DIY Toiletry Bag [Full Tutorial to Make a Hanging Travel Bag]

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My sister travels a lot and I have long admired this hanging toiletry bag that she has so I finally decided to make one of my own diy toiletry bag.  I’m currently packing for a beach trip and one item that will definitely be in my bag is my Tom’s of Maine® Long Lasting deodorant.

I recently picked some up at Walmart in the deodorant aisle.

I picked up one Unscented and one Lavender.  Tom’s of Maine’s Original deodorant stick is aluminum-free.  It uses the botanical ingredient hops to inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria, providing 24-hour odor protection that you can feel confident in all day long.

There are no artificial colors, flavors, fragrances or preservatives in Tom’s of Maine Long Lasting deodorant products.

Tom’s of Maine does not test their products on animals.  All Tom’s of Maine packaging is recyclable through TerraCycle and Tom’s of Maine gives 10% of their profits to human and environmental goodness.

If you want to try any of the Tom’s of Maine Long Lasting deodorant products for yourself be sure to take advantage of the current Ibotta offer where you can earn $1.00 off Toms’s of Maine Under Arm Protection Products.

Here’s the full tutorial so that you can make your own diy toiletry bag-

To make this diy toiletry bag you will need:

• 2 18 X 14 inch pieces of laminated cotton fabric
• 2 7 X 14 inch pieces of laminated cotton fabric
• 1 18 X 14 inch piece of interfacing
• 1 6 X14 inch piece of clear vinyl
• 1 3 X 14 inch piece of clear vinyl
• 3 yards of double fold bias tape
• 1 14 inch zipper
• ribbon
• 1 large hook and D ring set
• sewing machine, coordinating thread, needles, rotary cutter or scissors

Step 1: I’m going to begin with making the zipper pouch at the top of the diy toiletry bag.  Take the zipper and the two pieces of clear vinyl.  Make sure your zipper pull is positioned to the left.  If you want to make the zipper be higher on the pouch then start with the bigger piece of vinyl.  (I did it the opposite way because frankly I wasn’t paying attention).

Lay the piece of vinyl down on top of the zipper and line up the edge of the vinyl with the bottom of the zipper.  Sew across the length of the zipper like you see in the picture below.

Then fold the vinyl piece down to the bottom.  Sew across lengthwise again to keep the vinyl in place.

Repeat the process to attach the other piece of vinyl to the top of the zipper.

Step 2: Now you’re going to make the pocket that goes on the bottom of the toiletry clutch.  Lay down one of the 7 X 14 inch pieces of laminated cotton fabric with the right side down.

Next lay the other 7 X 14 inch piece of laminated cotton fabric down on top of the first, this time with the right side up.

Now you are going to add bias tape to the top edge of the rectangle.  If you’ve never sewn with bias tape before I recommend that you look up a few video tutorials on YouTube.  I am going to try to show the process as well as I can but there are some great videos out there that will be more helpful.

Unfold the bias tape and line up the edge of the shorter side with the edge of the two pieces of laminated cotton.  Use clips or bobby pins to keep everything together.  Sew along the creased fold all the way across the rectangle of laminated cotton.

Then fold the bias tape over to the other side.

Flip your rectangle on to the other side.  Use your fingers to press the bias tape down and use your clips to keep everything in place.  Sew along the bottom edge of the bias tape, sewing all the way across.Step 3: Sew bias tape onto the bottom of the clear zippered pocket as well. 

Step 4: Lay one of the 18 X 14 inch pieces of laminated cotton fabric down right side down.  Then lay the 18 X 14 piece of interfacing on top of it.

Next add the second piece of laminated cotton fabric down on top of it with the right side up.  Then lay your clear zippered pocket and the bottom pocket on top.  Now, when I did this I decided to take 2 inches off of my zippered pocket.

Step 5: Now we are going to add the hook onto the toiletry clutch.  Line up the hook in the middle of the bottom pocket, about an inch from the bottom edge.

Now cut a 3 inch piece of ribbon and loop it through the hook.  Sew a square with an X through it to secure the hook into place.

Step 6: Now take the clear zippered pocket off of the toiletry clutch and fold the top of the toiletry clutch over toward the bottom.  (Make sure you move the zippered pocket because you don’t want to sew through it!)

Cut about 5 inches of ribbon and loop it through the D ring.  Sew across the ribbon near the ring.  Tuck the end of the ribbon under and sew it down onto the layers of the toiletry clutch, as few inches from the edge.

This is what you will see from the other side (the one the pockets will be on).  The clear zippered pouch will cover this area.

Step 7: Unfold it and put the clear zippered pocket onto the top of the clutch.  Sew the pocket down on the bottom of the bias tape edge.  Then sew two vertical lines to the top of the bottom pocket, like you see in the picture below.

I sewed mine 4 inches from the outside.  This will make the individual pockets for stuff like your shampoo or hairspray.

Step 8: Attach bias tape around the outside edge of the toiletry clutch.  Again, Youtube has some great explanations of how to sew bias tape onto corners so I won’t go into detail so if you haven’t done it before then watch a few videos.  It’s much easier to show rather than explain with words.

Once you’ve done the bias tape you are all done!

You can hang the toiletry clutch up on a bathroom hook using the D ring.

The awesome thing about this diy toiletry bag is that you could modify the toiletry clutch dimensions and pockets to perfectly fit your toiletry items.  Please let me know if you make a diy toiletry bag and or if you’ve tried out the Tom’s of Maine Long Lasting deodorant products.