Today’s contributor is Crystal from Stitched By Crystal. All posts written by Crystal for Make It and Love It can be found HERE.
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Hello Make It & Love It readers and happy summer! Crystal Here, from Stitched by Crystal, with a great summer sewing project! School is out, the weather is hot, and we are spending a lot of time at the water. So I made a really easy west swimsuit bag to throw our wet swimsuits into when we leave the pool. And today I am going to show you how to make your own wet swimsuit bag!
This cute little bag is great for keeping all your wet stuff contained and helping to keep everything else dry.
It is lined with a layer of PUL, a waterproof fabric that is super easy to work with. Made in a fun summer print, this wet swimsuit bag makes the perfect pool accessory!
I added a little strap that can open and close with a snap so the bag can easily attach to our pool bag for easy access. It is perfect for throwing wet swimsuits in after a day at the pool. Or you could use it to store all the stuff you DON’T want to get wet instead; it is great at keeping water out too!
In this cute watermelon print and coordinating stripe, the wet swimsuit bag is a perfect match for the watermelon swim cover I made for my daughter last year….she thinks so too and has claimed this bag as hers!
Want to make a wet swimsuit bag? Great! Let me show you how…..
Supplies for WET SWIMSUIT BAG:
- 1/3 yard PUL fabric. You can find this in the utility section of the fabric store or in the cloth diaper section if your store has one. It is soft like fabric on one side and has a shiny waterproof layer on the other. I actually used some PUL off an old waterproof mattress cover! It is really great quality PUL too, so you could check your linen closet or the thrift store for one of those in a pinch!
- ¼ yard of main fabric
- 1/8 yard of coordinating fabric
- A 9” zipper
- A snap
- Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies (here’s a list of common sewing supplies, in case you need a few ideas)
***Check out this Sewing Terms 101 post, for additional help.
***ALL SEAM ALLOWANCES ARE ½” UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED***
Start by cutting your fabric. You will need two main fabric pieces that are 11” wide x 9” tall, two contrast pieces that are 11” wide x 4” tall, two contrast pieces that are 1” wide x 2” tall, one contrast piece that is 2” x 18” for the strap, two pieces of PUL that are 11” x 11”, and two pieces of PUL that are 1” wide x 2” tall.
Make your strap with the long contrast piece. Fold one short end ½” in towards the wrong side of the fabric, then fold both long ends in towards the wrong side of the fabric to meet in the middle. Fold the strip in half so the folded long ends meet and sew the strap closed along the folded ends. You should now have a long strap with one finished end, set the strap aside.
Grab your zipper and the 1” x 2” pieces of contrast fabric and PUL. Line the contrast fabric pieces up with the ends of the zipper with the right side of the fabric and the right side of the zipper touching. Sew along the ends. Turn the zipper over and repeat with the PUL pieces, the shiny side of the PUL should be touching the back side of the zipper. Your zipper ends are now sandwiched between the contrast and PUL pieces. Fold the fabrics away from the zipper and press (make sure you don’t have your iron set too hot, the PUL can melt! I use a medium leve heat and iron on the side of my cottom fabric). Put the zipper aside.
Place one of your main fabric pieces and one of your contrast pieces right sides together, lining up the 11” sides and sew.
Press the seam allowance towards the main fabric and topstitch. Repeat with your other main and contrast piece.
Round the bottom edges of all 4 bag pieces as shown below, I used a small cup as a guide for making the curve.
Baste your strap to the side of one of your main bag pieces, line the raw edge of the strap up with the edge of the bag 1” down from the corner and baste it in place.
Pin the zipper to the top edge of one of your main bag pieces, the right side of the zipper should be against the right side of your fabric. Make sure you line up the center of the zipper with the center of your bag piece. Sew the zipper in place using a zipper foot.
Lay one of your PUL pieces on top of the zipper so the zipper is sandwiched between the main fabric and the PUL with the shiny side of the PUL against the zipper. Line up the center of the PUL piece and the center of the zipper. Pin in place. When pinning the PUL, place your pins inside the seam allowance, poking the pins through the fabric on the other side of the seam will make tiny little holes in the fabric where water could leak out, we want to minimize potential leaks!
Sew along the top using your zipper foot.
Fold the fabric and PUL away from the zipper and press. Topstitch along the zipper and trim any extra fabric from the ends of the zipper.
With the main fabric facing up, line the top of your other main bag piece up with the zipper, with eth right side of the fabric together. Pin and sew in place with your zipper foot.
Flip the bag over so your PUL side is up. Lay your other PUL piece on top, the shiny sides of the PUL should be together. Pin and sew long the top with your zipper foot.
Flip the fabric and PUL away from the zipper, press and topstitch along the zipper. Open your zipper. (I am going to say that again, cause it is really important…..) Open your zipper!
Flip your pieces so the main bag pieces are right sides together and the PUL pieces are shiny sides together. Sew all the way around the bag, leaving a 3” gap at the bottom of the PUL.
Flip the bag right side out through the gap in the PUL. Fold the edges of gap open and stitch the hole closed.
Stuff the PUL down inside the bag.
Fold the handle so the finished edge touches the side of the bag and add your snap to keep it in place.
Add a cute zipper pull if you’d like, I made a little tassel for mine! And your wet swimsuit bag is done! Now hit the pool!
Thanks for reading and happy summer sewing!
-Crystal
Check out Crystal’s blog here. Her darling shop here. Follow her on Instagram here. And her Pinterest page here.
***ALL contributor posts by Crystal, can be found HERE.
Thanks for checking out my Sew a Wet Swimsuit Bag! post. Check out my full collection of DIY Sewing articles. Find even more sewing projects, patterns, and tips for beginners and advanced sewists by Liz Call, Mariah Leeson, Randi Dukes and Tauni Everett.
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Thank you for this easy to follow tutorial, I made a lined cosmetic bag years ago but couldn’t remember which order to sew the fabric & lining; your instructions are very straight forward.
Wish I had read the comment above about adding 1/2 inch to PUL as the lining on my finished bag is shorter than the exterior fabric (I assumed I’d done something wrong) … anyway… the end product is super cute for my daughters wet daycare clothes & I’m sure she won’t notice the shorter lining!
Question please: I am trying to put this swim bag together. I have a pretty PUL fabric, so I guess I am putting it in backwards as my shiny side will be my hidden side. Still ok though. Now comes my problem. Did you create this so that the PUL lining is one inch shorter than the outside fabric? I’ve made a few cosmetic bags and they are always the same size. If the top outside fabric is 9″ tall and the bottom is 4″ tall, sew together with a 1/2″ seam allowance the result is 12″. The lining PUL is only 11″ tall. Am I doing something wrong? Hoping to hear from you. Thank you.
Thank you. I ended up cutting the exterior a 1/2″ shorter to make the PUL interior fit better. I meant to cut the PUL a 1/2″ longer but forgot when cutting it out. OH well. I’ll cut the PUL longer next time. This is a cute bag.
This was great! I am absolutely new to sewing and only had my 3rd sewing class with Joann and had made a similar cosmetic bag. But I still don’t remember how I did it and looking at this it was clear. Although can’t say as I have to do it again to re-learn it. I am forever taking plastic grocery bags to keep my and my friend’s wet swimsuit when we go to the beach and this is perfect to make and take along, as it has a zipper. Thanks!
I like such tutorials very much. You can learn a lot, especially if you are a beginner. Thanks for sharing such things. I appreciate it very much. Thanks a lot! Your blog is really inspiring.
Use Clover Wonder Clips instead of pins, no holes :) Very cute pattern, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the DIY tips! It’s a perfectly functional bag and looks great.