Humbug Pencil Case Tutorial

Humbug Pencil Case Tutorial

Fern requested this pencil case. Her design brief was to make it big enough to put her ruler in.

My mum made a bag similar to this and gave me one bigger than this one and I use it to keep knitting projects in.

This type of bag is great, you can easily see what's in there.

Requirements

• Cotton fabric for lining and outer
• A zip, a nice long one I used a 50cm
• 6 inches of webbing
• sewing machine, threads, scissors etc
  

Cutting

• lining - 12 inches by 15 inches
• outer - 12 inches by 15 inches

Lining, outer, webbing and zip all ready to go.

Using a zipper foot sew the zipper to the long side of the outer fabric.
Place the zip up side down on the right side of the fabric as in the photo.

Place the lining under the zipper and using the previous stitching line as a guide.
Sew the lining to the zip and outer fabric.
You are creating a sandwich - fabric, zipper, fabric
Doing this encloses the raw edges of the fabric.

This is the zip sewn between the outer and lining.
Using a really long zip allows you to get the zip pull out of the way while sewing and makes it easier to apply the zip to both sides of the pencil case.

Now sew the zipper to the other long side.
Becareful to make sure you are sewing it in the right way and it's not twisted.

As on the other side sew the outer fabric to the zip first,
then the lining using the stitching line as a guide.

Top stitch the zipper.
This keeps the fabric away from the zipper teeth.

Turn the case so the lining is on the outside.
The end where the Zipper pull is when closed is the first one we sew.

With the zipper at the top sew the side seam with a straight stitch
Finish the seam with a zigzag stitch.

Make sure the zipper is open half way before you sew the seam on the end or you won't be able to turn the case to the right side.
Flatten the end, place the zipper in the center.

Place the folded webbing into the seam (you can baste it, I didn't)
Place the webbing loop so that it is under the zip and between the fabric.

Stitch with a straight stitch across the end.
Finish the seam with a zigzag stitch
Trim the remains of the zipper away. Use old scissors to do this not your good fabric ones.
Then turn the case to the right side.
And you are finished.

And it does fit the ruler!

And zipped up.

Four of the five done.

Please let me know of any mistakes I have made so I can make changes to this tutorial.

Variations:

• Add a layer of heavy interfacing or wadding to give the pencil case a little more structure.
• Patchwork the outer fabric.
• Change the dimensions.
• Embellish with Ric rac
• Embroider with the new owners name
  

You are welcome to make and sell these.