2) 6” x 8” top/bottom outside fabric curved pieces
• (2) 7” x 9” top/bottom lining fused fabric curved pieces
• (2) 6” x 6” right/left outside fabric pieces
• (2) 7” x 7” right/left fused lining fabric pieces
• (1) 2” x 5” hinge block in outside fabric
• (1) 3” x 6” hinge block in fused lining fabric

Now it’s time to assemble our bag. We will start by finding the center of our zipper. Fold it in half, with the start and stop points even, and make a mark on both sides of the back side of the zipper where the center point is.

Do the same on a curved outside piece and a curved lining piece. Make your center marks on the long edges and the wrong side of the fabric.

Now gather your pins or clips because it’s time to hold the zipper in place. Place the right side of the zipper on the right side of the outside piece of fabric. Line up your center marks.

Check to ensure the teeth of your zipper are lining up just inside the stitching line on your top piece. The edges of your zipper and the top piece may not line up. It’s important to have the teeth to the inside of the stitching line so we don’t stitch through the zipper’s teeth.

Starting in the center and working your way around the curves and to the end of the zipper, pin or clip it in place. I find the more I secure it, the easier it is to stitch.

Now we will sew it in place. You’ll want to change to your zipper foot on your sewing machine. I chose to stitch from the top side so I could ensure I was getting both layers. I started at one edge and stitched around the zipper to the other end, keeping my seam allowance the same, which was a scant ½”. But your zipper might be a little different.

Now that it’s stitched in place we want to sandwich the zipper between the outside and the lining. Find the center marks on your lining and then line them up with the top. The zipper will need to lie flat inside the “sandwich”.

Starting in the center, clip around the piece. Make sure you have a stopping and starting point at the start and stop of the zipper. This will allow us to turn it right side out after it’s sewn.

Take the sandwich to your machine and stitch along your previous stitching line. In theory you could do this in one step, but I like to check my progress after one side so I can adjust it if I need to. 

Once you're done you can clip the corners so it lies a little more flat.

Reach in through the opening and turn the top right side out.

To give it a finished look I do a quick topstitch through the top and lining piece. I do about an ⅛” from the edge of the fabric.

Now we are finished with the top, so we can set it aside for now.

Now we will line up our panels for the sides of the bag. Pay special attention if your design is directional. I made sure that the flower was in the top left-hand corner of each panel. Start with your front center 6” x 8” panel and your two 6” x 6” side panels.

Stitch the front to the two sides by lining up the stitches with right sides together and stitching in the “driving lanes” (the two rows of stitching from the batting and edge stitches).

Press your seams open.

Now we will baste the back piece to the side pieces. This piece will probably need an adjustment due to the rounded corners. Baste in the driving lanes and set the outside aside.

We will now repeat these same steps for the lining. I use the ½” seam allowance for my lining. When it’s done, I do like to trim away the fusible fleece from my seam allowances. I find it helps reduce bulk in the corners.

We can now attach the lining to the top of the bag. We will need to decide if our seams on the back sides will work. I flipped the zipper up, matched the centers of the front of the lining to the front of the zipper, and clipped around until I got to the edges. The right side of the fabric will be with the wrong side of the zipper. I measured and saw I had one inch extra (½” on each side of the fold) of lining fabric.

I went to my sewing machine and with a regular stitch length I sewed ¼” inside my basting stitch. 

(In case you’re wondering how I got my ¼” measurement, I took my extra fabric of 1” and divided it by 4, ¼” for each side of the fabric, left side and center and right side and center.) This measurement may differ for you depending on the curve you have for your bag. You can always remove the stitches with a seam ripper and try again if you find that you’re now too short or still too big. 

Now we can see that it lines up much better. Fold the zipper up from the top fabric piece. This put the wrong side of the zipper facing out. Clip or pin the wrong side of the zipper to the right side of the fabric. Match up your center lines.

And stitch the zipper to the lining using the same seam allowance you did when you attached the zipper before.

When it’s finished it should look like this.

Now we need to unzip the zipper to attach the outside of the bag. It will end up hanging down in the middle of the sandwich.

Turn the outside of the bag inside out and place it inside the lining. So your lining and the outside of the bag are now right sides together. Pin or clip from the front center of the bag to the back side and check to see if you need to adjust your seam allowances. I needed to adjust mine the same amount as before. I stitched the back seams ¼” in from the basting stitches.

Once we have the seam allowances correct and everything is lining up, we will pin the front to the lining. I like to check that the centers line up with the centers and the corner seams are all aligned. This time we will pin and clip all the way around. The top of the bag should just be loose down in the sandwich.

