Make Your Own Simple DIY Pouch

Guys, you know I love a good pouch. They're easy to make and do a brilliant job of keeping your stuff from getting all tangled up in your bag.

So yesterday afternoon I threw together this bag-sized pouch. I added some stiff interfacing (to give it some shape), lined it with some simple cotton (to hide the interfacing), and threw in a neon zipper - just for funsies.

 I also added a little patch pocket using some more Dashwood Studio fabric (I thought it would be useful for holding my lipstick that always seems to get lost in my bag) and finished it off with a neon tassel (because who doesn't need more tassels in their life?)

  Make your own simple DIY pouch

You will need:
1/2 yard (or 1/2 metre) of fabric for the outside
1/2 yard (or 1/2 metre) of fabric for the lining
1/2 yard (or 1/2 metre) of heavy-weight iron-on interfacing
scrap of contrasting fabric (for the pocket)
zipper
thread, sewing machine

Making the pouch

1. Cut out from your outside fabric, your lining fabric, and your interfacing: a rectangle measuring 13" (32 cm) by 8" (19cm) and two triangles measuring 6" (14cm) tall and 4" (9cm) at the base.

2. Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of the outside fabric.

 3. Place your triangle in the middle of the long side of the rectangle, right sides together. Starting 1/2" (1.5cm) from the edge, sew the triangle onto the rectangle with a 1/2" (1.5cm) seam allowance. Stop 1/2" (1.5cm) from the end. 

4. Now to sew the triangle ends of the pouch. To start we're going to need to turn up one edge of the triangle so that it lines up with the raw edge of the rectangle.

 5. Fold the triangle over so that the raw edge of the triangle matches the raw edge of the triangle. Pin in place and sew using a 1/2" (1.5cm) seam allowance.

6. Cut off the top of the triangle.

7. Repeat steps 3 - 6 for the other side. You may need to fiddle with this edge a bit more, and if it's proving a bit tricky then you might find it easier to sew on one side than the other.

Congrats! You now have a pouch. Trim off any excess fabric so that your top edges are the same height.

8. Repeat steps 3 - 6 to make a pouch out of lining. Turn the lining pouch inside out and place the lining pouch inside the fabric pouch you made in steps 1 - 7 (with the outside fabric). Both fabrics should have wrong sides together.

Adding the zipper

1. Turn the zipper so that it's teeth are facing away from you. Place the zipper onto the right side of the fabric so that most of the zipper is away from the opening. Pin in place. Sew down one side as close to the zipper teeth as you can. You may need to move the zipper pull to get an even line of stitches.

2. Turn the pouch inside out and open the zipper all the way. Pin the zipper to the right side of the fabric. Sew.

3. Zigzag the edges to keep it from fraying.

4. Keep the pouch turned inside out. Sew the across the short end of the zipper. You may need to press the fabric down to get an even sew.