DIY Slimline Pencil Pouch Sewing Tutorial
# How to Make a Slimline Pencil Pouch: A Step-by-Step Tutorial by Vanessa The Crafty Gemini
## Introduction
Vanessa The Crafty Gemini is back with another exciting sewing project! In this video tutorial, she teaches you how to make her **Slimline Pencil Pouch** step by step. This versatile pouch is perfect for organizing your sewing supplies or everyday essentials. Whether you're a seasoned sewer or just starting out, this project is sure to be a hit.
## Materials Needed
Before diving into the project, make sure you have all the necessary materials on hand:
- **Fabric**: Vanessa recommends using 100% all-purpose polyester fabric, but cotton can also work.
- **Light Fusible Batting**: This adds structure and stability to your pouch.
- **Lining Fabric**: Cut two matching pieces for the lining.
- **Zipper**: A number three craft zipper (at least 10 inches long) is ideal for this project.
- **Tab Strip**: Cut one strip of fabric measuring 1.5 inches by 3 inches. You can add a second tab if desired.
- **Sewing Tools**: Rotary cutter or scissors, plastic sewing clips, iron, ironing board, and a sewing machine with a zipper foot.
## Step-by-Step Instructions
### Cutting the Fabric
1. **Exterior Pieces**: Cut two pieces of exterior fabric to 10.5 inches by 4.5 inches.
2. **Fusible Batting**: Cut two matching pieces of light fusible batting, each measuring 10.5 inches by 4.5 inches.
3. **Lining Fabric**: Cut two more pieces of lining fabric to match the dimensions of the exterior fabric.
4. **Tab Strip**: Cut a strip of fabric measuring 1.5 inches by 3 inches for the tab.
### Fusing Fusible Batting
- Place the fusible batting on the wrong side of the exterior fabric, ensuring the adhesive side is touching the fabric.
- Use an iron to fuse the batting to the fabric, following the manufacturer's instructions for safe ironing temperatures.
### Sewing the Tab Strip
1. **Folding**: Fold the tab strip in quarters and press with an iron. Then fold it again down the middle to hide the raw edges.
2. **Top Stitching**: Take the tab strip to the sewing machine, set the stitch length to 3.0-3.5 mm, and top stitch both long edges. Trim any excess fabric.
### Installing the Zipper
1. **Positioning**: Place the zipper with the pretty side facing up.
2. **Attaching**: Flip it down onto one of the long edges of the exterior fabric that was fused to the batting. Ensure there’s a little extra zipper tape sticking out on both sides.
3. **Zipper Foot**: Install the zipper foot on your sewing machine and clamp it onto the left side.
### Sewing the Exterior and Zipper Together
- Set up the machine with a longer straight stitch (3.0-3.5 mm) and sew an eighth of an inch from the edge, holding the exterior fabric and zipper together.
### Adding the Lining Fabric
1. **Sewing**: Take one lining piece and place it pretty side down on top of the zipper, sandwiching it between the exterior fabric and the lining.
2. **Seam Allowance**: Use a shorter stitch length (2.0-2.5 mm) for this construction seam. Sew with the full seam allowance of your zipper foot.
### Pressing and Top Stitching
1. **Pressing**: Carefully press the fabrics away from the zipper tape to ensure everything lies flat.
2. **Top Stitching**: Return to the sewing machine with a longer straight stitch (3 mm) and top stitch along the left side of the zipper teeth, ensuring all layers are included.
### Repeating for the Other Side
- Repeat the process for the other exterior piece and lining fabric, making sure everything is aligned and sewn properly.
### Adding the Tab Strip
1. **Looping**: Take the tab strip and loop it around like a letter "U," aligning the short ends with the side raw edge of the exterior fabric.
2. **Basting Stitch**: Secure the tab in place with a basting stitch, using back-and-forth stitching to hold it firmly.
### Assembling the Pouch
1. **Matching Lining Pieces**: Place the exterior fabric pieces together, pretty sides touching, and clip the lining pieces along the long edge.
2. **Leaving an Opening**: Mark an area (about 5 inches) in the middle of the lining side to leave open for turning.
