Jaymee's Pencil Case Tutorial

I sew this sweet pencil case for my niece Jaymee who just started school 2 weeks ago. what made my heart smile was that she thought it was bought in a shopping mall. I told her i sew it and will teach her how to sew one for herself next time. :)

The completed pencil case will measure at 8"(L) x 1"(W) x 3.5"(H)

This tutorial will consists both machine and handsewing (something that i have been enjoying lately) and best of all it helps to clear up your scrap bin. :)

I need to apologise in advance as some of the photos will appear to be darker as it has been a raining week when i took them. :)

Materials Required :

★★ Exterior fabric (front panel) --> Scraps of Fabric

    cut 1pc of 8.5" x 1.5" for bottom (use the same fabric as the back panel)

cut 12pcs of 1.75" x 1.5" (for patchwork)

cut 1pc of 3.5" x 3.5" (for centre piece)

★★ Exterior fabric (back panel) --> cut 1pc of 8.5" x 4.5"

★★ Interior fabric --> cut 1pc of 8.5" x 8.5"

★★ Binding (for single fold) --> cut 1pc of 1.25" x 30"

★★ Interfacing --> cut 1pc of 8.5" x 8.5"

(choose your interfacing based on the result you are after. I use a light weight sew-in  interfacing for mine)

★★ Zipper - 1pc of 9" or 10" (i use 10" for mine)

★ ★ (optional) Crochet Lace Trim - cut 2pcs of length 4"

(my fabric prints seems to go well with crochet lace trim, thus i use it. you can replace it with ric rac, pom pom trim or not use at all. Is optional. :) )

★ Using 1/4" seam allowance throughout ★

1) Arrange your 12pcs of 1.75" x 1.5" blocks and 1pc of 3.5" x 3.5" center piece block to your desired layout.

2) sew 3 blocks in a row to form 4 sets as shown above and press seam

3) ** if you are using Ric Rac or Pom Pom Trim, sew them onto the side edge of center piece before sewing the sets together. **

Sew 4 sets and your center piece together as shown above and press seam.

Your front panel is almost complete. Fast isn't it. :)

4) Placed your almost complete front panel on top of your interface. Match them to the edges and pin or clip them in placed as shown

5) Quilt as desired. I have quilted simple straight lines. :)

** if you are using crochet lace trims, align them along the sides of the centre piece and hand sew them using back stitch.

6) Place your 8.5" x 4.5" exterior fabric back panel and 8.5" x 1.5" bottom panel together as shown. Pin them in place and sew them together. Press seam. 

7) We will sew the bottom panel to the front panel. Align them together with right side facing each other, pin in placed.

8) Sew them together.

9) Press Seam.

10) Using 1/8" (or you can sew near the edge) seam allowance, sew around the 3 sides of the exterior fabric back panel

11) Fold it in half with right side facing each other, pin in placed

Using 1/4" seam allowance, sew along the 2 sides as shown

12) If you prefer a flat pencil case, flip it right side out and skip the below steps and go straight to step 17

13) To create a base, fold the corner as shown. 

To make sure that the base is even, the sewn sides where the pen is pointing must be in line with the bottom and back panel "joined seam".

Clip them in placed.

Use a ruler and water soluble marker, mark and draw a line as shown.

The total base width of the pencil case will be 1"

14) Sew on the line that you have drawn. Back stitch at the beginning and end.

i sew on the line twice, so that it will be more secured. :)

15) Measure 1/4" from your sewn line and trim the corner away.

Repeat step 13 to 15 for the other corner.

16) Flip the pencil case right side out.

17) Fold your 8.5" x 8.5" Interior fabric in half, right side together and sew the sides as shown

18) Repeat step 13 to 15 for both corners of the interior fabric

19) With the wrong side facing each other, placed the interior and exterior fabric together as shown.

Clip them in placed.

20) We will be using a single fold binding method for our pencil case. :)

Trim of the top corner of your 1.25" x 30" binding as shown above

21) Pin the binding along the edges as shown above

22) Trim off the excess binding and pin them in placed as shown above.

This is usually how i join my binding ends for pouch. There are many ways to join binding ends. you can check out the wonderful tutorials and youtube videos online and pick a style that you like. :)

23) Using 1/4" seam allowance, sew along the edges as shown

24) Flip your pencil case inside out so the interior fabric is facing up.

Turn the binding over carefully and turn the raw edge of the binding under and pin or clip in placed.

