DIY: Sew some knitting bags

I'm much more of a knitter than a sewer...but every now and again it helps to sew in order to knit. Like when I decided that I didn't want to spend upwards of $20 on some knitting pouches when I could just sew myself some in about an hour.
You can too! It's really easy. Pick out some of your favorite fabric. I used fat quarters that I bought at a fabric store near my mom's house before it closed down. I ended up using the pineapple fabric and the fabric that looks like there are a bunch of little people. I don't know if that's what the designer was going for, but that's what it looks like. You'll also need matching thread (or not if you want to clash), scissors, straight pins, and a cat to walk across it while you take a picture. Helper!

I cut out a rough square the size I wanted, using the bottom folded-over edge to serve as the bottom of the pouch. Why sew an extra side if you don't have to? Next, I pinned both sides of the top edge over. You'll be hemming this so that you have a nice clean edge to sew your zipper to. Sew a straight line (Christine would fail at this part), and make sure you don't sew over the pins or you might break a needle. Voila, the tops are hemmed and ready for zipper application.

I always amass a ton of vintage zippers. You can find these at the Goodwill, Value Village, estate sales etc. I love the vintage metal zippers way more than the new plastic ones. They're nice and floppy and a little heavy which makes them easier to work with. I chose a deep golden for the pineapple print. You'll want to make sure the zipper is the right length, unzip it, pin it in place, and start sewing down one side. Go slow and sew straight. It's not as intimidating as it sounds. Next, do the same on the other side. Once the zipper is in place, you just have to hem up the two open sides. Make sure you do this inside out so the seams remain inside the pouch. 

Make sure you don't upset your assistant while you sew the pouch. Peanut thinks she's helping but usually she's not. As you can see, my sewing slowed down halfway through while I balanced Peanut on my lap for the duration of the project.

In her defense, this time she actually helped me feed the fabric into the machine as evidenced below.

Before you know it, you have a zippered pouch that is fully functional!

Once you make one and have your method down, it takes no time to whip out another. I was in need of two pouches for my current two projects. Now Christine's Woodland Shawl won't get dusty when I'm not knitting it.

My pineapple pouch is holding my Cocoon Me cowl.

 

Boom goes the dynamite!

Don't limit yourself. These pouches could be great for organizing any kind of craft project. You could even pack toys in here or use them to organize a variety of things. The best part is they cost me maybe $1.50 each because I used scraps and things I acquired secondhand or on sale. 

If you want to see Peanut helping me sew other projects, check out my tutorial for sewing yourself a cotton clothesline basket.