Cute Little Swim Bag or Wet Bag

Swim Bag or Wet Bag

I stood at the edge of the pool for several minutes before I sat down. A few minutes later I gathered enough courage to jump in. I nearly drown. I surfaced coughing up water saturated with fear. I cried.

That experience isn't why I plunged into creating this cute little swim bag or wet bag. It’s all because two little water-bug granddaughters want them, and because my daughter-in-law (their mother) is facing her own water fears as she starts swimming lessons soon.

It’s amazing what we 

accomplish 

when we choose to!

For this wet bag you’ll need:

(2) 6 ½” x 13” fabric

(2) 4 ½” x 13” fabric

(2) 11” x 13” Plastic fabric

(2) 4” x 4” fabric

(2) 2” x 2” fabric

(1) 12” zipper

24” trim

Keychain or carabiner (optional)

Plus all the sewing tools: Sewing machine, scissors, tape measure, straight edge, chalk or pencil, thread, iron, etc.

Also needed: A little know how, desire, some patience, and about 2 hours if you’re taking photos, but much less if not.

Ready? Let’s create!

Above: Note that you really need (2) 11” x 13” plastic. I cut the plastic for my 1^st bag the size shown and it’s a little shy of perfect so on my next bags I cute the plastic a little larger for success.

FIRST

Cut all of your fabric pieces. You can use just one fabric if desired, but you’ll need to eliminate the center seam. (I used a medium weight matt plastic, but it is kind of bulky. For future bags I’ll try a light weight plastic shower curtain. The kind that is soft and flexible, not the more ridged thicker plastic.)

SECOND

Sew the outside fabric pieces together for the front and back. Iron the seam flat.

 

THIRD

Top stitch trim over the seam. I sew rickrack on both tips so they don’t curl up when washed and dried. (On the next bags I centered the rickrack over the seam. Much prettier!)

FORTH

Every zipper has instructions printed on the back and inside. You’ll even find info on how to shorten a zipper. If you bought one too long, you can follow the guide.

My instructions are NOT for an invisible zipper, but if you feel confident you can sew one in, that may work for you. If you purchased a separating zipper you can make that work. I chose one with nylon teeth because this is a wet bag and nothing is worse than a rusty zipper.

FIFTH

Finish off both ends of the zipper using the 2” x 2” pieces of fabric. Sew the wrong side to the right side of the zipper close to where the little metal stop (shown above). Fold the fabric flat, then under the end of the zipper, then fold the raw edge under and top stich it so it looks nice on the front and the bottom edge is caught in the topstitching on the back. This gives you a nice finished edge on the zipper opening on both the top and the bottom. If your zipper is too short you can use longer fabric to “lengthen” the zipper edge. Basically, all you are doing is sandwiching the end of the zipper inside a little fabric scrap. It’s nothing hard, and the only visible part is where you see the topstitching.

 

SIX

Ready to make little tabs? These make it easy to zip the bag open and closed because you have something to hold. You can also use the loop to hang the bag on a hook. If you add a keychain or carabiner this is where you’ll hook it on.

To make: fold the 4” x 4” fabric in half with wrong sides together. Now fold that in thirds with the raw edges inside. Topstitch along the edges. There you go—you’ve made a tab with strength that looks great!

Now all of your pieces are ready to assemble, so let’s get this cutie put together!

 

SEVEN

Line everything up along the zipper edge, with the zipper sandwiched in between (as shown above).

1.)  Place the plastic liner on the bottom (If there is a right and wrong side, place the wrong side up.)

2.)  Place the zipper on the plastic with the zipper pull facing up, so the zipper is right side up.

3.)  Open the zipper 3 inches.

4.)  Place the pretty outside fabric on top with the right side down.

5.)  Pin the beginning end only.

I’m not into pinning pieces together (thanks to my factory sewing jobs where tiny marks, notches and speed took priority along with perfection). I pinned just the starting point because I didn’t want anything moving. I specifically didn’t pin further into the bag because I don’t want holes in the plastic liner. Notice the little end I sewed to the zipper hangs out a little. That’s just fine. I trimmed it off later.