While you’re pinning ensure the zipper teeth are just beyond the stitching line for the Quilting Backdrop.

This may make it so that your lining and quilting don’t align perfectly.

Stitch just outside that stitching line, so you’re not stitching on the teeth of the zipper. This time we will stitch completely around the bag.

Turn the bag so that the wrong sides are together and it looks closer to finished now. The top should come into its correct spot and the zipper will be pointed up.

And check your zipper to make sure it works like it should.

Now it’s time to attach the bottom. Unzip the bag (so we can turn it later) and flip the outside fabric up so that we see the wrong side of it. Find the centers of the panels (for both the outside and the lining) and mark them on the wrong side.

Make sure the bag is open so we see all the wrong sides of the fabric. The top is unzipped and just hanging out in the middle there.

Secure the bottom outside piece to the outside sides using pins or clips with right sides together. You can completely pin around the bottom.

For the lining, we will want to leave an opening to turn the bag, but line up the centers, right sides together, and clip everything else. I like to leave my opening on a straight edge so it’s easy to close later. I left about 3 inches, but should have left more like 4–5. It was a tight squeeze at the end!

Attach the bottom to the sides by stitching in the driving lane of the Quilting Backdrops. Ease around the corners. For the lining, I use a generous ½” seam allowance, making sure to leave the opening to turn.

Now we have the finished bottom. You can clip the curves for a smoother corner when we turn it right side out.

Find the opening you left on the lining.

And pull the bag through the opening. I always get excited when this part happens! Mine is a tight squeeze but with patience and a couple of “time outs,” I got it all turned.

Stitch the opening in your lining closed. I like to do a ladder stitch, but if you want to use your machine to do it, go for it! Push your lining to the inside of your bag.

You can now stitch a top stitch around the top of the bag. I stitch ⅛” in from the edge all the way around the top.

We will now work on the “hinge.” For the hinge pieces we will clip the corners to reduce bulk and fold the edge ½” on the long edge. I’m showing on a lining piece but we will do this for both the lining and the outside piece. Stitch down the folded edge ¼” from the edge.

Repeat for the two short edges. Make sure all the raw edges are tucked in.

Open the bag and find the centers of the back of the bag and lid. Pin the outside “hinge” to the cover with the right side out. Ensure your hinge is covering both edges of your zipper. This will make a nice finish for the ends of the zipper.

Open your lid and stitch along the long edges of the hinge. I like to leave the short ends open, but if you’re comfortable stitching over the zipper teeth you can stitch them closed. I like to be able to tuck my zipper inside.

Take your lining piece and repeat this on the inside. I thought about trying to do them both with one step but didn’t feel confident I could line them up perfectly. If you think you can do it, go ahead.

Our last step is to add the handle to the top of the bag. Cut a piece of your outside fabric that’s 4” x 8”.

Fold the fabric right sides together. Cut a piece of fusible fleece that is 2” x 8” and fuse it to the wrong side of the folded fabric.

Fold your handle right sides together and stitch down the long edge

Turn the tube through one of the ends and press it flat. Keep the seam to one of the sides.

Tuck the ends of your handle inside the tube. I tucked about ½” on each end. Pin and secure them with a seam.

I finished my handle by doing a simple straight stitch down the center and around the long ends of the handle. I thought this made it look more finished. You could use a decorative stitch your machine has also.

Find your center (top/bottom and left/right) on the top of your bag. I moved 3” left and right from the center, folded my ends under about ½”, and stitched close to each fold to secure the handle.

This gives you a raised handle. If you like your handle a bit flatter you could move the edges farther from each other.

Now your bag is finished! And you placed a zipper! 

You can load it up with all kinds of things and have a beautiful place to organize all your stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s craft stuff, bathroom stuff, or office stuff—this bag will work for it all!

Don’t forget—if you only have a small hoop, you can make a patchwork backdrop with the Quilting Backdrops to make a bag the size you want. If you have a large hoop, you can still patchwork the backdrops to make a very large bag! I love how versatile the Quilting Backdrops are and how they really make it so that we aren’t limited by our hoop size. 

I’d love to see how you are using the Quilting Backdrops to make your own bags. Find us in the Designs by JuJu Embroidery Blessings Facebook Group and share your pictures with us there, or use the hashtag #designsbyjuju anywhere on social media. We love to see what you make and how you help inspire our community’s creativity!

Melanie Zitzman

Melanie has been sewing and crafting from a very young age. She loves to quilt, embroider, and paper craft and is always looking for her next project. She loves gnomes and they are overtaking her house! When she's not crafting she is a part time dental hygienist, a voracious reader, and volunteer hospital pianist.