### Sewing the Pouch
1. **Sewing Exterior Edge**: Use a shorter stitch length (2 mm) and a quarter-inch seam allowance to sew from the top to the bottom, leaving the marked opening.
2. **Closing the Opening**: Fold up the lining and top stitch super close to the edge to seal it.
### Boxing the Corners
1. **Flipping**: Turn the pouch wrong side out to ensure smooth stitching on the exterior.
2. **Measuring**: Measure one inch down from the tip of each corner and sew across, creating sharp corners for a professional finish.
### Final Steps
- Turn the pouch right side out through the opening, using your fingers or tools like blunt knitting needles to push everything out neatly.
- Close the zipper and ensure all seams are smooth and even.
## Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve just made your very own **Slimline Pencil Pouch**. This project is not only functional but also a great addition to any sewing or crafting space. If you enjoyed this tutorial, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to Vanessa’s channel for more fantastic sewing projects.
For those looking to explore more creative projects, check out the **over 110 digital video courses** available at **craftygemini.com**. Happy sewing!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey it's Vanessa The Crafty Gemini and in this video tutorial I'm teaching you how to make my Slimline pencil pouch step by step for sewing supplies you'll need something to measure and cut your fabric with I like a rotary cutter with the mat scissors will also come in handy some plastic sewing clips for thread I like to use 100% all-purpose polyester but you could use cotton also an iron with an ironing board and then a sewing machine that can sew straight stitches you'll also need a zipper foot for your machine because this is a zippered pouch and will'll be installing a zipper for your fabric we cut two exterior pieces to 10 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in tall I cut two matching pieces out of a light fusible batting you could use regular batting or fusible fleece and for the lining we did the exact same thing two more pieces for lining Fabric and then I'm using a number three craft zipper this is a 14in one but anything longer than 10 in will be fine and for a tab I cut one more little strip that's 1 and 1/2 in x three these Tabs are going to be installed on the side I'm just adding one but if you want to add a second one just cut out two little pieces again 1 and 1/2 in by 3 in and it's just to give you a little something to hold when you're opening and closing the zipper so now we're ready to fuse our light fusible batting to the back of our exterior fabric just make sure that the adhesive is touching the wrong side of the fabric and with an iron fuse everything together now that that's fused let's set these pieces aside and grab the little strip if you have two tabs you can cut two of them I'm just folding it in quarters here pressing it with an iron and then refolding it down the middle again so that we basically hide all the long raw edges so fold it again down the middle you should have a nice narrow tab like this that we're now ready to take over to the sewing machine and top Stitch down both long edges for top stitching I like to use a stitch length of about 3.0 to 3.5 mm in length so you can do that down both sides trim off any tails and set that little tab aside now for the zipper I'm positioning the zipper pretty side facing up and then I flip it down onto one of the long edges of the exterior fabric that was fused to the batting all right I make sure to have a little a little bit of extra sticking out on both sides put my plastic clips and now we're ready to install the zipper foot on our sewing machine so I'm going to clamp it onto the left side there and then this first line of stitching is just going to be to hold the two things together the exterior Fabric and uh the zipper so I'm staying only about an eighth of an inch in from the edge so it's a really narrow seam allowance with a longer straight Stitch all right now once these two layers are together it's attached there we can now take a lining piece flip it pretty side face down on top so so the zipper is now sandwiched in between line up the top rot Edge again place your clips and now this is a real seam so a construction seam I shortened the Stitch length to about 2 to 2.5 mm in length and now I'm using the full seam allowance of that zipper foot so some machine zipper foots are a/ qu of an inch or 38 of an inch whichever one it is it'll work fine just use the full zipper foot seam allowance trim my threads and then we're going to take this over to the ironing board and give it a little press notice with the Fabrics I'm pressing them away from the zipper tape make sure you don't have any fabric bubbling up there or folding into the zipper teeth you want everything flat and Away now we top Stitch so at the sewing machine I'm lengthening my Straight Stitch now to about 3 mm and then I'm just running through to the left side of the zipper teeth with that zipper foot still on and through all the layers trim your threads now we're ready to repeat it to the other side of the zipper so take the other exterior piece line it up where it goes and flip it down pretty side face down onto that top edge of the zipper tape place your clips and then we're going to head to the sewing machine for a basting stitch remember this is a slightly longer straight Stitch and the seam allowance should be narrow only about an eighth