 

EIGHT

If you haven’t done it yet, switch to a zipper foot at this point.

1.) Open the zipper a few inches, maybe 3” – 4”, and sew in the middle of the zipper fabric. Make sure you catch the fabric and plastic well enough that the seam won’t pull out after you've used the bag a few times. Also, be sure to place your stitches far enough away from the zipper teeth so the zipper pull won’t get caught in the fabric as you open and close the bag. Basically, this means sew in the center of the fabric of the zipper and be sure the fabric and plastic don’t slide out of place as you sew.

2.)  About an inch before you reach the zipper pull, place the needle down in the fabric, raise the sewing machine zipper foot, zip the zipper closed, lower the zipper foot, and finish sewing that side of the zipper.

Don’t let these cautions and details freak you out. If you’re experienced in sewing in zippers this will be natural for you and you’ll think I gave too many instructions. But if zippers are relatively new to you, you’ll want to pay close attention as you sew and you’ll appreciate the details I’ve shared. Overall, don’t worry about it too much because you can unpick and redo mistakes if necessary. There are seldom ever stitches sewn that can’t be taken out. I was a professional seamstress for years so I became a pro at unpicking. It’s one of my best talents so I don’t let zippers or other seams scare me. Don’t let them scare you either.

NINE

Look at that pretty zipper! Once the first side is sewn to the zipper you can fold both sides (fabric and plastic liner) away from the zipper and admire your work. Sorry, but you can’t iron the fabric flat before you topstich because you don’t want to melt the plastic liner to your ironing board. Instead, “hand press” the fabric. That means apply pressure with your fingers to get it as flat as possible.

TEN

Topstich the first side down. This is when you’ll know if you allowed enough room for the zipper pull to easily move up and down without interference from the fabric. Test it out a couple times by zipping up and down. If the fabric is too close to the zipper pull, now is the time to undo the seams (yes, I said seams—so go ahead and undo both of them if necessary). Adjust them and sew again. Redoing one side—the unpicking and resewing—should take about 5 - 10 minutes if done now, but the end result will be worth it. Trying to redo it later will take much more time and could possibly be impossible. Nothing is more annoying than a zipper that you can’t easily open or close. (Actually, many things are more annoying, but when you pick up your pretty bag, you want zero annoyance and lots of love, so take the time to redo mistakes that might bother you later.)

 

ELEVEN

Repeat steps 7 through 11 to sew the other side of the zipper. That sounds like a lot, but it’s just lining up the zipper so the plastic liner is on the bottom, the zipper is sandwiched in the middle, and the pretty outside fabric is placed right side down. Line up the ends (make sure it’s centered so one end doesn’t hang over on one end, making the other end too short). Sew, putting the needle down and lifting the pressure foot as you near the zipper pull, and zipping the zipper shut before continuing on. Turn. Hand press flat. Top stitch.

See, so easy!

Stop now for three seconds and do a little happy dance

because you can see this is going to be 

absolutely cute and successful!

TWELVE

Remember those cute little pull tabs you whipped out in 10 seconds at the beginning? Now it’s time to sew them onto the ends of the zipper.

1.) Switch back to your regular sewing machine foot.

2.)  Next, line up the tab ends to the edge of the bag (not the overhang sewn onto the ends of the zipper, but the ends of the pretty fabric).

3.)  Sew using a 1/4” seam allowance.

4.)  Double and then triple the seam to make sure the tabs are 100% secure. (Smart move, eh? I don’t want those tabs ever coming undone!)

THIRTEEN

By now you might be saying, “Wow! How many more steps are there before I can use this bag?” 

Don’t get discouraged. We’re on the homeward stretch. I divided the steps up so nothing is left out, and if you’re a beginner bursting with creative excitement, you’ll make it to the end. This really is much easier than you think. But now, for the next few steps you won’t see the pretty outer fabric much, just the frays and seams and faded inside of the fabric. Don’t lose hope. Pretty will come within five minutes or sew (um, or so).

1.)  Turn your bag so both plastic sides are together. As seen above, the plastic sides are away from me.

2.)  Fold the zipper ends and tab ends as close to center as humanly possible.

