Pencil Case Tutorial
February 20th, 2009 | Published in Crafts, Sewing, Tutorials | 34 Comments
I saw this great Little Boxy Pouch tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew the other day, and I just had to make one for myself. But I couldn’t really think of a good use for my little (very adorable) pouch. So I altered the pattern quite a bit by changing the size and adding a lining and some tabs to make myself a cute little boxy pencil case. I took photos of my steps so that I could share my pattern with you! This is my first time altering a pattern and my first sewing tutorial, so please let me know if anything doesn’t make sense. Or if you have a better way to do any of the steps!
Step 1: Gather materials
Cut fabric:
- Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of main fabric
- Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of lining fabric
- Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of iron-on interfacing
- One 4″ x 8″ piece of lining fabric
You’ll also need:
- Zipper at least 12″ long
Step 2: Iron interfacing to wrong side of lining fabric.
Step 3: Baste right sides of lining fabric together along 1 long edge. Iron seam allowance open.
Step 4: Iron down 1/2″ (wrong sides together) along long ends of main fabric. (ug, my fabric is so wrinkly!! I tried so hard to get it to iron flat, and failed miserably. But isn’t this the cutest striped fabric? I found it at IKEA.)
Step 5: Lay wrong side of zipper along seam of lining fabric (I used an extra long zipper and just let both ends hang over the side. It’s okay, you can cut it later). Pin folded edge of main fabric on top, along the side of the zipper. Stitch close to zipper using a zipper foot.
Step 6: Repeat with remaining piece of main fabric.
Step 7: Use a seam ripper to pull out seam in lining.
Here’s what you should have.
Step 8: Pin right sides of remaining long edges together. Sew, leaving a ~3″ gap on the lining side.
Here it is stitched, with a little gap left in the lining section. This is what you’ll use to flip your work right-side out. Iron seam allowances open.
Step 9: Remember that smaller piece of lining fabric you cut out? Fold right sides together and stitch. Iron seam allowance open.
Step 10: Flip right-side out, iron with seam in center, and cut in half. These will be your tabs.
Step 11: Okay, here’s a tricky part (or at least tricky for me to explain). Pin your fabrics in the order: bottom seam of lining, zipper, one of your tabs folded in half with seams together, and finally bottom seam of main fabric. Make sure that your zipper pull is pulled to the middle of your work.
Step 12: Sew up both sides. Trim zipper (again, make sure your pull is in the middle! I don’t want anyone trimming off the section that contains the pull!).
Step 13: Turn your work right side out through that 3″ hole you left in the bottom seam of the lining. Slip stitch seam closed. Keyka Lou has a great tutorial on How to Slip Stich a Seam Closed.
Here’s what you should have so far. You can stop here if you want a flat case, or keep going if you want it to be boxy.
Step 14: Working with your pouch inside-out, pinch corners into triangles with seam running straight down the center. Sew perpendicular to seam. The longer the line that you sew, the taller your case will be.
Step 15: Ta-da! Make one to fit your pencils, makeup, crochet hooks, knitting needles, or whatever you can think of! It’s really simple to just change the dimensions to get different shapes. Let me know if you decide to make one and send me the photos.
February 21st, 2009 at 7:15 am (#)
This is the BEST pencil case tut I have seen to date! You really did a killer job on this! You should tell Rachel from One Pretty Thing. I bet she would feature it in a second!
HUGS!
February 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm (#)
Oh that is fabulous, I love it! And I love Lolly’s comment! =) I’ll be linking.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 am (#)
I LOVE IT!!!!! Zippers scare me.
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:02 pm (#)
Just found your blog via One Pretty Thing! WOW – this is an EXCELLENT tutorial! Thank you for sharing.
Have a great day! (P.S. Zippers scare me, too! – however, I’m gonna try it anyway!) P.S. – I love your blog name: Annie Get Your Glue Gun! Very cute.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 pm (#)
This might be obvious to a more experienced sewer, but what’s your seam allowance for this project? I’m excited to make it. Thank you!
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm (#)
Thanks Lollychops and Rachel!
Ashlee and Joan – Don’t let the zipper scare you! If you have a zipper foot, it’s not so bad.
Nicole – I sewed this with and .5″ seam allowance, but you can sew it with whatever you are comfortable with since it doesn’t really matter if there is a small difference in size.
Good luck to all! Definitely let me know if you make it and how it goes! – Annie:-)
March 1st, 2009 at 3:13 am (#)
Hey =) Thank you for the tutorial. I needed something to make as a present for a male friend of mine the night before the birthday party and stumbled across these instructions.
