I started bullet journalling a few months ago – when I say I started, I mean to say that I started collecting all of the delicious pens and accessories that more organized people use when they ACTUALLY do bullet journalling! Okay so I went shopping for cute stationery which, as it turns out, is a completely different hobby….I love pens and markers and all of the gorgeous stationery that comes with writing things down.

My second obsession with stationery is what we get to put it in. This means zipper pouches. They can come in all shapes and sizes and my current rave fave is the sliding pencil case which has a top designed to slid down to present the pens inside. Yum. Just yum.

So what is needed to make this cute case?

• Fat Eighth canvas for the outer
• Fat Eighth thin cotton fabric for lining (the thinner the better and Art Gallery Fabrics cottons are the perfect weight)
• Fat Eighth coordinating canvas for the slider
• 8″ zipper
• Fat Eighth Decovil fusible interfacing (Vlieseline)
• Fat Quarter Decovil I Light interfacing for the slider (Vlieseline)
• Something cute to make the pull down tabs for the slider. I found some gold vegan leather in my stash from a forgotten make. You can also make some with some offcuts from the body of the pouch. A fabric which doesn’t fray is easier and better though.
• Something to decorate the zipper pull- I love a thin piece of leather or vegan leather. You need a scrap about 1/2″ wide x about 6″-7″ long
• Your usual sewing needs including fabric glue

Cutting

TIP: all of the seam allowances are 1/4″ and have already been calculated in for you.

From the main canvas:

• 2 pieces 7 1/4″ wide x 10″ high for the main outer panels

From the slider pull fabric:

• 2 pieces 1 1/2″ wide x 2 1/2″ long for the slider pulls

From the lining:

• 2 pieces 7 1/4″ wide x 10″ high for the main lining

From the slider canvas (this will be the coordinating one):

• 1 piece 13 3/4″ wide x 10″ deep for the main slider
• 1 piece 2″ wide x 3 1/4″ long for the zipper tab

From the Decovil interfacing:

• 2 pieces 5″ wide x 7 1/4″ long for the base interfacing

From the Decovil I Light interfacing:

• 1 piece 12 3/4″ wide x 9″ deep for the slider interfacing

TIP: you may reasonably ask why we cannot use the same interfacing for both the slider and the base. The one for the slider needs to be folded in half so if it is too thick to begin with, it will be really clunky. The base needs a little bit more structure and the light version of the Decovil is just that little bit too light for that. The offcuts are super useful in your stash though.

Begin by fusing the base interfacing to the wrong sides of the main canvas outers

We have some shaping to do now which is not difficult and we will do it one step at a time. Firstly, measure in 1/2″ on each bottom corner and mark clearly

Now get your ruler and marking pen and line the top corner and the bottom 1/2″ mark and draw a line

Repeat for the other side

And then cut along the lines. As you can see, we now have the wedge shape that we need to make the design work.

Now mark a 1″ square on each bottom side. You will see that the square doesn’t fit perfectly? Don’t worry about this at all. Just make sure that the ruler is nice and lined up on the bottom edge.

Cut the squares out. Now repeat this for the other outer piece and also both pieces of lining. You can use the fist piece as a template.

The zipper comes next. On the top edge of the main part, mark off 1″ each side

This is the beginning and the end of the zip and it is quite important. I actually like to hand baste the zipper in sometimes to make sure that it is accurate and stays put. Curve the beginning of the zip up on the starting end

And on the other end, the sewing of the zip finishes at that 1″ mark. With the right sides together and the zipper sandwiched in between, take an outer and a piece of lining and sew from the beginning to the 1″ end mark

Now fold the zipper down between the layers

And finish sewing to the end being careful not to trap the zip.

The other side goes on the same.

Now open the pouch out and clip lining to lining and outer to outer. Leaving a gap in the side of the lining for turning (shown by the blue line), sew all the way around the outside (don’t sew the cut out squares though).

Now using those cut out squares, pinch the base seam and the side together and box the corners of the outer and lining. If you are new to this and need some help, there is a detailed post about it here.

Turn the pouch the right way out through the gap in the lining and close the gap. Stuff the lining down into the pouch and press the top edge but don’t topstitch it just yet.

To make the pull tabs, fold them in half to find the centre and then fold the raw edges to the centre mark . If you are using vegan leather, you will have to mark the centre with a water soluble marker, other wise, a finger crease works beautifully. They should be 2 1/2″ long.

Fold them in half and add a stitch or two to hold them in place.

Next we will make the slider. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side centering it well. As you can see, it is 1/4″ smaller all around which means that the interfacing will not be included in the seam.

Fold the slider in half width wise and sew the side seam

Now press the other edges towards the interfacing all around. I am using my Clover Finger Presser which I adore but you can use an iron too.

Turn the slider the right way out and then fold it in half, matching the seams. It may benefit from another press at this point

Mark a 3/4″ gap on the side where the seams are and also directly opposite. These will be where the pull tabs go in a minute.

Take your pull tabs and place them inside the seam where you have marked their position. I actually like to glue them in. A dab of fabric glue means no pins or clips to get in the way and you can just sew right over it. The little clips are only there until the glue is dry.

Sew the bottom edge trapping the tabs as you go

Fit the slider onto the pouch and bring the folded edge right up to the zipper. The tabs will be at the bottom.

Sew the slider on with a narrow topstitch. This will keep the lining down too so make sure that it is not riding up as you sew. Go slow and check what is happening on both sides frequently.

Finally put the zipper end tab on. I like to fold the edges of the tab over and press them and then add some glue to keep them in place. Just a word here, zipper tapes come in various widths and it is impossible to know which one will be used so be prepared to play with the width of the tab. It should be the same width as the zipper tape.

You would be surprised how handy a good glue is in sewing and bag making and I always have some. It holds everything beautifully while you do other things without pins to get in the way.

Fold the tab in half and attach it to the end of your zipper. This acts as a stop so that the zipper pull doesn’t go flying off, it hides that ugly zipper end and it ties back into the main fabric and looks gorgeous.

You have a couple of choices when it comes to attaching the tab- hand stitch or machine. I have opted to hand stitch mine with tiny stitches on the side so that they are not seen. If you machine stitch, simply topstitch around the square.

Finally, attach a piece of leather or vegan leather to decorate the zipper pull. Cut it about 1/4″ wide and twice as long as you need.

In the end, I actually opted for a piece of thick cord because I wanted to keep the gold theme running. This cord actually came off a nice box of chocolates and is similar to a great quality baker’s twine. leather or vegan leather would be awesome too though.

And that is it! Now you get to choose which set of your pens gets to live here. Of course, if you are terrible at choosing, you can always make another couple of pouches- there is literally no one policing this!

I actually wasn’t sure if I would get another blog post in before the year was out but here we are, December is not quite done so I would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year, for goodness sake, stay safe and happy sewing. I will see you on the other side.

Hugs

Debbie xx