3.)  Match up the trim seam and pin in place. (You don’t want your side seam looking skeewampus!)

4.)  Pin the bulky zipper at the center fold. (If there is floppy fabric along one side between the zipper and trim, ease it in rather than repin the trim seam. Remember, you don’t want you bag looking lopsided.

5.)  Unzip the zipper about half way. (Um, for reals, unzip the zipper about half way.)

You will be sewing over a lot of bulk, so take your time and honestly, remain calm and get things lined up and those zipper ends finger pressed as flat as possible. But don’t worry too much. This is doable!

FOURTEEN

Sew a backwards “U”, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

I know, that sounds strange, so let me explain. When you write the letter “U”, you begin on the upper left hand side, go downward, across the bottom, and finish on the upper right hand top. To sew the bag you’ll begin at the top right hand edge and sew the right hand side first, as shown above, sewing it like you’d write the “U” going backwards.

1.)  Did I already mention you should unzip the zipper about half way or a little more? If not, go ahead and do it now. (Trust me on this!)

2.)  Ready to sew? Start at the top right hand edge of the plastic liner and sew toward the wonderful center where the zipper, tab and beautiful fabric all meet. (Doesn’t that sounds fun and easy?)

3.)  Slow down as you reach that massive bulge which moments before you considered as just significantly huge, but now discover is actually a gigantic mountain!

4.)  Sew one even stitch at a time over that massive bulge, removing the pin when you’re a stitch or two away from it. Caution: over the bulge don’t lead-foot it at full throttle, don’t gun the motor and race over it (or attempt to), and don’t try to fly over it like you might if you were in a car approaching a speed bump in the road. Just sew one stitch at a time. I turned the crank with my right hand for each of the 7-8 stitches I took and coaxed the fabric along. If each of those stitches took an extra 7-8 seconds, then going slow over each zipper end took me an extra 15 seconds. Humm, 15 extra seconds verses a broken needle, a seam that had to be redone, or possibly a sewing machine knocked out of alignment or something worse? Yep just help your little needle along over that huge bulge, taking it one stitch at a time. Same with the few stitches coming down off that tall mountain. You’ll thank your sweet sewing machine for handling it so well, and yourself for not panicking and unpicking, but for being totally awesome, patient and completely in control. Yay, you’ll conquer that bulge!

FIFTEEN

Open the zipper all the way and turn the bag right side out. Wow! Can we say “awesome” too many times? Nope! Look at how incredible that is! You are almost done! At this point you can iron the fabric side if you want, but please don’t iron the plastic side. (Note: there are a couple more steps to go, but all are easy, fun and will take less than 3 minutes!) But first, here’s something you possibly don’t know:

Note about zippers: most are made with a tiny lock inside the zipper pull. When the zipper pull end is flat against the zipper in the downward position (not pointing up to the open end), the pull is “locked” in place. When the pull is lifted away from the zipper and toward the open end, the “lock” opens and you can slide the zipper pull to open or close the zipper.

Think of your jeans. You zip them up, and as long as the lock isn’t broken, the zipper pull stays up at the waistband and your zipper stays closed if you turn the little pull to face downward, or to point toward the zipped up portion of the zipper. Isn’t that amazing how gravity has no power over your zipper as long as the lock isn’t broken?!? But if the lock breaks the pull slides down and you’re embarrassed. You toss out the jeans if you’re afraid of or can’t find a safety pin. (Believe me, it’s hard to replace a zipper in jeans.)

The tiny zipper in your bag works the same way. Don’t ever force a stubborn zipper or yank on a pull, thinking it is stuck. It might have something caught in the teeth, but it might also only be the position of the pull. Just lift the pull into the “unlocked” positon and it should easily slide.

But what about a pull that breaks off? Now what? Don’t toss the bag, but try this: Place a paperclip through the tiny loop where the pull was and use that. Since paperclips can sometimes be tacky you can also try using a jewelry ring, and attach something cute to replace the pull. The little metal ring can apply pressure to the lock so you can move the pull. (Just thought you might like a little zipper up and up!) 

Back to creating!