of an inch this is just to hold the two layers together to make it easier to then go in and add the lining and you don't have to worry about any of the layers shifting on you so it's just a little tip that I like to share especially with beginners now we flip it over and you take the other lining piece and that's pretty side face down onto the zipper so both of those lining Fabrics are touching pretty sides facing okay so just remember that and if you have it like I have then you know for sure you oriented everything correctly place your Clips line up everything as best you can and now again you're going to use the real seam allowance so a shorter straight Stitch and the full zipper foot seam allowance so I shorten my Stitch to 2.2 mm in length using the full seam allowance right I'm lining up the edge of the fabric with the right side edge of that uh zipper foot and then Stitch all the way down you can back stitch at the beginning and at the ends for a little bit of added security if you'd like and then trim your threads and then we give everything a really good press remember to press the Fabrics away from the zipper so everything lies nice and flat and if you don't have a wooden Tailor's Clapper I'll include a link to where you can get one in the description box below now we top Stitch so I'm doing the same thing but on the opposite side of the zipper that we did previously going through all the layers with a slightly longer straight Stitch I have mine set to 3 mm in length and then trimming our threads all right give everything a good press and now we're ready to move on so we're going to slide the zipper pull inside somewhere so that it's inside of where the fabric layers are take the little tab strip and We're looping it around like a letter U to where the short ends line up with the side raw edge of that exterior fabric okay like this and then we're going to Bas Stitch it into place so you can get rid of that zipper foot now we're done installing the zipper put on your regular Universal presser foot and then we're just going to do some stitching back and forth here to secure the little Loop tab in place all right so I have one attached if you're deciding to add two just repeat the steps to add the other one to the opposite side trim away any excess zipper tape and make sure that you have your zipper pull inside that's why we moved it in there okay otherwise you won't have a working zipper now we're ready to place exterior fabric to exterior fabric pretty sides touching and place some clips on the lining side you're doing the same thing you're matching lining to lining along that long Edge and placing pins now we're going to mark Mark out an area that we need to leave open I would say about 5 in is good in the middle of the lining side of your pouch all right so now we're going to sew just down a straight line so I'm shortening my Stitch length to 2 mm and then I'm using a quar of an inch seam allowance on this exterior side to stitch from the top all the way to the bottom and remember to back stitch to secure your stitches on the lining side we're going to start at the top and we are increasing the seam allowance I'm going to about half of an inch seam allowance here and I back stitched the the beginning you're going to go to the stop at the Mark that you left I'm going to cut my threads and then I'm going to skip over that whole area that we marked because we need to leave that open I pick up on the other mark back stitch there to secure it and then we sew across and back stitch again at the end at every starting and stopping point you have to back stitch to secure your stitches now we press everything nice and flat and then I'm going to press the seam open along the lining side so you should have a hole there pressing this back makes it really easy to keep the raw edges towards the inside when you get to that last step of stitching it up now here is where we're going to line up that bottom seam that we sewed on the lining portion with the zipper teeth place a clip then grab the bottom seam from the exterior Fabric and align it there everything should be right in the middle both seams and the zipper teeth themselves because that's the center of the zipper right all three of those should be matched up on one side I press the exterior fabric seam open and we're going to repeat the steps to line everything up centered perfectly on the other short end as well so again you have two seams and the middle of your zipper teeth lined up right down the center Place some clips now I like to give it a little press just to keep the fabric nice and flat and then we're going to sew down both of these short ends here I want you to use a qu of an inch seam allowance you're going to stitch down here and make sure to back stitch at the beginning and at the end but wait up before you get to sewing reach inside and make sure that your zipper is at least halfway Way open okay very important step do not skip it here go back add your clips and make sure that everything is aligned and now you can go ahead and sew down the sides I like to trim away a little bit of the excess bulk at the corners here but if you have an uneven seam allowance or there's anything sticking out just go ahead and trim it up with your scissors at this step next we're going to reach into through the opening that we have in the lining reach all the way through to the open zipper until you see your exterior Fabric and sometimes it helps to kind of grab the zipper pull and finish opening up that zipper a little bit