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Back To School Pencil Pouch Tutorial

We can hardly believe that summer is over and it is already time for back to school! For us, back to school means new pencil pouches and trapper keepers so we are hooking you up the perfect fall pouch project. Made with durable waxed canvas this simple project is quick to make and will hold together all year long. Not heading back to school? This carryall is a great size for transporting and storing craft supplies or as a travel toiletry bag! 

MATERIALS

Pencil Pouch Materials

3/8 yard of Waxed Canvas 
(1) 10” Antique Brass Donut Pull Zippers
(3) 3/8” Grommets
Rotary Cutter
Cutting Mat
Quilting Ruler
Sewing Clips or Pins

PIECES TO CUT

Grommet Tab - 3.75” x 12” 
Back Pouch - 7” x 12”
Right Pouch Front - 3” x 12”
Left Pouch Front- 4.5” x 12”
Zipper Tabs -  (2) 1.5” x 2”

SEWING INSTRUCTIONS

All seam allowances are 1/2” unless otherwise stated.

If this is your first time sewing with waxed canvas, there are a few things to keep in mind while working with this unique material. First and foremost, do not press your iron to the fabric! You will end up with a big mess on your hands and you will end up ruining your fabric. We recommend finger pressing for this small and simple project. You may also find that using sewing pins as you normally would is a bit tricky. For that reason, we like using sewing clips in their place to keep things clean and easy to manage, but sewing pins will work fine if that is what you have on hand. Also, using traditional marking tools is a bit difficult with the waxy texture of the fabric, but when marking your grommet placement you can make a temporary mark by scratching the wax away from the fabric with the tip of a seam ripper. 

Grommet Tab

Back to School Pencil Pouch 1

Sew the Grommet Tab - With right sides together fold the Grommet Tab (3.75” X 12”) in half along the long edge. Stitch along the short edges of the tab at 1/2.” Trim corners and turn Grommet Tab right side out. 

Attach the Grommets - Mark the placement of all three grommets on the right side of the Grommet Tab with the assistance of your quilting ruler. Line up ruler so it sits 3/4” in from the long folded edge of the Grommet Tab. Make a mark 1.25” from the top, 1.25” from the bottom, and a third mark in the center of the tab (or 4.25” from either the top or bottom grommet marking).

Cut holes for grommets at three marked spots on Grommet Tab and install grommets according to package instructions.

Zipper Tabs

Back to School Pencil Pouch 2

Take one of your Zipper Tabs (1.5” x 2”) and fold one of the short edges under 1/4” with wrong sides together. Leave the second edge unfinished. Sew the newly pressed edge to one end of your zipper. Trim the long edges of Zipper Tab so that it stays in line with the zipper edge.

Repeat with second Zipper Tab and other end of the zipper. Trim unfinished ends of-of each zipper tab so it is 1" long (total zipper length should be 12") 

Assemble Front Pouch

With your Right Pouch Front (3” x 12”) face up lay the Zipper face down and centered along the 12” side of the Right Pouch Front. Using a zipper foot, sew the zipper in place. Turn Right Pouch Front and Zipper right side facing up and finger press the fabric away from the zipper. Topstitch at 1/8” away from the zipper.

With your Left Pouch Front (4.5” x 12”) face up lay the Zipper + Right Pouch Front face down and centered along the 12” side of the Left Pouch Front. Using a zipper foot, sew the zipper in place. Turn so right side is facing up and finger press the fabric away from the zipper. Topstitch at 1/8” away from the zipper.

This will now be referred to as the Front Pouch piece.

Trapper Keeper Pencil Pouch

Assemble Pencil Pouch

Back to School Pencil Pouch 3

Attach the Grommet Tab - With right side of the Front Pouch facing up, place the Grommet Tab face down on the 12” edge of the Front Pouch piece farthest away from the zipper. Baste in place.

Attach Front and Back Pouch Pieces - Place Front Pouch and Back Pouch pieces right sides together and sew around the exterior of the entire pouch at 3/8” making sure to leave your zipper half-way open so that you can turn the pouch right-sides out after you are done.

Trim corners making sure not to snip into your stitch line and finish remaining seam allowance with a zigzag stitch or serger. Turn Pouch so that the right side is facing out.

Packing up your pouch with all your favorite pens and snips because you just finished your brand new Back to School Pencil Pouch!

Back to School Pencil Pouch

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