Bag #34: Craft Pouch

 

                

This week’s bag is a versatile pouch for craft tools. I made it for my 7"/18 cm knitting needles, but you could make it slightly shorter for crochet hooks, longer for full size knitting needles or any size to suit your pens, pencils, brushes, etc. if you are an artist. It has space for my knitting needles and a pen/pencil, a small pocket (not sure what for yet!) and a zip pocket for scissors, knitters’ sewing needle, row counter, etc.  The only thing there isn’t room for is yarn.

I made this bag in these colours because I wanted to take part in gentleman crafter’s August 2016 colour challenge.  I’m not very good at combining colours and this forced me to use a selection that I wouldn’t normally have put together.

I used 3 fat quarters to make the patchwork version of the bag and just 1 to make the all-in-one-fabric version. 

The finished size is 8” x 3½” (20 cm x 9 cm) and it is about ½” (1.2 cm) deep.

Difficulty level: Intermediate, even without the patchwork, because you will be working with lots of layers/pockets.

I used my normal stitch length (2.5) throughout but increased it to 3 for top stitching and used ¼”/6 mm seams.

I have included metric and imperial measurements but they are not exactly interchangeable, so you should stick to either one or the other.

Skills used in this project:

• Combining colours

• Working with multiple layers on a small project

Step 1: Cutting out

If using directional fabrics, the width is 4”/10 cm and the longer measurement is for the length.

To create the rounded corners at the bottom, draw round a coin.

All pieces can be cut from one fabric or using 3 fabrics (as I did).

Cut out the following:

8” x 4” (20 cm x 10 cm) Pocket (cut 1 fabric A - brown) – cut round all corners, top and bottom.

14” x 4” (35.5 cm x 10 cm) Front (cut 1 fabric B - green) – cut round all corners, top and bottom.

17” x 4” (43 cm x 10 cm) Front Flap (cut 1 fabric C - yellow, 1 medium weight interfacing) - if you are not making the patchwork version, cut another fabric piece for the Back Flap which includes the back – cut round all corners, top and bottom.

7½” x 4” (19 cm x 10 cm) Back (cut 1 fabric A - brown) – cut round bottom corners only.

1”/2.5 cm strips of all 3 fabrics to create a 9½” x 4” (24 cm x 10 cm) Back Flap

6” x 3¼” (15 cm x 8 cm) Lining for zip pocket (cut 2 fabric B - green)

3” x 2” (7.5 cm x 5 cm)  Zip tabs (cut 2 fabric B - green)

6”/15 cm Zip (I cut my green zip down to 5½”/14 cm)

4½” x 4” (11.5 cm x 10 cm) Flap Loop (cut 1 fabric C - yellow)

Step 2: Preparing the pocket and front

Fold the pocket in half, wrong sides together so that the shorter raw edges meet. Press. Top stitch just below the fold to create a firm edge.

Do the same for the front fabric.

Step 3: Making the flap loop

Fold the fabric in half, wrong sides together, so that the slightly longer edges meet.  Press.  

 

Fold the longer edges in towards the fold so that it looks like bias binding.  Press.  Fold in half along the existing centre fold so that you have a 1” strip.  Press.  Top stitch along both long edges.

Step 4: Assembling the bag front

Decide how you want to divide up the pockets.  I chose to have 4 needle slots and didn’t divide up the small pocket at all. Don’t forget that the outer slots will end up being narrower because of the seam allowance.  I measured 1¼” from each outside edge and drew a vertical line down the front and then drew another line half way between those 2 lines.  They ended up looking fairly equal. I used a Frixion pen and then ironed the fabric after it was sewn to make the pen marks disappear.

Pin the front to the bottom of the inside flap and sew down the vertical lines you have just drawn.

Pin the pocket to the bottom of the inside flap.  If, for example, you want to divide this in half, now is the time to do it.  Sew over the vertical line down the centre of the front. I didn’t have any dividing stitches in my pocket, so I didn’t bother with this.

Pin one side of the flap loop on top of the pocket so that the one raw edge of the loop matches the raw edges at the sides of the other fabric.  Do this on the side where the zip will go.  Leave the other side loose as that doesn’t get sewn until the final stage. 