more makes it a little easier reach all the way in and flip the whole thing right side out then take a blunt knitting needle or some Chopsticks and kind of push everything out at the corners so you don't have any rounded Corners they should be nice and pointy at this step you can see that this is a pouch all on its own at this step but we're going to continue on to make it boxy first we're going to seal up the hole that we have in the lining so I just fold it up and pull up on the lining to separate it from the exterior Fabric and then top Stitch super close to that edge just to seal up the opening make sure that you're only sewing through the layers of lining fabric at this step now we're ready to box the corners so we need to go back in and flip this wrong side out because the stitching needs to happen in the lining side so that you can have nice clean seam on the exterior once you're done what I'm doing here is just putting my thumb all the way up to the corner and flipping every bit of fabric that I can out to make sure that I'm not leaving any fabric layers uh where I don't want it because you'll see at this step here when I go to Each corner we're going to grab it turn it into a little triangle like this so that the seam is running right down the middle of the point of that triangle and place a clip so I'm putting my finger on the inside making it into a triangle and then placing some clips you can do one or two clips whatever you feel like is going to hold it better in place but on the inside on the exterior fabric side I'm smoothing out all the fabric I don't want to have any fabric folded when I go in to stitch it so you'll see me go back and forth you see how I'm smoothing it out on the exterior side that fabric needs to be smooth there otherwise when you're done and you flip it back right side out you run the risk of having some puckers or pleat so I'm measuring one inch down from the tip of that triangle so my Stitch line will run across here and you're going to do that to all four corners okay so I'll show you how we set that up at the sewing machine so you could draw the line across or use something on the bed of your machine to measure again so I'm going to put the point and the tip of that triangle to where the metal meets the plastic on the bed of my machine do you see how I'm keeping it nice and straight and measuring against that so that works out perfectly for me and you could really switch this up it could be 3/4 of an inch 1 inch just think about the bigger you go the more it's going to eat up in the finished size of your pouch so somewhere between 3/4 of an inch and an inch I think is going to be ideal for the size pouch that we're making and I'm just working my way around making sure that the fabric layers are smooth and measuring down from each one of those triangular points now we're ready to just flip the whole thing right side out again and that's it y'all grab your zipper pull it shut and your Slimline pencil pouch is complete okay y'all I hope you enjoyed learning how to make the Slimline pencil pouch and that you'll give it a try if you enjoyed this tutorial make sure to give give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to my channel here so you don't miss out on any of my future tutorials if you enjoy these types of projects make sure to check out our over 110 different digital video courses that we offer at crafty gemini.comhey it's Vanessa The Crafty Gemini and in this video tutorial I'm teaching you how to make my Slimline pencil pouch step by step for sewing supplies you'll need something to measure and cut your fabric with I like a rotary cutter with the mat scissors will also come in handy some plastic sewing clips for thread I like to use 100% all-purpose polyester but you could use cotton also an iron with an ironing board and then a sewing machine that can sew straight stitches you'll also need a zipper foot for your machine because this is a zippered pouch and will'll be installing a zipper for your fabric we cut two exterior pieces to 10 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in tall I cut two matching pieces out of a light fusible batting you could use regular batting or fusible fleece and for the lining we did the exact same thing two more pieces for lining Fabric and then I'm using a number three craft zipper this is a 14in one but anything longer than 10 in will be fine and for a tab I cut one more little strip that's 1 and 1/2 in x three these Tabs are going to be installed on the side I'm just adding one but if you want to add a second one just cut out two little pieces again 1 and 1/2 in by 3 in and it's just to give you a little something to hold when you're opening and closing the zipper so now we're ready to fuse our light fusible batting to the back of our exterior fabric just make sure that the adhesive is touching the wrong side of the fabric and with an iron fuse everything together now that that's fused let's set these pieces aside and grab the little strip if you have two tabs you can cut two of them I'm just folding it in quarters here pressing it with an iron and then refolding it down the middle again so that we basically hide all the long raw edges so fold it again down the middle you should have a nice narrow tab like this that we're now ready to take over to the sewing machine and top Stitch down both long edges for top stitching I like to use a stitch length of about 3.0 to 3.5 mm in length so you can do that down both sides trim off any tails and set that little tab aside now for