August 14, 2015

Sew-Easy Pencil Pouches for Back-To-School

Back-to-School, Crafting, Gift Ideas, Kids, Sewing

Just in time for back-to-school, the girls and I had a little fun recently with these, super-duper, fun and fantastic pencil pouches! We made some of these several years ago when Abby and Lily were little, and they still use them after all these years.

These require minimal sewing and minimal time, so they’re a great little project for kids to do themselves or with your supervision.

All you’ll need is a 7-inch zipper and some sheets of felt (approximately 9″x12″). These are sold in sheets at craft stores, and when we went to choose ours at Hobby Lobby, we were thrilled to find that with the felt, they also offer some vinyl and oil cloth sheets in animal prints and glitters as well! Perfect for this project.

For the front-zipper design, line up the zipper, right sides together, on one of the short ends of the felt and sew it on.

Next, add an appliqué or embellishment of your choice. We found a cute dog here online and printed it off to use as a pattern. To make the appliqué, cut a piece of felt and iron some Heat ‘N Bond (found here or in craft stores) onto the back of the felt. Trace your pattern onto the felt and cut it out, then iron it onto your pencil pouch.

Use a little embroidery floss to add eyes and details.

When the appliqué is done, sew the other end of the pouch to the other side of the zipper…

Fold the felt so the zipper is positioned approximately one-third of the way from the top, then sew the two sides. Be sure to unzip the zipper slightly so that the pouch can be easily turned right-side-out after sewing.