** For me, usually i don't pin or clip in placed. I will fold and sew along, because i am lazy. :) But, if you are not use to handsewing, pin or clip will make it easier to sew. :)

25) With a needle and thread, start the first stitch underneath the binding to hide the knot.

26) Ensure that your folded binding covers the stitched area on the interior fabric.

Blind stitch all the way.

27) If you would like to know how i end the stitch and hide my knot, you can find it on my previous tutorial here Step 23 & 24.

28) Now, here comes my favorite part. Hand sewing the zippers. :)

With the zipper pull on the right side facing downwards, align the zipper teeth along the edge of the binding. Pin them in placed.

29) To sew the zipper to the pouch, i start my first stitch under the zipper, so that the knot is hidden.

30) Back stitch throughout the length of the zipper.

Be careful not to sew through all layers of the binding. The needle should only pick up the first layer of the binding fabric next to the zipper.

31) End the stitch underneath the zipper so that the knot will be hidden

32) I sew a row of catch stitch at the bottom of the zipper. A row of back stitch will do just fine too.

Repeat step 28 to 32 for the other side of the zipper

33) Flip the pencil case right side out.

Ta daaa~~ Finished!

My first try at applique. Looks a little wonky but i had fun sewing it!

and it adds a little cuteness to the back of the pencil case. :)

Hope you have enjoy making this pencil case as much as i do

If you have any query, feel free to drop me an email. :)

Have a wonderful week ahead my friends. 

xoxo Jean

a sewing post

Taking a break from the sewing world for a couple of years also means that i missed out on the release of all the beautiful fabric collections which also means i save a lot of money!

So........... this will mean that i can buy more now with all the money saved. haha! 

Luckily Skylar never read my blog, so he will never know. hehe. Oh! speaking of this, recently he has also been complaining highlighting that he has been seeing all the sewing stuff popping up in his search feed in Instagram. hahhahaha. 

Last week, my younger sister Nicole has also send me a screenshot of her search feed in Instagram which is showing patchwork pouch etc suggestions and she ask me how come she is seeing this. hahhahahha. 

i find it to be hilarious because i know they are not interested in sewing stuff at all and have commented that all fabrics looks the same to them, so all these pop ups in their Instagram makes me laugh! LOL.

Anyway, Skylar told my sister in order to stop Instagram from suggesting any more sewing stuff in their search feed, they have to either stop "liking" my post or "unfollow" me in instagram. of course, i told them is uncool to do that. LOL

when i first set eyes on this lovely flower sugar maison fabric by Lecien awhile ago, i felt like it was design for me. :)

First it is in my favorite color, Second it has small flowers which i love and lastly they are in polka dots! I am so lucky that i am still able to get some of this pretty prints.

Aren't they a beauty. :)

So i made a gyoza pouch using this pretty print to keep all my coins. :)

but now i have second thoughts as they look too pretty to use.. haha.

Tutorial for my Gyoza Pouch can be found here.

Instead of using cotton batting as mentioned in my tutorial, I use a light weight sew in interface. I really love how more rounded and cute it looks.

I also made a Zipper Pouch for my mum in her favorite color - Pink!

Is strange that i never sew anything for my mum. This is the first, but definitely won't be last. :)

Tutorial for my zippered pouch can be found here

Same like my gyoza pouch, instead of using cotton batting as mention in my tutorial, i have used a medium weight sew in interface for this one. :)

Taking a break and returning to my favorite hobby makes me realised how much i have missed and love sewing. Is really good to be back. :)

I am working on a few more tutorials that i will share as soon as i am done sewing / writing them. See you around. :)

Have a lovely week ahead.

xoxo Jean

A Gyoza (Dumpling) Pouch Tutorial

Happy Monday! ^^

Is been a long time since i written a tutorial.

Hopefully i'm not rusty and what i wrote make sense.. haha.

If they don't, you can always drop me an email and i will be happy to reply all your queries. :)

In case you are curious why i named it Gyoza Pouch. :)

Gyoza means dumpling in Japanese, and the pouch do look like a little cute dumpling and it happens to be one of my favorite food, so i named it Gyoza Pouch. LOL

The completed Gyoza Pouch will measure at 4"(L) x 2"(W) x 3"(H)

This tutorial will consist of both machine and handsewing. 

I know right, best of both world!

Let's start!

To create a template for the Gyoza Pouch, using a compass, draw 1 circle with diameter 6 inch. At the bottom center of the circle (marked X as shown in the above picture) draw another diameter 6 inch circle. Draw 2 straight lines at the side to connect both circles together as shown in the above picture.