the zipper I'm positioning the zipper pretty side facing up and then I flip it down onto one of the long edges of the exterior fabric that was fused to the batting all right I make sure to have a little a little bit of extra sticking out on both sides put my plastic clips and now we're ready to install the zipper foot on our sewing machine so I'm going to clamp it onto the left side there and then this first line of stitching is just going to be to hold the two things together the exterior Fabric and uh the zipper so I'm staying only about an eighth of an inch in from the edge so it's a really narrow seam allowance with a longer straight Stitch all right now once these two layers are together it's attached there we can now take a lining piece flip it pretty side face down on top so so the zipper is now sandwiched in between line up the top rot Edge again place your clips and now this is a real seam so a construction seam I shortened the Stitch length to about 2 to 2.5 mm in length and now I'm using the full seam allowance of that zipper foot so some machine zipper foots are a/ qu of an inch or 38 of an inch whichever one it is it'll work fine just use the full zipper foot seam allowance trim my threads and then we're going to take this over to the ironing board and give it a little press notice with the Fabrics I'm pressing them away from the zipper tape make sure you don't have any fabric bubbling up there or folding into the zipper teeth you want everything flat and Away now we top Stitch so at the sewing machine I'm lengthening my Straight Stitch now to about 3 mm and then I'm just running through to the left side of the zipper teeth with that zipper foot still on and through all the layers trim your threads now we're ready to repeat it to the other side of the zipper so take the other exterior piece line it up where it goes and flip it down pretty side face down onto that top edge of the zipper tape place your clips and then we're going to head to the sewing machine for a basting stitch remember this is a slightly longer straight Stitch and the seam allowance should be narrow only about an eighth of an inch this is just to hold the two layers together to make it easier to then go in and add the lining and you don't have to worry about any of the layers shifting on you so it's just a little tip that I like to share especially with beginners now we flip it over and you take the other lining piece and that's pretty side face down onto the zipper so both of those lining Fabrics are touching pretty sides facing okay so just remember that and if you have it like I have then you know for sure you oriented everything correctly place your Clips line up everything as best you can and now again you're going to use the real seam allowance so a shorter straight Stitch and the full zipper foot seam allowance so I shorten my Stitch to 2.2 mm in length using the full seam allowance right I'm lining up the edge of the fabric with the right side edge of that uh zipper foot and then Stitch all the way down you can back stitch at the beginning and at the ends for a little bit of added security if you'd like and then trim your threads and then we give everything a really good press remember to press the Fabrics away from the zipper so everything lies nice and flat and if you don't have a wooden Tailor's Clapper I'll include a link to where you can get one in the description box below now we top Stitch so I'm doing the same thing but on the opposite side of the zipper that we did previously going through all the layers with a slightly longer straight Stitch I have mine set to 3 mm in length and then trimming our threads all right give everything a good press and now we're ready to move on so we're going to slide the zipper pull inside somewhere so that it's inside of where the fabric layers are take the little tab strip and We're looping it around like a letter U to where the short ends line up with the side raw edge of that exterior fabric okay like this and then we're going to Bas Stitch it into place so you can get rid of that zipper foot now we're done installing the zipper put on your regular Universal presser foot and then we're just going to do some stitching back and forth here to secure the little Loop tab in place all right so I have one attached if you're deciding to add two just repeat the steps to add the other one to the opposite side trim away any excess zipper tape and make sure that you have your zipper pull inside that's why we moved it in there okay otherwise you won't have a working zipper now we're ready to place exterior fabric to exterior fabric pretty sides touching and place some clips on the lining side you're doing the same thing you're matching lining to lining along that long Edge and placing pins now we're going to mark Mark out an area that we need to leave open I would say about 5 in is good in the middle of the lining side of your pouch all right so now we're going to sew just down a straight line so I'm shortening my Stitch length to 2 mm and then I'm using a quar of an inch seam allowance on this exterior side to stitch from the top all the way to the bottom and remember to back stitch to secure your stitches on the lining side we're going to start at the top and we are increasing the seam allowance I'm going to about half of an inch seam allowance here and I back stitched the the beginning you're going to go to the stop at the Mark that you left I'm going to cut my threads and then I'm going to skip over that whole area that we marked because we need