Sew very close to the edge down the sides of the front, pocket and one side of the loop to hold them together.  These stitches need to be within the seam allowance as you don’t want to see them when the pouch is finished. 

Step 5: Making the patchwork front (optional)

Sew the 1” strips of fabric together using ¼”/6 mm seam allowance.  Press each seam open as you go.  I used 17 strips, the widest being about 5½”/14 cm inches.

Cut the strips at a 45º angle, either by eye or by using a quilter’s ruler.  It doesn’t matter if they aren’t exact.  You want to end up with a 9½” x 4” (24 cm x 10 cm)  piece of patchwork fabric.

Round off the corners at one end of the patchwork.

Sew the other end to the back (the edge with the square corners).  Press.  Attach the interfacing.

Step 6: Making the zip tabs

Fold the zip tabs in half, wrong sides together, so that the shorter edges meet.  Press.

Take the edges furthest from the fold and turn them inwards by about ¼”/6 mm.  Press.

Place a tab over each end of the zip, overlapping by no more than ½”/12 mm. Most of the tab needs to be beyond the zip or it will be too bulky. Top stitch across to secure the tabs to the zip.

Trim the edges of the tabs so that they are the same width as the zip.

Step 7: Inserting the zip

The zip can go on either side of the front.  I chose to put mine on the right. It is easiest to sew the back to the zip first as it is less bulky and sew the front to the zip afterwards.

As my zip was on the right side of the pouch, that meant sewing it first to the left side of the Back. 

Pin the correct side of the Back fabric to the edge of the zip with the slider facing the fabric.  

Then sew one of the lining pieces to the underside of the same edge of the zip (right side of fabric towards the zip), following the previous stitch line.

Tip: rather than sewing straight along the edge of the zip tabs, I got a better final result if I sewed diagonally towards the middle of tab end.  In the photo, you can see that I have curved the zip so that the end of the tabs will be mostly in the seam.

Follow the same procedure next when sewing the Front and other lining fabric to the zip. Press.

Top stitch along each side of the zip to hold outer and lining pieces in place, prevent them being caught up in the zip and give a professional finish.  

Step 8: Assembling the bag

With right sides together, sew all round the outer edges of the pouch and lining, leaving a gap of about 3”/7.5 cm at the bottom of the lining for turning.  Make sure that the zip is open or you won’t be able to pull the fabric through.  (Sorry, forgot to take photo of this stage).

Sew in the loose end of the flap loop when you get to it.

Clip the rounded corners so that they lay flat.  I just trimmed close to the seam line with pinking shears. 

Turn right side out. 

Sew up the gap in the pocket.  Press.

Top stitch around the patchwork flap to give a neat finish.

                                                                                                       

In this project I learnt:

• Combining colour can be quite effective.  I enjoyed doing the machine patchwork and having it at a 45º angle made it more interesting than straightforward horizontal or vertical strips.  The only problem was which colour thread to use.  When assembling the bag, I ended up alternating between the different colours because I wanted the top stitching to match the fabric. This was a bit of a chore but I’m pleased with the end result.  These aren’t colours I would have thought of combining but they remind me of the garden in late summer/early autumn and work well together.

• I’m used to working with lots of layers but not on something so small.  Usually when I make a bag for this blog, what you see is my one and only attempt at that design.  I had trouble getting my head round this – I couldn’t work out what order to sew it together in and I didn’t want to spend ages doing the patchwork and ruin it, so I used some cheap material to try it out.  My first attempt was a disaster in so many ways.  I used interfacing for each part and it was far too bulky.  I also had to keep unpicking seams because I had sewn them in the wrong order.  However, by the end, I knew what was wrong with my design and how to put it right.  To test it, I made another one – the red hearts.  That went perfectly and I knew I had got the pattern right.  Finally, I made the patchwork version.  I feel a real sense of achievement because it took so long to get this one right... but I got there in the end. I tried the zip on the left side for the heart pouch and on the right side in the patchwork pouch and they both work well. It just shows how versatile this bag is.