Two birthdays ago, my mother and sister gave me a present that made me ecstatic: my very first sewing machine! My initial reaction was to promise my sister that I would sew something for her, anything she wanted! She asked for fabric pouches to store her jewelry when traveling. Very easy to make, but it seemed that I was always too busy to make them. It’s about time I finally work on this belated thank you!
I chose a soft linen-cotton blend fabric, and sewed my pouches following this easy tutorial that I found online.
Linen is a little tricky because cutting it perfectly straight is not always possible – unless you use this little tip: with the point of a needle, pick out and pull out a single thread along the line you want to cut. Cut along the mark left from the removed thread and repeat for all other sides. Here, I pulled longer lengths of thread forming rectangles and saving time. Each little rectangle ended up being the piece of fabric needed for one pouch, cut perfectly straight.
Once my little pouches were sewn, I used a stencil and craft paint to personalize the pouches.
The stenciled letters come out perfect!
On some of them, I stenciled only my sister’s initials while on others I wrote her full name.
I made the pouches in two sizes; the bigger ones are for bulkier necklaces and larger bracelets. They’re about 6 inches x 7 inches. The smaller ones are for rings and earrings and they’re just about 3.5 inches x 4 inches.
Around the top of each pouch, I chose to insert some sturdy parachute cord instead of the usual ribbon or cotton cord. It’s stronger and it will never look wrinkled. To prevent the ends of the cord from fraying, I burn them with the flame of a lighter that was kept in a safe distance. When the parachute cord is pulled, the pouches are tightly closed and there is no opening for the smaller jewelry to slip out.
I almost forgot to mention that they are washable (hand wash, please) 24 hours after the paint sets.
When my sister asked for fabric pouches, I’m sure she was expecting these beauties! I love them so much that I might make some for myself (and hopefully not in two years..)
p.s. The necklace and earrings on the very top picture are hand made from my mom. Aren’t they gorgeous?
