I can’t believe it’s time for school already!
We’ve been getting ready here – and that means buying supplies of course! And I just had to make something to hold some of those supplies – so I sewed up this cute little Monogram Zipper Pouch for her!
It’s perfect for holding pens and pencils, or even a calculator! It also has little grommets at the bottom, so it can easily be slipped into a three ring binder.
It goes together so easily too – and you could make it with any embroidery or just a combination of fun fabrics.
Ready for a quick tutorial?
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Outside Main Fabric – 11″ x 13″ piece
- Lining Fabric – 11″ x 13″ piece, plus two pieces the width of your zipper x 8 1/2″
- Fusible Fleece – 11″ x 13″ piece
- embroidery floss, needle, disappearing marking pen
- 7″ zipper
- 3 grommets, tool for setting grommets, hammer
All my supplies (except the hammer :) came from Michaels.
Press your outside main fabric in half, so the fabric is folded into a 6 1/2″ x 11″ rectangle.
Mark the three spots for your grommets so they match the spacing of the rings of a binder, and up from the fold 3/4″.
In the bottom right corner of the top half of the fabric, trace a blocky monogram with a disappearing ink pen.
Pop your fabric into a hoop and start by outlining the letter in French knots. If you need a tutorial for those, check the Embroidery Tips page.
Continue around the letter working out with your French knots to cover a small area around the letter and then scatter out. There’s no wrong way to do it – just do as many as you like. Fill in any inside sections if you have them on your letter also.
Iron your fusible fleece to the back of your main fabric.
Press the short ends of your small fabric rectangles in towards the center, wrong sides together, then press the piece in half again. You’re making a little skinny piece of bias tape for each end of the zipper.
Slip the zipper between the folded ends of each fabric piece. Sew across the folded ends, this will extend your zipper to reach the full length of the zipper pouch.
Line the top of your zipper up with the top edge of your main outer fabric. The face of the zipper should face down towards the right side of the fabric. Lay the lining face down over this and sew along the top edge through all three pieces.
Now, this is going to seem wonky, but trust me here.
Fold the lining and the outer fabrics up and meet the other side of the zipper. Sew the pieces together. You’ll have a folded lining piece on one side and a folded outer piece on the either.
Open up the zipper and turn the pieces so the lining is right side out. The main fabric will be on the inside. A tube inside a tube. Still with me? :)
Line up your pieces so the zipper is towards the top. Move the lining pieces towards the center, out of the way. Line your outer fabric edges up right sides together and sew the seams from the bottom up to the zipper seam edge.
Tuck the main fabrics inside the lining out of the way. Press the edges of each side of your lining under 1/2″. Sew the ends from the bottom up, as high as you can go without sewing over the zipper seam. Trim the bottom corners of the seams.
Tuck your lining inside the main fabric so the lining is inside and the pouch is right side out. Make sure the corners are nice and sharp. Press the pouch.
Now you can stop here for a super cute pouch. Or you can add in the grommets so the pouch can be used in a binder. Mark and place your grommets. You’ll need the grommets and matching tool, and the packaging usually has the instructions for putting them in.
That’s just about it! Since my girl’s a bit of a math nerd, I added a little calculator charm to the zipper pull. So cute!!
Load up the zipper pouch with school supplies and you are ready to go!
I hope you like it!
As I mentioned, all the supplies for the pouch came from Michaels! Fabric, zippers, thread, grommets – the works./
Michaels has all sorts of supplies and project ideas to get you ready for Back to School!
You can check out their lookbook here. And did you know, Michaels offers teachers a 15% discount every day? That is so awesome. If you’re a teacher, just talk to a sales associate next time you’re in.
Disclosure: I was provided with a gift card to create the Back To School item above. All ideas and opinions are my own. :)
Linking up at Sunday Scoop, Today’s Creative Blog, Met Monday, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday, Quilt Story, Shabby Creek Cottage, My Repurposed Life, 504 Main, Everything Etsy, and the other fabulous parties on the party page. Make sure you check them out!
Marta says
Great tutorial, nice and neat! I love the embroidery monogram! And the zipper is so nice blended with the fabric!
If you have some spare time please get a look at my blog too, you can find some sewing project too:
sewcraftpaintlove.blogspot.it
Hugs,
Marta
Regina Partain says
What a cute idea. I love the monogram. There will be no doubt about who the bag belongs to. And, of course, who doesn’t love Michaels. I have to travel a little over an hour to the nearest Michaels, Joann’s, or Hobby Lobby. But it is always worth it when I can go.
Thanks for sharing.
Kara says
So so cute Bev!
Ana Lopes says
This looks awesome! Love it! Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial!
Have a fabulous week!
Hugs from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com
VickiT says
Awesome tutorial Bev! I am thankfully way beyond the back to school time in my life, but this is a fabulous tutorial. I can use something like this in my 3 ring binders where I have my printed patterns/tutorials I have saved. In this pouch I can say pieces of patterns, or maybe too for my quilt patterns, if there are any templates I’ve cut out, they could be stored in the pouch too.
Thanks Bev
Crystal says
I can’t believe that you made the pencil pouch!! It is super cute!! I love the monogram!! You are so creative and talented!! Thanks for the tutorial!!
Susan @SugarBeans says
Another adorable project!! Thanks bunches for always including a wonderful and easy to follow tutorial.
Blessings,
Susan
Rochelle says
What a great little tutorial! Nice holder for sewing markers as well!
Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe says
Oh my, Bev! All those French knots make one adorable monogram! And I love the addition of the grommets. Pure brilliance.
And don’t think the ombre array of colored pencils was lost on me! ;)
Amazing Places says
this is unusual idea and simple steps, i like it so much, thank you for sharing it with us :)
Erin says
Great tutorial and it beats a name written in black marker on school supplies as I grew up with ;)
Nancy Nelson says
Nice tutorial for this project. This the second pencil pouch I’ve seen in a tutorial but each one has their own techniques for making them. I made some a few years ago using some appropriate kid fabric (monster trucks, flames, and horses) I have three kids. I lined mine with ripstop nylon so things would slide out easier when they were trying to get at something inside. I liked that you used the bigger grommets when I made them I used eyelets which were a tight fit on the binder and ultimately pulled out too easily. But the kids loved them and used them for a couple of years. Thanks for sharing your particular technique on this project.
Judy says
I am going to make some for my grand kids. Thankyou so much for the easy to follow steps to make it. Beautiful
gio says
amazonggggggg