Well, let’s just say he liked it a lot! So, thanks again – great instructions!
I’ll make one for myself too…
March 1st, 2009 at 3:20 am (#)
[...] 1, 2009 Following a great tutorial by Annie Get Your Glue Gun I made another birthday present, a pencil case. It was a last-minute thought and turned out really [...]
March 1st, 2009 at 7:44 am (#)
Wowww, tricky but so beautiful that’s worth a try!
Love it!
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm (#)
Annie – too cute! What a great way to make something useful of all the fabric scraps I seem to accumulate! I look forward to becoming an avid reader of your blog.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:16 pm (#)
Great tutorial! I’ll definitely be using it. I really like your favorite fabric choices too.
If you’d like a slightly easier way to do the zipper, check out this tutorial:
http://www.twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html
I’ve been using that method on my zipper pouches for a long time and it’s really easy!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:35 am (#)
[...] habe ich für mich eine lange benötigte Stiftetasche genäht. Eigentlich sollte es ja diese werden – aber das kommt davon, wenn man die Anleitung nicht richtig liest. Habe mich gegen das [...]
May 11th, 2009 at 4:45 pm (#)
This is a great pattern
thank you so much I love this one a lot. I will definitely be using it with my students in the college I teach textiles in xxx
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm (#)
this was best tutorial i’ve ever followed! the directions were so clear and the pictures made it so easy to follow. plus the case is just adorable =) LOVE IT!!!
July 21st, 2009 at 4:01 am (#)
I think this tutorial is amazing and i loved the style of the pencil case, it so creative… Its the best pencil case tutorial i’ve seen.. so gunna make this!! x
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 am (#)
Wow, thanks for this surprisingly easy tutorial!
I made a few modifications, adding just one tab and skipping the whole basting the lining step after several attempts. I posted the result on my blog, here: http://journaltransience.blogspot.com/2009/08/pouch.html
Just the pattern and tutorial I needed, and it would make such sweet (and useful) gifts!
August 24th, 2009 at 12:34 am (#)
WOW! that’s sooo neat! You are very creative! =)
August 26th, 2009 at 1:36 pm (#)
i did it
and im 14
thank you
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:21 am (#)
oh thank you amazing tutorial!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:22 am (#)
thank you, amazing tutorial!
September 14th, 2009 at 2:27 pm (#)
Thank you. I posted your link in my blog .
Elena
October 10th, 2009 at 12:11 pm (#)
Can I just say THAAAAAAAANK YOU!!!!
I have always been scared of zippers, this tutorial has been amazing. I am very pleased with my pencil case and think all my christmas presents are definitely sorted for this year
Thanks again for taking the time to write such a helpful tutorial!
x
November 24th, 2009 at 11:44 pm (#)
[...] Case You’ll be prepared to teach and/or learn with Annie’s Pencil Case Tutorial at Annie Get Your Glue [...]
November 26th, 2009 at 12:33 am (#)
i love this! we’ll see how many i can make in the next month…
November 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am (#)
Fabulous tutorial! I agree–very simple to follow. I just made two for my niece and nephew. Thanks for the inspiration and great instructions.
December 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm (#)
This is the nest tutorial I’ve ever tried!! I just made 6 of these as presents (just couldn’t stop again!)
You can see them here: http://idathue.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-presents.html
December 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm (#)
Oops, I meant ‘best’ instead of ‘nest’
December 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pm (#)
[...] after the coloring pages are all colored up. I am also going to make her a pencil case using this tutorial and library book tote using this. All of them from Sew Mama Sew’s 2009 Handmade Holidays [...]
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 pm (#)
[...] pencil case pattern is from glue gun annie. The instruction is easy to understand but the zipper installation was a b*&^*, not [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 11:32 am (#)
[...] bag to keep all her sewing gear in and a matching pin cushion. I found a great tutorial for the bag here. She has great photos and step by step instructions! And here’s the tutorial for the pin [...]
January 29th, 2010 at 2:41 pm (#)
Very awesome! I’ve been looking all over for the perfect knitting accoutrements bag, and I think I’ve found it!
April 8th, 2010 at 1:05 am (#)
Hey i just wanted to know what is the final length of the bag?
April 24th, 2010 at 4:15 pm (#)
Hello!
Thanks for sharing this tutorial. I just finished mine. Here it is. –>
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h90/cake_gal/IMG_0892.jpg
Isn’t it neat?
June 6th, 2010 at 11:00 am (#)
The tutorial was perfect and my niece loves her pencil case. It matches her backpack.