(This template can be re-use many many times to sew the gyoza pouch in other styles, so if possible draw them on a thicker sheet of paper or recycled cardboard)

Beside using a compass, alternatively you can use any circular shape containers. 

The size of this Gyoza Pouch can be change by changing the diameter of the circle.

So if you want to make a makeup pouch, you just have to increase the diameter of the circle. :)

Cut out your template as shown in the above picture.

Materials Required :

★★ Exterior Fabric --> scraps of fabric (for patchwork version like mine) or one fat eighth (for non patchwork version)

 ★★ Interior Fabric --> one fat eighth

★★ Interfacing --> one fat eighth 

(choose your interfacing based on the result that you are after, i use cotton batting for mine.)

★★ Binding --> half a yard

★★ Zipper --> 6"

Cutting Instructions :

Exterior fabric :

For Patchwork version --> cut 2pcs of 1.5" x 5"

                                       cut 2pcs of 1.5" x 7"

                                       cut 3pcs of 1.5" x 9"

                                       cut 1pc of 1.5" x 10"

For non Patchwork version --> you can skip step 1 to 11 and go straight to step 12 and 13.

                             Cut out your fabric according to the template

Interior fabric --> Cut out your fabric according to the template

Interfacing --> Cut out your Interfacing according to the template

Binding --> cut 2pcs of 3" x 2"

                                cut 1.25" x 28" Bias Binding.

Bias Binding works better for curves. 

The very talented Julie from JayBirdQuilts has written a very detailed explanation on Bias Binding vs Straight of Grain Binding and how to cut Bias Binding. 

you can find the link here.

note : out of curiosity, i had tried using straight grain binding for this pouch. Now i can tell you.. 100% sure, please use bias binding. haha. It was a struggle to use straight grain binding on curves! :)

 ♥ Using 1/4 inch seam allowance throughout  ♥

1) fold one piece of 1.5" x 5" scrap fabric in half, so it will create a crease. Repeat same for one piece of 1.5" x 7" scrap fabric.

Align the crease with right side of fabric facing each other. this is an easy way to ensure that both fabric are centered without using your ruler to measure. :)

2) sew the 2 fabric with right side together as shown. Press Seam.

3) With a 1.5" x 9" scrap fabric, repeat step 1 & 2.

4) With a 1.5" x 10" scrap fabric, repeat step 1 & 2.

5) Now you will have four rows. 

Using a water soluble marker, mark 2 dots as per pointed by the arrows on the wrong side of the fabric.

6) Align your template as shown. you can adjust per your liking.

Note that your fabric should be slanted as shown.

7) Once you have adjusted to your liking, Clip it in place. Flip over so the right sides of the fabrics are facing you.

8) With a 1.5" x 9" scrap fabric, adjust it so that it covers your template as shown.

9) Pin them in place with right side facing each other, unclip them from the template and sew them together. Press Seam.

10) Repeat step 6 to 9 with the remaining scraps in this order.

1.5" x 9", 1.5" x 7" and 1.5" x 5"

Here's how the back looks like, my pressing direction. You can press them to your own preference. :)

11) Clip your template in place per your previous alignment in step 6 and cut according to the template.

12) Cut your interfacing and interior fabric according to the template, and placed them together as shown above.

13) Pin them in placed and quilt as desired. 

14) We are going to do a single fold binding method for our Gyoza Pouch.

Trim off the top corner of your 1.25" x 28" binding as shown above

15) Pin them in placed as shown above.

Take note that the starting point to pin have to be at the side as shown, as later on the sides will be trim off, so the "joining" of start and end of the binding will not be visible at all. It will be a nice smooth binding :)

16) Pin the binding as shown above along the edges

17) Trim off the excess binding and pin them in place as shown.

There are many ways to join the binding ends, You can check out the many great tutorials and youtube videos online and pick a style that you like. :)

For this tutorial, you do not have to worry too much about the joining part. 

It does not have to be perfect as they will be trim off later.

18) With 1/4" seam allowance, sew along the edges as shown

Your "soon to be" Gyoza Pouch should look like this. :)

19) Clip around the edges of the seam allowance. 

Be careful not to cut through your sewn line.

20) Flip your pouch over, so the interior fabric is facing up.

Carefully turn the binding over and turn the raw edge of the binding under and pin or clip in placed.

21) With a needle and thread, start the first stitch underneath the binding to hide the knot.

