Accessories Pouch for Beginners – Sewing Project

Hi everyone! It’s Julia from Little World of Whimsy, and I’m here to bring you a super cute sewing pattern for this quick and easy accessories pouch! I’m mainly a crochet designer, but after I rediscovered my love of sewing a few months ago I couldn’t help but design a cute zipper pouch to keep all my notions and crochet hooks.

This is a beginner level project and can be made easily with scraps from your fabric stash. If you’re more experienced and want to get fancy, you can even quilt together scraps for the exterior sides, as long as it ends up measuring the same total dimensions.

Finished Size

5″-7″ wide, 5″ tall, 2.5″ deep (on bottom)

Materials

1/4 yard main print fabric (linen or other lightweight fabric)
1/4 yard contrast print fabric (linen or other lightweight fabric)
1/4 yard lining fabric (also lightweight fabric)
1/4 yard fusible fleece interfacing (e.g. Pellon 987F)
8” zipper (or longer, just follow instructions on the package to shorten any zipper)
Sewing Scissors – check out Clover’s collection!
Water Soluble Pencil (Art. No 515 or 516)
Sewing Pins or Wonder Clips
Sewing machine
Matching thread
Iron for pressing

(1/4 inch seam allowance throughout unless otherwise noted)

Cut the pieces:

2 pieces of main print fabric 6.25” wide by 7” tall
2 pieces of contrast print fabric 3.25” wide by 7” tall
2 pieces of lining 9” wide x 7” tall
2 pieces of fusible fleece 9” wide by 7” tall

Assembling the Exterior

Lay one piece of main print fabric on top of the contrast print fabric right sides together, and sew across the top edge doing a backstitch on each side. The final pieced fabric should measure 9” wide x 7” tall. Press seams to one side.

Lay the front piece that you’ve just created wrong sides together with a piece of fusible fleece. The wrong side of the fusible fleece feels bumpy and hard. Follow package instructions to fuse the fleece to the front piece.

Repeat with the remaining two pieces, but make sure that the arrangement of fabrics is mirrored as shown below. Meaning, if you put the contrast fabric on the right for the first exterior piece, then put it on the left for the second exterior piece so that your pouch will end up with the same design mirrored on both sides.

Assembling the Pouch

Place one exterior piece right side up, and put the zipper face down with the zipper pull on the left. Place the lining piece right side down on top of the zipper.

Using a zipper foot, pin and sew all layers together. To avoid the zipper pull, sew in two stages: first start sewing below the pull, then unzip the zipper and finish sewing the top.

Flip the fabrics wrong sides together to get them out of the way and press.

Next, lay the remaining front piece right side up, align the zipper with the top edge facing down, with the zipper pull at the right side this time. Place the lining piece right side down on top. Pin and sew, also using the zipper foot. Repeat the same steps as before to ensure that the zipper pull is out of the way when you sew.

Flip the fabrics you just sewed wrong sides together (front side and lining together) and press. Switch back to your regular sewing foot, top stitch next to the zipper on each side, sewing together the front pieces and linings.

Unzip the zipper and flip fabrics so that the exteriors are facing right sides together and the linings are facing right sides together with the zipper in the middle. Make sure that the zipper teeth are pointing towards the lining, and not the exterior pieces.

Pin and sew around the whole perimeter using a 1/2” seam allowance and leaving a 3” – 4” (just so that your hand can fit through) opening in the lining for turning. Make sure that the opening in the lining is centered in the middle, so that you can box the corners later. Be extra careful near the zippers that you don’t hit any metal pieces with the needle. When you get to the corners, keep the needle in the fabric, lift the foot, and turn the project.

Boxing the Corners

Reach your hand in through the opening of the lining and pinch the exterior fabric corners together, aligning the seam.

Finger press the seams open and with a ruler, mark a line perpendicular to the seam 1.25” from the tip of the corner using a water soluble pencil. Sew along that line.
Clip corner leaving a 1/2” seam allowance. Repeat for the other exterior fabric corner and both lining corners.

Finish

Turn pouch right side out by grabbing the exterior fabric side and pulling it through the zipper and the opening in the lining.

Sew the opening in the lining shut with a very small seam allowance or hand sew. Push the lining into the pouch, and you’re all done! Fill it with all your notions or other crafting accessories, zip it shut, and place it on your desk.

I would love to see your finished project, so share a picture on Instagram with me by using the #littleworldofwhimsy and tagging me @littleworldofwhimsy. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me with a direct message on Instagram or through email at littleworldofwhimsy@gmail.com — I would love to help!