I should have called this post, Pencil Pouch Mistakes. I made SO MANY on this pouch. And it isn’t a difficult project.

It all started out because I was organizing. Three sewing machines in my limited sewing/quilting/crafting space are two too many. So I had to move stuff around. And I emptied all the drawers in my Ikea cabinets. One held this unfinished project. A pencil pouch. All cut out and ready to go! The zipper tabs were even already attached.

I had started making pouches in March 2020 for year-end gifts for the teachers at the Old Homosassa Learning Center. All are volunteers. This one is for the piano teacher, Mrs. Dailey. Little did I know when I started these that March 13, 2020 was the year-end for our little learning center. I shut down the after-school programs that day due to the corona virus. Our last music get-together with the ukulele kids was the next day at a parade that we march in every year–both the adult ukulele group and the kids. Only half of the expected participants showed up. It was such a small pitiful group that I grabbed our extra ukuleles and gave them to the grandmas that had brought the kids. Told them to pretend they were playing and sing at the top of their lungs. (We have a copy of the words to the song on the back of the golf cart that leads us.)

Anyhow. Finding the pouch pieces made me sad but also made me think it was about time that I finished it!

Then the mistakes….First, I forgot to use Wonder Tape on the zipper. What is that? Magic tape that I use to stick the zipper down rather than pinning it. Pinning sometimes can make the zipper go wonky. Fortunately, this zipper didn’t turn out too bad.

Then I realized that I had used the lining piece for the back of the exterior. They were both the same fabric but the exterior had fusible interfacing already applied. I had sewn in the zipper and did top stitching. I wasn’t ripping all that apart!

Then I put the 0-ring on the wrong side. I like it to be on the opposite side of the zipper pull. Where was my crafty brain?

And the crowning blow–I boxed it at 4″ rather than 2″. What does that mean? I cut both of these pouches out exactly the same dimensions. What a difference!

I don’t have a tutorial for this size pouch. I have written other sizes up in the past and you can see the Kid’s Artist Post, Another Little Zippety-do-da Pouch, or DIY Zippered Pouch. Plus there are many free tutorials out there on Pinterest.

Okay. Although I made lots of mistakes, the pouch is kinda cute all squatty and it holds lots of stuff. I think Mrs. Dailey will love it. If I ever get to give it to her!

I learned how to make the pouches from the free Purl Soho tutorial and then just changed the sizes as I needed and added boxed bottoms here and there. You might note that all of these pouches have “dented” corners. I recently learned from a YouTube video by Sotak Handmade how to remedy that but I already had this pattern cut out and the ends were on the zipper when I started. I’ll be using the new technique in future pouches.

I had planned on opening the after-school program at the learning center back up after Labor Day. Even hired a teacher to oversee the program. We were both very excited. She and I had great plans back in July. But then the latest wave hit. I’m in Florida where the Covid-19 cases are crazy ridiculous. Our teachers are volunteers and mostly senior citizens. While the schools are open, many of the kids are in quarantine and finding substitutes for the teachers that are out is next to impossible. Sad to admit, our new goal is January 2022.

In the bright side, I have several months to make pouches for the rest of the leaders! And maybe they will be perfect!