I found this branded, hard cased zipper pouch in the trash in my office and I knew I could give it a makeover! It was practically brand new, such a shame to see it go in the trash!
In order to cover a hard-cased zip pouch to hide brand you'll need....
Fabric big enough to cover your case (Mine was a scrap, about 6" x 12" + a smaller scrap for the spine)
Bias tape (optional)
Sewing or binder clips
Hand sewing supplies
In order for this project to work for your hard case, you need to have an exposed zipper along the outer edge. This is where I sewed my fabric cover to, since the hard material would be too difficult to sew through. Although, that would be an interesting experiment...maybe a tutorial for another day?
Tangents aside! You will need to start by wrapping your fabric around 1 side of your case to determine the size and shape of fabric needed. Its best to have a little bit extra around the edges, so you can fold the raw edge underneath. Use sewing or binder clips to hold the fabric in place to get the shape right so you can trim your fabric to size.
Clip the fabric around the edges of the case, along the zipper and fold the raw edges underneath the fabric so it's hidden. The spine (where the case bends to open, like a book) will have an unclipped fabric edge for now.)
Begin sewing the fabric to the zipper fabric, making sure to keep the fabric as far away from the zipper teeth as possible. This will help avoid the zipper getting caught when it's in use! I mostly used an invisible ladder stitch where possible, and a running back stitch where I couldn't.
The hardest part on my case was getting the fabric around the curves. I used extra sewing clips and treated them a bit like pleats to sew everything in place.
Repeat the same process for the other side of your case!
If you have a D-ring like mine does for hanging things, I just sewed a running stitch over it so its still usable!
Now you have your case almost entirely covered, except for the exposed spine and there are 2 openings in the fabric covering. My spine is a plastic that I know will break down and shed in the future, so I want to cover that too.
I ran out of matching purple fabric, so I used a little piece of coordinating black. I cut it so it was slightly taller than the spine and about an inch wider so that I had enough wiggle room to sew it. Fold the top edges to the wrong side and sew down.
I actually didn't cut my strip tall enough, so I sewed on a bit of bias top at both edges to extend it.
Tuck the spine fabric so it lays under both the front and back fabric coverings and pin into place. Then sew both edges together! I used an invisible ladder stitch and I really like how it looks.
Now you have your own cute, custom case! I'm not sure what I'll use mine for, maybe a mini travel sewing kit? I loathe company/office branded freebies, so I hope I get to work on more projects like this one! Also can we talk about how cute this space fabric is? It was just a little scrap that I got from a neighbor in a pile of fabric and it was the perfect size for this project!
Some other ideas for customization:
Extra pockets
Add D rings to hang key chains
Use a patch for decoration
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