'Handy Dandy' Pouch Tutorial | Fabric Stamps

Last week I realised I badly needed a small pouch for my crochet hooks, as I keep leaving them all over the place, and often have to fish around for them at the bottom of my crochet project bag. Does anyone else ever have that problem? The first pouch I made turned out so cute I made another one, this one for my spectacles (which I also keep losing). And I thought you may want to have the pattern to make your own so I'm sharing the tutorial on the Sew Can She blog today. This is a great website for free patterns and tutorials - a treasure trove in fact. You may want to bookmark it!

These skinny pouches finish at approximately 3” x 9” – they are the perfect size for not only hooks and spectacles but also you can use them for pencils, toothbrush/paste, or even make up brushes. They are so handy and pretty – which is the essence of ‘Zakka’, a Japanese design aesthetic that combines usefulness with beauty. A lot of my designs feature Zakka elements – I love the style!

You can find the tutorial here. Please tag me on Facebook or Instagram if you make them as I would love to see how yours turned out! In keeping with the Zakka theme I also made two stamps from the fabric scraps from this project (the pink one) as it was just too sweet to put in the bin. And once I made two I couldn't stop and I had to dive into my tiny scrap bucket to make more - they are totally addictive.

I had a few people ask me how I made them so here's a super quick tutorial for you! I first backed both the colourful scrap fabric and a larger white piece of fabric with fusible web. I use Heat'n Bond Lite brand but you can also use other brands such as Vliesofix, Wonder Under etc. I then neatly trimmed the colourful scrap with a rotary cutter, peeled the backing paper and ironed it onto the white fabric. I then trimmed all around the perimeter with pinking scissors, leaving the paper backing behind the white fabric on. When it's time to use them in projects you can peel off the backing and fuse it onto your project then. A cute way to add decorations to projects, or you can even make a mini quilt made entirely of stamps. Enjoy!