Boxed Toiletry Bag

This Boxed Toiletry Bag tutorial and its shop have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone. #NatureMadeGummies #CollectiveBias

My Boxed Toiletry Bag is one of my favorite travel accessories. It's perfect for cosmetics, vitamins, and any smaller items that need corralling in your suitcase. Using several of them together works well since they stack so well against each other. See how to make one for yourself below.

This is a beginner-level sewing project, but having a bit of zipper experience helps. You can see my basic lined zipper bag tutorial here if you need a little practice with sewing zippers. Below is the complete tutorial for this fun Boxed Toiletry Bag.

When I travel, I like to bring all of the comforts of home...especially all of the things from my medicine cabinet to keep me in my routine. Traveling throws me off enough, so I try my best to stay on track when I'm away. I like to grab the Nature Made® Vitamin D3 Adult Gummies for my toiletry bag. These gummies help support bone, teeth, muscle and immune health and contain 2000 IU of vitamin D3 per serving.† D3 is actually the body’s preferred form of vitamin D* and helps improve calcium absorption†. I also pack my Nature Made® Melatonin Adult Gummies and a few other essentials I shared below.

Vitamin D3 is more effective than Vitamin D2 at raising and maintaining adequate levels of circulating vitamin D in the body.†

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I actually compartmentalize these vitamins so they're easy to pack in my bag.

I'll share more on that below. But, let's first make this cute boxed toiletry bag.

For this lined and zippered boxed toiletry bag, you'll need:

• 1 14" zipper (try not to use a plastic one since you'll be ironing over it a lot)
• grosgrain ribbon (1" wide) for tabs (you'll only need 6")
• 2 coordinating fabrics (one for lining), you'll only need 16"x20" of each
• medium-weight iron-on fusible interfacing (you'll need two 8"x10" pieces)
• coordinating thread
• other sewing items (scissors, sewing machine, pins or clips, etc.)

You'll start by cutting all of your fabrics and interfacing into 8"x10" pieces (you'll have two lining pieces, two outer fabric pieces, and two pieces of interfacing).

Iron your fusible interfacing according to its package directions onto your two outer fabric pieces. Each brand is a bit different, so be sure to read your package. Press onto the wrong side of your outer fabric pieces. This creates a really nice and sturdy fabric for your bag...giving it a nice structure and shape.

You'll start with your first "sandwich" of fabrics for your bag. Lay down one piece of lining (right side up). Line the side of your zipper to the top of that lining fabric (it will be too long and hang off both sides, which is fine). Lay your outer fabric (that has the fusible interfacing already attached to it) face down on top of the sandwich...everything should all be lined up with the zipper on top. Pin or clip all of this into place (clips are my preference, but pins work just fine, too).

Be sure to place your zipper foot onto your sewing machine to make it easy to sew along the zipper.

Sew the "sandwich" together. You're sewing the lining, the zipper, and the thicker outer fabric all together. Use a basic stitch and be sure to do a backstitch at each end. 

Once your first sandwich is sewn together, pull all of the fabrics onto the correct sides of the zipper and press them away from the zipper as best as you can. I use my steam and really work hard to get the fabrics laying nicely away from the zipper.

Lay down your other piece of lining fabric. Place the already sewn "sandwich" on top of that lining (you're about to form the other sandwich).

Place your other piece of outer fabric (with the interfacing) face down on top of this sandwich. Pin or clip in place and once again sew this sandwich together on the other side of the zipper that hasn't been sewn yet (use the basic stitch and backstitch at each end).

Open everything up to where you have an outer fabric and a lining fabric on each side of the zipper. Press all of this down nicely. You can add an optional top stitch at this point (you can see where I did this above using the contrasting lime green thread for fun). I think it gives the piece a really nice, clean look and helps keep the fabric away from getting caught in the zipper.

SUPER IMPORTANT: Unzip that zipper! You'll be super sad at the end if you don't!

Line everything up and pin or clip the entire perimeter. Use a zig zag stitch around the edge of the entire perimeter...carefully holding the zipper closed and carefully sewing over it to secure it in place (see below).

As you can see in the above photo, I sewed that zigzag stitch right over the zipper (just gently hold on to the zipper as you cross it). If you prefer, you can hand crank your wheel over that spot. I often do that because I'm scared of breaking the needle on my machine. I sew over it on both sides. Then clip the excess zipper off (don't use your good fabric scissors for this...the metal on the zipper can mess them up).

I cut my tabs from the grosgrain ribbon. The length of each tab is three inches...just fold it in half and butt the two open ends against the edge of your piece, in line with the zipper (above). Pin or clip in place. In this case, I did both. The pin stayed put while I sewed on top of the ribbon. Just use a simple basic stitch to sew these in place at the very edge of them...where the two loose ends meet with the edge of the fabric.

Once the tabs are sewn in, fold the piece in half, with the lining on the outside. Pin or clip the edges on the opposite side of the zipper together. Sew this closed with a basic stitch.

Once that is sewn closed, press open your seams with your iron. Line up that seam on top of the zipper (that is on the underside). Pin or clip your two shorter ends closed. Sew those two shorter edges closed with a basic stitch and a quarter of an inch seam allowance (you can see what that looks like below). 

You can carefully clip those corners after the seam is sewn. Be careful not to clip any of the stitch you just sewed into place. You may also want to press this seam open so the next step is easier.

Now it's time to box your corners to give this bag its shape.

You're going to do this to all four corners. Pull each corner out flat. Using a gridded sewing ruler, find the intersection of one and a half inches in from the point and three inches wide. Mark this with an erasable pen (or one that will wash out). Find and mark this on all four corners...you may want to stick a pin in each one to keep it in place.

Sew along those lines you drew in each of the corners using a basic stitch with a small backstitch on each end. Then cut off the excess. Again, do this to all four of the corners.

Now, turn your bag right side out and pull out the corners to where it all looks neat and tidy. Isn't the lining so pretty, y'all? I just love a good, lined bag. You may want to spray this with a fabric protectant if you'll be packing any bottles of liquids, lotions, or make up that may spill. 

Let's get it all packed up. I often like to have several of these kinds of bags in my closet. I keep a couple ready to go so packing is easier for each trip. And, I don't have to always do a mental checklist of the items I have to pack (and I don't forget anything).

As I mentioned above, I don't like to travel without all of my usual routine items...especially vitamins. I mentioned above why I really like Nature Made® Vitamin D3 Adult Gummies. I also like to bring along the Nature Made® Melatonin Adult Gummies. 
They're an easy way to help support sleep†...and delicious, too. I'm always thrown off when I travel (5 am flights mean waking up at like 2 am...gah!). The Melatonin Gummies help my body reset its sleep/wake cycle.†.
Nature Made® is a gummy you can trust. And with the D3...Nature Made® has the first gummies certified by USP for purity and potency.

Vitamin D3 is more effective than Vitamin D2 at raising and maintaining adequate levels of circulating vitamin D in the body.†

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I actually like to carry two of these compartmentalized containers for vitamins and other things. One is for the morning and the other for before bedtime. It makes things easy to pack inside my toiletry bag.

It all fits perfectly into the boxed toiletry bag.

Grab Nature Made® Adult Gummies at Walmart.

What kinds of things do you pack when you travel?

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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