SIXTEEN

The plastic liner is open at one end, and all the water draining from your swimsuit will escape if it isn’t closed. Now it’s time to make your bag almost waterproof. The bag will never be 100% waterproof, but it will be close. (If you make a wet bag to hold soiled cloth baby diapers, be aware that fluids and odors will escape.)

SEVENTEEN

Turn the edges inward about ½” inch and finger press them flat. I don’t pin through plastic, so when necessary I adjusted the fold as I...

EIGHTEEN

... sew along the end.

The sewing is completed! Push the plastic liner into the bag.

NINETEEN

Attach the carabiner or keychain to the loop on the end where the zipper pull is located when the bag is closed. I chose this end because if the bag is hung on a hook while filled with wet items, the zipper can then be closed easier and it’s less likely any fabric will catch in the zipper teeth. (No 100% guarantee there, just less likely.)

TWENTY

One cute wet bag or swimming suit bag is ready to fill after a fun day in the pool or at the beach! On the ride home your swimsuit won’t work its way out of a soggy towel and against the spare tire or under feet where it could get dirty and gross. In a cute bag it's less likely to be accidentally nudged out the door and onto the parking lot. And no bye-bye swimsuit if it tumbled out when the towel was dropped. Of course, it doesn’t guarantee your kiddo won’t leave it in a friend’s car or in the booth at the Dairy Queen after eating a triple-decker chocolate-topped ice cream cone.

Clip it onto your shoulder bag, or let it be your main bag. You can tuck sunscreen inside, zip in a few bucks for a slushy, and keep track of your car keys, sunglasses and pool pass either inside or on the keyring. If you don’t add a keychain or carabiner the little loop you sewed in the seam will work just fine for hanging on a hook. It really doesn’t need to be any bigger than a loop your finger slides into.

Here’s the rundown:

Time: About 1 hour, give or take. Add 1 or 2 more depending on interruptions and your skills. (That doesn’t include shopping or sewing machine set up or gathering supplies.)

Difficulty level: Easy if you know how to sew and are comfortable with zippers. It may take a little longer, but it’s still easy if you’re unaccustomed to working with zippers and mixed materials (fabric and plastic).

Cost: You can’t buy one for what you’ll pay for this, but you can use scraps from other projects if you want to cut the cost down even more. A keychain or carabiner are optional. I considered them jewelry and loved the idea of adding color as well as versatility. This won’t break the piggy bank, but zippers are not free, unless you have a spare one hanging around in your sewing supplies.

Fabric: I chose plastic with a matt finish because I thought it might be easier to work with. It was! I’ve used shiny plastic on other projects and basically cursed it the whole time. I used cotton fabric that will bleach in the sun and with chlorine water on it. It will fade and wear out eventually. I suggest rinsing out the bag when emptied to slow down those affects. In the future I’ll try a light weight matt plastic shower curtain liner to ease bulk and make it lighter and have a softer more flexible finished product. I would avoid bulky fabric like denim.

Trim: This is optional. You can topstitch it on or sew it into a seam like piping. You can use lace or any other trim, such as contrasting fabric, braiding, etc. The front and back can be cut from one piece without a seam or trim.

Care: I’d suggest rinsing the bag after each use and line drying with the zipper open so the inside and outside thoroughly dry. The keychain or carabiner can be removed and it can be machine washed and dried, but personally, I’d only partially dry the bag so the plastic liner doesn’t harden and crack or melt. I’d finish drying it on a line, and in the winter I would try to dry it over a heat vent if possible. 

I can’t think of anything else, except enjoy making and using this little treasure!

 

Oh, and also this little tidbit: I believe creating encompasses a lot more than making something pretty or useful. It’s a way of bringing joy to our lives as we expand our talents, skills and abilities. It refreshes our attitudes and enhances our can-do feelings. It really, honestly is worth it because we become a better person and the world becomes a better place because our outlook brightens and our possibilities increase. We are giving something of ourselves for something wonderful and new.

Happy Creating! 

(And to my cute little Grands and their mom who might see this before the package arrives, happy swimming, and watch the mail! And especially Happy B-day sweet little A! This one was hand-picked and hand-created with love just for you!)