DIY Gold Textured Makeup Bag

This project, the first of many of its kind, was the result of the Christmas crafting chaos that ensues in our home every year! We can never just buy something. We have to make it and make it personalized and usually come up with our own difficult way to do it! But that does leave the opportunity to create DIY tutorials, so I can’t complain too much. Plus it turned out metallic and purple—so perf for my momma! And then I had to make one for me too :)

Before I begin, I have to give a lot of credit to my sister Samantha, because the pattern and sewing knowledge is all hers. Heck, she even did the stitching of this baby because sewing machines and I aren’t the best of friends. Like I seriously don’t know what I do, I just always mess it up and spend half my time ripping out seams!!! I digress.

You will need:

1/2 yard outer fabric

1/2 yard ling fabric

1/2 yard lightweight fusible interfacing

Press cloth (an old t-shirt works great)

7” zipper (NOT an “invisible” zipper)

Gold leaf flakes (available at most craft stores)

Tacky Glue

Mod Podge

Old brushes

(Also an iron, fabric scissors, thread, chalk/water soluble marker, and a sewing machine with a zipper foot. Just in case you need a checklist or are a sewing newbie!)

Step 1

Using this downloadable template printed on cardstock, trace and cut 2 pieces of the outer fabric, 2 of the lining fabric, and 2 of the fusible interfacing. The pieces of interfacing should be slightly smaller than the template piece.

Step 2

Work upward in horizontal strips as you add the gold flakes to the outer fabric. On each piece of the outer fabric, dab on a thin layer of tacky glue with an old brush. Let dry for 30 seconds or until tacky (as the name of the product implies, it doesn’t take long), then arrange flakes as desired. The flakes will stick to your finger, then you can place them on top of the area with glue and smooth them down. When the arrangement is sufficient, move upward to the next strip and repeat.

As I moved upward, I used smaller and fewer flakes to fade out. However, remember that the bottom rectangle of the pattern will be on the bottom, flat edge of the pouch, so you may have a larger section at the bottom that is mostly filled in. Additionally, even if you don’t include flakes all the way up the pouch, apply glue to every area so that the whole pouch is the same texture.

Step 3

When the glue is dry, use a clean, soft brush to remove any excess flakes that didn’t adhere.

Step 4

While that is drying, iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the lining fabric using package directions.

Step 5

Now we can get to sewing! Unzip your zipper partway, and pin the right side of one lining fabric to the wrong side of the zipper, lining up the edge of the zipper teeth to the edge of your 1/2” seam allowance. You will have to sew around the zipper pull, so for now, line up the pull with the last pin. 

Step 6

Using the zipper foot on your machine, stitch along the pinned side of the zipper tape, backstitching at both ends. You will want to leave a slight gap between the teeth and your stitching, as this will prevent your lining from catching in your zipper. When your machine reaches the zipper pull, lower your needle, raise the presser foot, and unzip the pouch past the back end of the foot so you can continue sewing.

Step 7

Press the lining away from the zipper teeth (using an iron… just clarifying, in case, like me, you are not an experienced seamstress).

Step 8

With your lining still folded back, pin the right side of the outer fabric to the right side of the zipper tape, once again lining up the seam allowance to the zipper teeth. To simplify this, you can mark the 1/2" seam allowance with a water erasable pen on the wrong side of the outer fabric, and, using a fingernail, press that line into the groove by the zipper teeth to feel when it is correctly lined up. Make sure that when you fold back the outer piece, the wrong sides of the outer and lining fabric meet.

Step 9

Still using the zipper foot, stitch your outer fabric to the zipper tape, this time pulling the zipper teeth more tightly into the edge of the zipper foot.

Step 10

Repeat steps 5-9 on the other side of the zipper tape. Switching the position of the zipper foot on the shank is helpful, so that you are always sewing toward the zipper pull. (This video link has a lot of nonsense, but I basically included it to show switching the position of the zipper foot on the shank, because that kinda sounds like Greek to me. Skip to 3:45 for that clarification!)

Step 11

Press open the outer fabric along the zipper. You may want to use a press cloth to guarantee no glue transfers to the iron.

Step 12

Unzip the zipper 3/4 of the way. Lay out the pouch so that the right sides of the lining are together, and the right sides of the outer fabric are together. Pin so that the seam allowances and zipper tape point towards your lining fabric.

Step 13

Using your zipper foot, stitch over the zipper tape at each end of the zipper, in accordance with the 1/2" seam allowance. This will anchor these edges so you don’t have to pin them later.

Step 14

Stitch the sides together, leaving a 3” opening in the bottom of the lining for turning. (Opening indicated in the pictures above.) You may have to taper up your stitching to meet the ends of the zipper.

Step 15

Trim the seams to 1/4”, leaving slightly more of an allowance at the bottom of the lining fabric where you will be turning the pouch.

Step 16

Create box corners by pinching each corner and diagonally stitching 3/4" from the corner, as is marked in the original template. Marking the distance from the corners is very helpful in this step. We also like to double-reinforce the corners by starting at the center and backstitching at the beginning and end. (Start center-back stitch to edge-forward stitch all the way across-backstitch to center.)

Step 17

Snip the corners with fabric scissors or pinking shears (if ya have that fancy sort of stuff). 

Step 17

Now go ahead and turn that pouch! It may shed a little gold as you turn it, but it should look pretty much done except for the gap at the bottom.

Step 18

Stitch that gap up now, sandwiching the extra seam allowance inside! You can use a slip stitch by hand if you would like, but since it is on the inside of the pouch, we usually just machine-stitch near the edge. (Lazy or efficient? You tell me!)

Step 19

Tuck the lining into the pouch.

Step 20

Apply a thin layer of ModPodge to the exterior of the pouch to seal down the edges of any gold flakes.

I hope you like this fun little gold-leafed pouch! The dimensions of this pattern can totally be adapted for different size cases, and my sister has made us pouches like this for pencil bags and so on. Plus, it stands up thanks to the box corners and stiffness from the glue!

Oh, and I can also gold leaf all the fabric things now, right? I was honestly surprised with just how easy gold flakes were to use, and I look forward to using them even more in the future! I had a lot left over! Any ideas from you folks?

Better yet, do y’all have any questions on this crazy-long tutorial? I am so grateful for my resident seamstress (#bestsistereverrrrr) for her help on this tutorial, and she is happy to help with questions where I cannot!

Stay lovely,