Free Design of the Month for September - Machine Embroidered Clear View Cosmetic Case with Zipper Pocket

-Brother Sews Blogger

You can never have too many storage pouches for all the things you use in your everyday life! This month Brother features a gorgeous cosmetic theme design for the free design of the month. It’s the perfect accent for this fully lined cosmetic case. I designed this case to be just the right size for a makeup kit to keep in your purse or tote. Stitch this up and you’ll always have your essentials ready for a quick touch up or traveling. The clear pocket makes it easy to see what you have, or what you might need to add to your make up supplies. Follow along in the instructions and you see that the neat design of this case leaves no raw edges or unsightly seams exposed. Ribbon trim covers the raw edges of the embroidered piece and adds a sharp color coordinated accent. You’ll want to make one of these for yourself. Of course this case makes a great gift item too! Are you ready? Let’s go sew!

Materials and Supplies for Embroidered Cosmetic Case:

• Brother sewing and embroidery machine. Note: Machine featured in this project is the Brother Luminaire.
• Embroidery threads and embroidery needle. Brother Pacesetter Pro threads featured in this project.
• Clips for securing fabric layers with vinyl.
• Good quality thread for sewing machine and hand sewing needle for finishing.
• Zipper foot for sewing zipper in place. Note: Brother SA208 is ideal for sewing close to the zipper in this type of zipper application.
• SA580 Brother medium-weight tear away stabilizer.
• Fabric pieces and additional materials for making case:
- Plain fabric for embroidered piece, cut to fit 5-inch X 7-inch hoop and backed with thin fusible craft fleece.
- Piece A, Front: Print fabric measuring 7 ½-inches wide X 9 ½-inches long. Backed with fusible craft fleece.
- Piece B, Upper Back Piece: Print fabric measuring 7 ½-inches wide X 5-inches long.
- Piece C, Lower Back Piece: Clear 16 gauge vinyl measuring 7 ½-inches wide X 6 3/4-inches long.
- Piece D, Lining Piece: Solid fabric measuring 7 ½-inches wide X 9 ½-inches long.
- Narrow ribbon for pull-tab on zipper, one-piece measuring 1/8-inch to ¼ inch wide X 6-inches long.
- ½ to 5/8-inch wide ribbon for trimming embroidered piece, one piece measuring approximately 29-inches long.
- Oversized zipper for closure. Choose a zipper measuring at least 9-inches long.
• Brother Free Design of the Month. Note: Design is sized to fit within a 5-inch X 7-inch hoop. See design details in Figure #1a and my modified thread colors in Figure #1b.

Figure #1a


Figure #1b


Steps to Create Cosmetic Case:

1. Prepare to embroider plain fabric in your 5-inch X 7-inch hoop as follows: Cut oversized fabric large enough to fill the hoop. Fuse fleece to the wrong side. Hoop fabric, place on machine and transfer design. Optional: Add stipple stitching to the design using the Brother PE Design 11 program or a feature for adding stipple fill built-in to your machine if available. You can also add stippling on the sewing side of your machine once embroidery is complete. Watch for a future tutorial showing how easy it is to automatically add stippling using the Stippling Fill Wizard in PE Design 11.
2. Layer a piece of tear away stabilizer under the hoop. Embroider design using desired colors or feel free to use the modified colors shown above.
3. Trim embroidered piece to equal approximately 7 ½-inches long X 5 ¼-inches wide. Note that you need at least ¼-inch extra fabric at the top and bottom edge of the design. Gather notions for case, including oversized zipper, narrow ribbon, and wider ribbon trim for accenting edge of embroidery. Beginning at the bottom left hand corner of the trimmed piece, align ribbon so it covers ¼-inch of the raw edge, having excess at the starting point and folding the corners as shown. When you reach the end you can tuck the raw edges under the final fold or sew ribbon ends together concealing the seam at the foldline. Blue arrow indicates seam sewn to join ribbon ends. See Figure #2.

Figure #2


4. Gather pieces needed to complete the cosmetic case. See Figure #3.

Figure #3


5. Pin ribbon trimmed embroidery to Piece A (Front Piece), centering it on the fabric. Trim corners that peek out from behind the ribbon. See Figure #4.

Figure #4


6. Stitch along inner and outer edges of ribbon, securing it to the front. See right side in Figure #5a and wrong side of stitching in Figure #5b. Note: A bit of camera distortion makes this piece look uneven. I can assure you that it’s perfectly squared up.

Figure #5a


Figure #5b


7. It’s time to sew zipper in place. Place desired zipper foot on machine. I used the Brother Narrow Base Zipper foot, item SA208. With both ends of oversized zipper extended, sew one edge of zipper tape to folded edge of piece B (Back top Piece). Align one short cut edge of clear vinyl, piece C (Back Bottom Piece) along opposite edge of zipper tape. See Figure #6.

Figure #6


8. Sew zipper to vinyl sewing close to the edge, using a slightly longer stitch length of 3.0. See Figure #7.

Figure #7


9. Sew a second line of stitching for reinforcement on vinyl. At this point you can trim part of the excess zipper. Tip: Be sure to put a pin along the cut end so you don’t accidentally zip the pull-tab off the zipper. See Figure #8.

Figure #8


10. Select piece D (Lining Piece). Fold and press under ½-inch along top edge of piece.
11. To finish the case, carefully layer pieces as follows: Front embroidered piece with right side facing up and embroidery oriented in the upright position. Back zippered pocket piece with right side facing down, zipper at the top edge, and zipper open half way. Lining piece right side facing down, with folded edge at the top. Use clips to hold layers together. See layered pieces in Figure #9a and Figure #9b.

Figure #9a


Figure #9b


12. Beginning at the center of the top edge, sew along all four sides, removing clips as you go, and sewing a seam measuring approximately 3/8-inch. Tip: I used the edge of the presser foot with needle in center sewing position. See Figure #10.

Figure #10


Tip: If you take care to pivot one or two stitches at each corner your corners will look neater when turned right side out.

13. Stitch around corners and zipper areas a second time to reinforce seams. See Figure #11.

Figure #11


14. Trim corners to reduce bulk of seams and trim away excess zipper tape.
15. You are almost finished. It’s time to turn the case right side out. Turning will take two steps before your case is completely turned right side out. Step one is as follows: Open zipper as far as possible. Place hand between lining and vinyl pocket and pull to turn lining right side out. See Figure #12.

Figure #12


Next, tuck folded lining edge over the raw seam at the top and hand stitch folded edge over seam to close opening and hide raw edges.

Step two is as follows: Place hand between embroidered front and vinyl pocket. Pull on embroidered piece and push vinyl pocket right side out. Carefully push out corners of vinyl pocket with your fingers. Push out top edge above zipper, pushing out corners with point turner. If necessary, you can lightly press case from embroidered side, using a low temp iron and taking care not to touch vinyl with iron at any time. Slip narrow ribbon through pull-tab opening and tie a knot to secure. See pocket side of case in Figure #13a and Figure #13b.

Figure #13a

Figure #13b


You are finished! Enjoy!

Options and ideas:

• Feel free to cut an oversized piece of fabric for the embroidered front, embroidery and then cut to size, eliminating the extra fabric piece and the ribbon trim accent.

• You’ll find a coordinating His design on the Brother iBroidery design download site. A His and Hers set would make a great set for traveling. It would be a perfect gift for the Bride and Groom as well. Here is a direct link to the design

• Consider using other 5-inch X 7-inch or smaller designs for a variety of themed pouches. This is a great all-purpose project you’ll want to use again and again!