Monogrammed Leather Dopp Kit Tutorial
For Christmas this year, I felt like I made a MILLION zip pouches; in actuality, it was obviously not that many, but I felt like it! I kept going back to the store to buy more zippers. I shared one of the projects with you here. I’m going to share with you how I made these Monogrammed Leather Dopp Kits.
I’ve had loads of fun sewing with leather this year. It’s been a bit of trial and error for sure (the all-leather handbag I tried was a giant FAIL), but I’ve had success using it as trim on smaller projects, like in the laptop case tutorial found here.
This year I challenged myself to make something for the Moms and Dads in the family…. duh duh duuuhhh… (that’s supposed to be spooky organ music, in case you were wondering). Yes, I sewed for grown men. I hope they didn’t mind. After my husband stole the necktie zip pouches I made, I was encouraged and thought I’d give sewing for guys another try.
I got my leather at my local Tandy Leather. They have a “scrap” pile, and I go through it, sorting out pieces I can use. A blogger friend of mine also sells leather in her shop. She’s reliable and has some great leather to sell for home sewers. Her shop is LR Stitched.
Okay, so on to the tutorial!
Monogrammed Leather Dopp Kit Tutorial
Equipment
- exacto knife or ecutting machine
- Leather Needle
- Teflon Foot for Sewing Machine
- Zipper foot for Sewing Machine
supplies
- 3 pieces of leather 9” x 4” plus 2 1” x 1” scraps. The best way to cut leather is with a dedicated rotary cutter so that it won’t dull your good scissors.
- 2 pieces of canvas 9” x 12”
- 1 9” metal zipper
- 2 pieces of fabric for the lining 9” x 12”
- Freezer Paper
- black fabric paint
- Heavy Duty Thread
Instructions
- To begin, use a fabric-safe pen to mark the centers of one of your canvas pieces.
- Cut out a monogram (less than 4” wide) out of freezer paper using an exacto knife or an electronic cutting device like a silhouette or Cricut. You could also use a metal die-cut alphabet like the ones from Lifestyle Crafts, if you don’t want to invest in an electronic cutting machine.
- Center the monogram on the canvas piece and iron it onto the canvas with the shiny side of the freezer paper facing down.
- Use black fabric paint to fill in the monogram. Let it dry completely, and don’t get too much paint on the fabric, or your monogram might bleed.
- Peel off the paper from the monogram. Using binding clips, clip 2 of the leather pieces to the two edges of the canvas. With a leather needle in your machine and a Teflon foot, Stitch using a stitch length of 4 down the edges of the leather. If your leather slides around too much, you can use a glue stick to hold it in place.
- Repeat for the 2nd canvas piece, the back of the pouch. Make sure that when the front and back pieces are lined up, the leather does not overlap. You don’t want to stitch through more than one layer of leather when you are assembling the dopp kit.
- Attach the 2 1” x 1” squares of leather to the ends of the zipper so that the entire zipper piece is 11” long. Stitch in place.
- Follow the directions on the Necktie Zip Pouch to finish the rest of the Dopp kit.
- Pair the Dopp Kit with one of the necktie pouches and fill them up with some goodies, and you’ve got a fun little gift!
Note the following:
- -Use a walking foot when sewing all of the layers of the case together
- -The lining is not lined with fusible fleece (as the necktie pouch is)
- -Curve the bottom corners of the case as you sew. Clip the curves before you turn it right side out.
Connect with me:
Love it!! I’ve linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-leather-and-canvas-monogrammed-zippered-pouch/2014/01/16/
–Anne
These are SO cute! The leather adds a fancy touch and I would have never thought to do the monogram with paint, it looks awesome. Adding another thing to my to-do list, thanks a lot! 😉
(thank you for the shout out too! xo)
Thanks for the great class this year! It gave me the confidence to start playing around with leather.
Do you also sell these pouches?
No I don’t. Sorry
Hi Melissa,
do you know the final dimensions of this pouch? It looks amazing.
Thanks,
Lucie