Today I decided to sew something for myself. Since I don’t have a dedicated sewing space I can’t leave my sewing machine and serger set up. I keep them on a shelf until I need them and their respective cords in a basket along with my hot glue gun. The problem is all the cords get tangled and hang out of the basket in a messy fashion. I decided to fix that and took the first step today.
I made a pouch for my glue gun and I’m going to do the same for the serger and sewing machine cords sometime this week. It was a simple project that I’m going to share because these pouches could be used for so many different organizing needs.
I didn’t want ties for closing the pouch because they would look messy. Neither did I want a closure that I would need to open and close – I know – lazy but since I was doing this for myself I decided to go with exactly what I wanted. I used elastic to loosely keep the opening closed. It’s wide enough to put the glue gun in and out and tight enough to hold it all in.
First I loosely measured my glue gun and decided I needed a pouch that was approximately nine inches square. So my fabric was about ten by twenty inches to account for seam allowances. I folded down one long edge and pressed it. Then I folded it down again a little more than the width of my elastic and sewed the casing for the elastic.
Figuring out the size of elastic I needed took a bit of trial and error, but I finally decided on ten inches which was about half the width. I threaded the elastic through until it was even with the raw edge and sewed that edge down. I finished threading the elastic through and sewed it down on the other side.
I wanted the seams to look nice, but I didn’t want to drag my serger out for such a small project, so I went with French seams for the side and bottom. If you don’t know what a French seam is they are very simple. First put your fabric wrong sides together and sew a small seam. Turn your fabric inside out so that the right sides are facing and sew a slightly larger seam so that the first one is totally encased. When you are finished you will have a beautiful finished seam with no raw edges showing on either side.
Do a similar seam across the bottom of the pouch.
And there you have it – a simple pouch that my glue gun fits in with no cords hanging out. I used blue fabric because my glue gun is blue. I’m colour coding my pouches so I’ll know what I’m grabbing – just trying to keep my life simple.
Do you have a dedicated area for sewing/crafts, or do you have to take everything out when you want to sew or craft?Linked to: Art of Home-Making, Made by You Monday, Handmade Tuesdays, Stitch It, Wise Woman, Homemaking, SHINE
Intentional Simplicity 
it is my dream someday to have an area where I can leave my sewing machine out. I would use it so much more if I did. 🙂
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My dream house has a room just for sewing and crafting. 🙂
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Great idea and I did not know what french seams are 🙂 Good to know 😉 Do you use them often?
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Not often, but they’re nice to know about for the odd time I feel they are appropriate (or I’m too lazy to get out my serger).
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Hey Jennifer! I’m Toni and I blog over at http://www.blessedinalabama.com. We have been grouped together for the SITS Girl Tribe Building along with several other ladies. I tried to create a forum for us to chat as a group over at SITS Girls but couldn’t ever get it to work. If no one else has already created us a discussion page we could use this FB group if everyone is on board –> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1396836790573227/
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Hey! I’m from your SITS tribe. I’m not much of a sewer, but I have what my husband calls the “crap” room. It has every project I have to get to on my to-do list in it. So I feel your pain about keeping stuff out. And I love your da Vinci quote. I need to live by that one more! 🙂
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My mom taught us simple is always better.
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I’m not much into sewing but had the idea just last week to have my girls learn how to do a simple stitch. It will come in handy, I’m sure.Neat idea. Staying organized always helps me to see my way around what I have to do a whole lot better.
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This would be a good beginner project.
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I wish I could sew! Love the bag. Stopping by from SITS!
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Hello!
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Hi Jennifer! Stopping by for our SITS tribe! What a cute pouch! I’m trying to get back into sewing, but as usual, never seem to finish a project. I’ve recently grown addicted to sewing fabric yo-yos, but haven’t figured out what I want to make from them! I look forward to connecting with you this week!
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I once had an idea to sew a bunch of yo-yos and use them like a border around my kitchen.
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This is a great tutorial! I would love for you to link up your sewing project at the Stitch It, Blog It, Share It Link Party going on now at BehindtheSeamsSewing.com.
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Thank you. I added my link. It looks like you have a lot of great posts for me to work my way through. 🙂
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What a quick and useful sewing project! Thank you for sharing this on the Art of Home-Making Mondays! 🙂
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I’m going to make some bigger ones soon – also colour-coded – to store my various baby slings and wraps. I love this project.
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My grandma has the largest sewing room in her main home. 2 rooms; one just for fabric. My sewing machine stays in a closet as well. Love the simple pouch. Super cute!
Thanks for sharing on the Shine Blog Hop!
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I would love to have just one room dedicated to sewing. 🙂
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