22) Ensure that your folded binding covers the stitched area on the interior fabric. 

Blind stitch all the way as shown.

23) To end the stitch, i turn the thread 3 times around my needle and pull through as shown.

24) To hide the knot, put your needle very near the knot and pull through as shown

Ta - daaa... can hardly be seen :)

Your "soon to be" Gyoza Pouch should look like this. All nicely bind. 

It will make a great coaster too right?! haha!

25) Now, we are going to start hand sewing the zipper. 

you will be surprise how easy it is to hand sew them.

Be careful, you might even be addicted (like me). :)

First fold your pouch in half with right side together.

26) Measure and align the zipper evenly on the center of the pouch.

With the zipper pull on the right side facing downwards, align the zipper teeth along the edge of the binding. Pin them in place.

Note : the zipper teeth has to be along the edge of the binding, not higher or lower.

To ensure the zipper is evenly centered on the pouch. you can use a ruler to do all the measurements. For me, it was a lazy quick method (sorry, i did not take any photos, i will try to explain the best i can). I fold the "half pouch" in half again so it looks like its in one quarter. Using a water erasable fabric pen i make a small dot on the binding where the "fold" is. This will be the center of the pouch. For the zipper, i did the same, fold it in half, make a small dot where the "fold" is. When i pin the zipper to the pouch, i make sure the 2 dots are in line with each other. :)

27) To sew the zipper to the pouch, i start my first stitch under the zipper, so the knot is hidden. Next back stitch throughout the length of the zipper.

Be careful not to sew through all layers of the binding. The needle should only pick up the first layer of the binding fabric next to the zipper

I just found a nice back stitch tutorial over here by Red Brolly .

Her website is awesome. i will have to spend some time browsing through them once i finish this tutorial. :)

28) End the stitch underneath the zipper as shown. The knot will be hidden.

29) Sew another row of back stitch as shown using the same method.

Repeat step 26 to 29 to the other side of the zipper.

30) Do not turn over the pouch.

i have turn them over, but i realise it will work better with the right side still facing each other.

Sew the sides (corner of the Gyoza Pouch to the zipper end) together using Ladder stitch as shown.

I have found another great tutorial on ladder stitch over here

There are so many wonderful and talented people every where. :)

31) one minute quick check.

Flip your pouch over. 

Check to make sure that your sides are nicely sewn together with no gaps.

If you like, you can stop here too. 

Because you will already have a pouch now, but..... it is not cute..

So, we need to continue.. :)

32) Flip your pouch inside out again.

We are going to create the base now.

This part is important to create an even base.

Fold your pouch as shown, the binding and zipper must be aligned as shown.

Clip them in placed.

33) Use a ruler and water soluble marker, mark and draw a line as shown.

The total base width of the pouch will be 2".

Pin them in placed.

34) Sew on the line that you have drawn, backstitch at the beginning and end. 

I sew on the line twice so that it will be more secured. :)

35) Using a 1/4" seam allowance, trim the corner away.

36) Repeat step 33 to 35 for the other corner. Now your pouch should look like this.

37) Now, we are going to cover up the cut corner with binding.

Using 1pc of 3" x 2" fabric, fold it (length 2") in half to create a crease, unfold, fold again as shown.

38) With one side still folded, place your cut corner on it and position them in the center.

Fold up the side to cover the side of the cut corner as shown above and sew them in placed using small running stitch. Do not worry about the start and end knots made.

Your 3" x 2" fabric should be position in such a way that it covers the stitches on your cut corner. If unsure, please refer to the photo of step 42 for how the final result will be like.

Position the fabric in a way to achieve this result.

39) Hand sew your 3" x 2" fabric around the cut corner using blind stitch.

Do not worry about the start and end knots made.

40) From the crease that you have made earlier, fold the fabric in as shown

41) Fold the fabric again as shown and clip them in placed.

This will hide all the knots that you have earlier. :)

42) Blind stitch them in placed.

As usual, start your first stitch underneath the binding to hide the knot, to hide the end knot, please refer to the method in step 24.

43) Repeat step 37 to 42 for the other corner.

Your Gyoza Pouch should look like this now.

44) Turn your Gyoza Pouch right side out. 

Your corner binding should sit nicely in the pouch.

45) Ta-daaaa!!

      Completed! 

Even the bottom is pretty. :)

Hope you have enjoyed making this Gyoza Pouch as much as i do.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email. :)

Please also tag me on Instagram, i would love to see all your lovely version.

Have a lovely week.

xoxo Jean