15 Minute Pencil or Make-Up Pouch Tutorial

With school starting again, your kiddos are probably in need of a place to keep all their school supplies. Even homeschoolers like us need a spot to stash our pencils and markers. Don’t have kids in school? This zipper pouch is perfect for make-up, your secret chocolate stash, or even carrying a couple diapers and wipes! And the best thing is that it only takes about 15 minutes to make!

This project is so simple, all you need is a small scrap of fabric and a zipper. What size zipper? This depends on what you want to put in your pouch! If you want to put school supplies in it, make sure it’s long enough to fit your pencils. Just make-up? Use a shorter zipper!

While you can make this with regular quilting cotton, I recommend a heavier weight fabric to give the pouch some stability. I used a home dec weight fabric (I’ve had both of these in my stash for awhile, so I’m not exactly sure what they are).

The longer (blue/green) pouch: 12 x 14in. fabric, 11in. zipper (cut from a longer zipper)

The shorter (grey/white) pouch: 9 x 14in. fabric, 7in. zipper

Ready to get started?

1. Cut the fabric to your desired size. Serge or zig-zag the edges to prevent fraying.

2. If needed, cut your zipper to fit your pouch. Zig-zag a short stitch where you’d like the zipper to end.

3. Press the short ends of the fabric over (wrong sides together).

4. Pin one folded edge to one side of the zipper. Using your zipper foot, stitch the two together.

5. Open the zipper and repeat with the other side.

6. Turn the pouch inside out and fold it so the zipper is in the center.

7. Push the zipper down a small amount. Beginning at the folded edge, zig-zag across the entire end of the pouch (making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end). Be sure to keep to the right of the metal zipper stop.

8. Reinforce the zipper by sewing back and forth several times across the zipper.

9. Open the zipper halfway and repeat step eight to sew the other end of the pouch closed.

Turn the pouch right side out and fill with your favorite pens (affiliate link… because seriously, these are my favorite pens!)

How much would your kiddo love to take his or her school supplies in a custom made pencil bag? Plus, you can make this faster than you can drive to the store to buy one. ;)

The possibilities for these pouches are endless! These would be perfect for a teacher gift, don’t you think?

I’m going to fill one with our art supplies for when the kiddos and I go on nature walks. We can keep it with our art journals for a quick grab-and-go! And that grey one has already been claimed as my new make-up bag. ;)