Oilcloth Pencil Cases - My Version :)

We've only had 2 weeks of school, but I can already tell that my kids have been assigned really great teachers this year. So even though teacher gifts are usually given in the spring, I wanted to give them something now. Hey, why wait until the end of the year to sweeten them up?

 The original tutorial is on Miss Make's blog here and archived in our 'Crafty Love' section. Be sure to read that because I'm not going to show every step, just the ones that I changed.

Interruptions

This is one of those 'while you're at it' projects that is so quick to make you might as well sew more than one. I cut out and stitched up 6 in just a couple hours... with interruptions. 












Laminated fabric or oilcloth (as it is also called) has a thin layer of vinyl fused to the right side. It is different from PUL, which has the vinyl on the wrong side. They're both pretty handy (for different things) and since they're laminated on one side, they won't fray at the edges.


This fabric is a super 58-60" wide, but the laminate doesn't always make it all the way to the selvage, so you'll have to trim the edges where there's no vinyl.

Here's where I started to deviate from Miss Mary's tutorial. Instead of cutting two pieces of oilcloth for each pencil case, I just cut one and planned to fold it at the bottom of the case. I know, lazy. I'm just getting started.

Next, instead of folding the edge over and sewing it to the top of the zipper, I placed the open zipper on the top of my oilcloth piece and stitched them right sides together.

Lazy alert: I don't have a sewing machine foot fetish that makes me change feet all the time, so I just used my regular foot here. I moved my needle over to the left and then sewed with the edge of the foot against the zipper. Do whatever works for you and helps you make a straight line.

You will have to close the zipper about half way down so you can finish stitching without your zipper pull getting in the way.

Then, if you are using my method, fold the other end of the oilcloth up and sew it to the right side of other zipper tape.

I put a folded piece of ribbon in one side seam to make a little loop for hanging or whatever.

If you want the top of your zipper to stick up and form a square corner like mine, be sure to fold the zipper tapes up before you stitch your side seams.

And there you go. These are perfect for pencils, markers, crayons, or whatever doo-dads you can think of.

Happy back-to-school,