Happy Little Pouch Blog Hop

I am so excited for my day on the Happy Little Pouch Blog Hop.  Welcome everyone who is stopping by for the first time and welcome back to my loyal readers!

I love to make pouches and so I put a little mosaic together for you of some of my favorite makes.

These all look a little girly compared to the tutorial I have for you today.  A Lego carrying pouch.

Before we get to the tutorial, here is some information about the blog hop:

Here are our Happy Little Pouch Blog Hoppers!

Monday 11/26: Emily from Mommy's Naptime and Elaine from Dashasel Sews

Tuesday, 11/27: Courtney from Mon Petit Lyons and Lucy from Charm About You

Wednesday, 11/28: Hollie from Undercover Crafter and Katie from Katie's Korner

Thursday, 11/29: Lindsay from Lindsay Sews and Michelle from I Like Orange

Friday, 11/30: Sara from Sew Sweetness, Cindy from Adventures of the Singing Quilter, and Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts

Monday, 12/3: Holly from Bijou Lovely and Heidi from Fabric Mutt

Tuedsay, 12/4: Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Bets and Emily from Mle BB

Wednesday, 12/5: Shruti from 13 Woodhouse Road and Liz from Dandelion Daydreams

Thursday, 12/6: Beth from Plum and June and Kaelin from The Plaid Scottie
Friday, 12/7: Emily from Mommy's Naptime and Elaine from Dashasel Sews

Please join us in the fun and share your pouchy makes in our Flickr group. The Flickr group is also where you can upload your pouchy makes, and at the end of each week we will have some great prizes to award!

Prizes have generously been donated by:

Okay, now on to the tutorial.  I'll admit this one did not turn out quite as cool as I hoped, but the boy loves it and we really needed a secure way to carry those little guys and blocks around.  For this it fits the bill.  I am pleased the "handle" worked out, as I wanted a way for him to carry it around without it turning into a wristlet or purse!  So here goes:

I used Essex Linen in black for the main and Kona Chartreuse for the lining.

Supplies:

2 - 2 x1.5" main fabric for zipper ends

2 - 8.5 x 8" main and lining with a 1" square cut from each bottom corner

1 - 9 x 3.5" main for strap

1 - 8" zipper, or larger, cut down to 7"

2 - fusible fleece pieces cut down to 1/4" smaller than main fabric pieces

scraps in red and yellow for applique + scraps of heat n' bond

fabric paint + freezer paper or embroidery thread

Step 1:  Cut fusible fleece smaller than two main pieces and press in place (I like to press from the opposite side as shown, with the fleece down and the main fabric on top).

Step 2:  Make zipper ends by folding pieces in half on the long sides and then bringing each side in toward the center and pressing.  Each piece should now wrap nicely around each zipper end and be 0.5" shorter than your main pouch piece on each side.  Sew the tabs in place on each zipper end, going slowly to avoid breaking your needle on any metal parts or teeth.

Step 3:  Make the strap (so we can get all of the least fun stuff out of the way first).  Fold you 9 x 3.5" strip in half longways and then fold each end inside again to make one long strip with no raw edges.  Topstitch the open end closed within 1/8" of edge.  Fold each end in as shown in the photo above to make a handle.  You want the handle to stick out beyond the 1.4" seam allowance, so make sure it is a good 1/2" out.  Baste it in place at 1.4" to the right side of the front main panel.

Step 4:  Applique (on to the fun stuff)!  I decided to make a lego head and a block for each of the sides of my pouch.  I drew the shapes free hand, but you could always find an image on google and trace.  Use your iron to fuse a scrap of heat n' bond to the back of the yellow and red scraps.  Make sure the heat n' bond is a little smaller, so you don't gunk up your iron.  Leave the paper backing on and draw your shape with a Pilot Frixon pen.  The nice thing about this pen is that it erases instantly when you iron, so just get the shape right, no matter how many times is takes.  If you need to start over, just iron it again (aren't you glad that paper is still on the back?).  Once you are happy peel the paper off, cut out your shape and press it on to your main panel pieces.  Now topstitch around the edge of your shape to secure it.

Step 5:  Prepare the zipper.  We will install the zipper in two easy steps.  Take the front panel in your main fabric and place it right side up, next center your zipper on it wrong side up, then place your lining fabric wrong side up and pin it all together.

Step 6:  Install the zipper.  With your zipper presser foot sew everything together.  I like to do this by lining up my zipper foot with the outside edge of the fabric and moving my needle all the way over to the left.  Start with your zipper pulled down and when you get close to it, stop with needle down, lift up your presser foot, pivot your fabric stack sideways, pull the zipper all the way up and rotate it back in place. Remember to backstitch at the start and finish to secure your seam. Press your front and lining pieces away from the zipper.

Step 7:  Repeat for the back side of the pouch.  Since your zipper is already attached to the front, make sure both front main & lining and pressed down and out of the way.  With the zipper sticking up now you want to tuck your lining fabric under with right side up and place your main back panel on the top with wrong side up,  Sew the same way as before with your zipper foot.

Step 8: Press the back panels away from the zipper and top stitch each side.  You will be stitching through the main, zipper and lining layers on each side.  I used my zipper foot, but you could use a top stitching foot instead. 

Step 9:  Now we're ready to stitch the pouch together.  Separate the lining and main panels so that you have both lining pieces, right sides together, and both main pieces, right sides together.  Pin in place, making sure the strap is inside. Now stitch a generous 1/4" along all the straight sides, leaving an opening of about 4" in the center bottom of the lining pieces.  When you sew across the zipper area it will be a little bulky, just move the bulk toward the lining side as you go.

Step 10:  To box your corners, match the side and bottom seams  and sew with 1/4" seam.  Do this for all four corners.

Step 11: Your pouch is almost ready!  Pull everything through the hole you left in the lining.

Step 12:  Before you tuck your lining back in, sew your opening closed.  I did this by tucking the raw edges in, pressing and sewing 1/8" from the edge, but you could whip stitch by hand if you really want it to be nice.

Step 13:  Fill in the details with stencils or embroidery.  I used freezer paper (shiny side down) to draw a design, cut it out with an exacto knife and then iron it on to my fabric.  Once the fabric paint is dry you can peel it right off.

One satisfied customer happy to tote his guys around!