to leave that open I pick up on the other mark back stitch there to secure it and then we sew across and back stitch again at the end at every starting and stopping point you have to back stitch to secure your stitches now we press everything nice and flat and then I'm going to press the seam open along the lining side so you should have a hole there pressing this back makes it really easy to keep the raw edges towards the inside when you get to that last step of stitching it up now here is where we're going to line up that bottom seam that we sewed on the lining portion with the zipper teeth place a clip then grab the bottom seam from the exterior Fabric and align it there everything should be right in the middle both seams and the zipper teeth themselves because that's the center of the zipper right all three of those should be matched up on one side I press the exterior fabric seam open and we're going to repeat the steps to line everything up centered perfectly on the other short end as well so again you have two seams and the middle of your zipper teeth lined up right down the center Place some clips now I like to give it a little press just to keep the fabric nice and flat and then we're going to sew down both of these short ends here I want you to use a qu of an inch seam allowance you're going to stitch down here and make sure to back stitch at the beginning and at the end but wait up before you get to sewing reach inside and make sure that your zipper is at least halfway Way open okay very important step do not skip it here go back add your clips and make sure that everything is aligned and now you can go ahead and sew down the sides I like to trim away a little bit of the excess bulk at the corners here but if you have an uneven seam allowance or there's anything sticking out just go ahead and trim it up with your scissors at this step next we're going to reach into through the opening that we have in the lining reach all the way through to the open zipper until you see your exterior Fabric and sometimes it helps to kind of grab the zipper pull and finish opening up that zipper a little bit more makes it a little easier reach all the way in and flip the whole thing right side out then take a blunt knitting needle or some Chopsticks and kind of push everything out at the corners so you don't have any rounded Corners they should be nice and pointy at this step you can see that this is a pouch all on its own at this step but we're going to continue on to make it boxy first we're going to seal up the hole that we have in the lining so I just fold it up and pull up on the lining to separate it from the exterior Fabric and then top Stitch super close to that edge just to seal up the opening make sure that you're only sewing through the layers of lining fabric at this step now we're ready to box the corners so we need to go back in and flip this wrong side out because the stitching needs to happen in the lining side so that you can have nice clean seam on the exterior once you're done what I'm doing here is just putting my thumb all the way up to the corner and flipping every bit of fabric that I can out to make sure that I'm not leaving any fabric layers uh where I don't want it because you'll see at this step here when I go to Each corner we're going to grab it turn it into a little triangle like this so that the seam is running right down the middle of the point of that triangle and place a clip so I'm putting my finger on the inside making it into a triangle and then placing some clips you can do one or two clips whatever you feel like is going to hold it better in place but on the inside on the exterior fabric side I'm smoothing out all the fabric I don't want to have any fabric folded when I go in to stitch it so you'll see me go back and forth you see how I'm smoothing it out on the exterior side that fabric needs to be smooth there otherwise when you're done and you flip it back right side out you run the risk of having some puckers or pleat so I'm measuring one inch down from the tip of that triangle so my Stitch line will run across here and you're going to do that to all four corners okay so I'll show you how we set that up at the sewing machine so you could draw the line across or use something on the bed of your machine to measure again so I'm going to put the point and the tip of that triangle to where the metal meets the plastic on the bed of my machine do you see how I'm keeping it nice and straight and measuring against that so that works out perfectly for me and you could really switch this up it could be 3/4 of an inch 1 inch just think about the bigger you go the more it's going to eat up in the finished size of your pouch so somewhere between 3/4 of an inch and an inch I think is going to be ideal for the size pouch that we're making and I'm just working my way around making sure that the fabric layers are smooth and measuring down from each one of those triangular points now we're ready to just flip the whole thing right side out again and that's it y'all grab your zipper pull it shut and your Slimline pencil pouch is complete okay y'all I hope you enjoyed learning how to make the Slimline pencil pouch and that you'll give it a try if you enjoyed this tutorial make sure to give give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to my channel here so you don't miss out on any of my future tutorials if you enjoy these types of projects make sure to check out our over 110 different digital video courses that we offer at crafty gemini.com\n"