Sewing up 3 Too Cool for School pencil cases

By now I’m sure most of us are thinking about prepping the kids and grandkids for back-to-school. After the past year and a half we’re looking forward to healthy and positive in-person class experiences. This week’s sewing focus is all about positivity with super cute pencil cases and zipper pulls to get our little students excited and happy to be heading back. I’ll be utilizing small fabric scraps from my own stash along with HEATNBOND Lite Iron-On Adhesive Sheets, COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper, FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting, UNIQUE SEWING Wash-out Marker, ELAN Snap-Clip, DMC Matte Cotton Yarn and FABRIC FUSE by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive.

If you have any zipper insertion fears, follow along this week as I show you some easy tips to make your zipper sewing confidence improve dramatically.

Too Cool for School pencil cases and zipper pulls

Supplies needed for this week’s 3 pencil case projects

I’m sure we all have children or grandkids who just love to get ready for back-to-school and school supplies are an important part of this process. Let’s begin first by demonstrating how to make a trendy, cute and customized pencil case. This pencil case is sure to garner a smile and some excitement for pencil, marker, crayon and even snack storage.

Below is the pencil case with my grandson Eli’s name appliqued on it. He starts Montessori School this fall and is naturally apprehensive. I’m sure this little case will help him to feel a little more excited about starting school and his new learning adventure.

The pencil case

materials

·         scraps of cotton fabric in yellow, wood grain tan, gray, pink, black and lining fabric (any color from your stash)

·         HEATNBOND Lite Iron-On Adhesive Sheets

·         COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper (9”, 23cm)

·         FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting

·         UNIQUE SEWING Wash-out Marker

·         FABRIC FUSE by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive

·         thread to match your fabric

·         iron

·         sewing machine

·         scissors

·         parchment paper or a teflon pressing sheet

·         free motion or walking foot

·         basic sewing supplies

·         black permanent marker

·         circle template or protractor – 4” and 5” (optional)

Supplies all ready to go to make the pencil case

Cutting instructions

·         yellow fabric

o   (1) 7 ½” x 8”

·         gray fabric

o   (1) 3” x 8”

o   (1) 1” x 2” (for zipper extension)

·         wood grain tan fabric

o   (2) 5” diameter circles

o   (1) 1 ½” x 8” strip (use the wash out marker to trace around circle template)

·         pink fabric

o   (2) 4” diameter circles (use the wash out marker to trace around circle template)

·         lining fabric

o   (1) 8” x 12” (to be squared after quilting)

·         black fabric for lettering

o   Cut a scrap piece of fabric to fit chosen letters

·         batting

o   (1) 8 x 12” (to be squared after quilting)

o   (1) 4” circle

o   (1) 5” circle

Fabric and batting cut along with a zipper, ready to sew the pencil case

Join me tomorrow when I show you how this cute pencil case goes together with ease. The pencil case is quilted with FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting, personalized with lettering and FABRIC FUSE HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive and I’ll share 2 great tips to make the 9” COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper insertion a breeze.

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: Sewing up a sharp-looking pencil case for back-to-school

Print this page or save as a PDF