I’m one of these people that always has a slew of pens/highlighters/Sharpies in my bag. Most of my friends know this, and are always asking to borrow a pen. If you’re like me, you have your pens, and then you have your PENS. There are days I’d rather give away one of my children than let one of my favorite pens out of sight. Here’s an easy tutorial for creating a pencil bag to keep your special pens in a special place.

Materials:

To start, you’ll need two pieces of fabric for the outside, and two pieces for the lining (4 pieces total). They can be any size at all, and for this tutorial, I used 6 inches x 11 inches. You’ll also need a zipper. I used an industrial-type zipper, just because I liked the way it looked, but any type will work just fine.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. To start, we’ll attach the zipper. Get your zipper foot on your machine.  It’s the one with two bars, one on each side.  Don’t be scared of this; it’s just so that you can sew close to the zipper.

2. Make a zipper sandwich with your fabric. Put one piece of lining face up, then the zipper, then one piece of outside fabric face down. Line up all of the edges on top.

3. Stitch along the top, as close to the zipper as you’d like. I left a little space because I think exposed zippers are fun. Then do the same thing on the other side, and you’ll have something that looks like this:

4. Take your zipper foot off, and put the regular foot back on. Next, topstitch along the edge of your fabric by the zipper—just to be fancy.

5. This step is easy but OH SO IMPORTANT. Unzip your zipper halfway. Just do it.

6. Next you’re going to match outside fabrics together, right sides together, and lining fabrics together, right sides together.  The zipper will be right in the middle.

7. Stitch around the outside of this, leaving a small area for turning in a side of the lining.  Be careful as you sew over the zipper, so that you don’t break your needle.

8. Before you turn it right side out, trim your zipper if needed.

9. Turn the bag right side out through the hole you left in the lining.  If you didn’t unzip the zipper, you’ll have a tough time.

10. Topstitch the hole in the lining shut; you’ll never notice it on the side.

That’s it!  Fill with your most coveted pens and markers, and never let anyone use them!


This blog post was written by Abbey Niebel for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Abbey connect with her on Instagram: @mrsniebel. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.