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DIY Pencil Pouch

Yeah for school!  Just about everyone is back to school today.  Have you spent days shopping for clothes, shoes and backpacks?  When you have a few minutes for yourself, you’ll probably be thinking of the kiddos anyway, so we’re sharing a quick little treat for you both.  Here’s our Pencil Pouch, lined, zippered and made from your their favorite fabrics.  So here it is, in under 2 minutes!

We wanted to show you some of our cute fat quarter fabrics, putting in a zipper, lining the pouch, and most of all to let you know that a pencil pouch is really EASY.  So just let loose and make one!

So there is a little disclaimer – we didn’t film the 15 minutes at the sewing machine, which you really didn’t want to see anyway.  Because you are a creative, imaginative and inventive DIY-er, we know you can do this!

So, do you still get the idea that it’s EASY?  To be fair, I’ll give you some details and tips for the first one.

Pencil Pouch Tips:

  • The black and yellow prints are our Creative Cuts Singles at Walmart.  You need 4 pieces cut 6 in x 9 1/2 in.  The zipper is a YKK 9 in Ziplon with an oversize metal pull.  The small 2 in squares are sewn on to hold the zipper ends together.
  • The pouch fabrics are cut just longer than the zipper, so don’t worry about the zipper size, use whatever size zipper you have.  Zippers can be cut [not with a rotary cutter, thank you] just sew the ends together with the tabs so the pull doesn’t zip off.  You will be sad.  This makes the pouch easy to resize.  If you need carry a ruler, use a 12 in zipper and 13 in fabric.
  • Sewing the zipper close to the teeth means you need a foot that can get close. You’ll also bump into the pull, so that’s why the sewing was stopped half way. Cut the thread, take a look at your stitching and pull the zipper out of the way. Now you can finish the seam.  Top stitching both sides of the zipper will keep the lining from catching in the teeth.
  • To finish the pouch, pin right sides together, lining to lining, outer to outer.  Check that the zipper is open and sew around leaving 4″ open in the lining. The zipper ends are bulky, so sew slow and carefully over them.  If you like to make the lining just a little smaller, sew it with a bigger seam allowance, almost 1/2″ is good.
  • To finish, reach in through the opening and pull right side out. Stick your hand inside to make nice pointy corners. then stuff the lining inside. Test the zipper and hand stitch the opening in the lining closed. Ta-da! Once the school day ends and your little one gets a look at this Pencil Pouch, you’ll need to make another! Wishing you all the very best this school year!