Post by Kacia of Coconut Robot

I’m super excited about this project today!  If I’m honest with you, after doing this project, I want to embroider just about everything Harlow writes or draws!  I love how it captures a moment in time: there will be a time when she writes all of her letters the same size, and I’ll miss this sweet season of “creative” letters.

I love when I try to correct her writing of a specific letter, and her response is always, “I’m just writing it fancy and different, mommy!”

Let’s jump right into it!

Begin by cutting a front piece, back piece and 2 lining pieces.  I made my pouch pieces 11″ by roughly 5″.  Grab a zipper as well – I like using one just a bit longer, so for this, I used a 14″ zipper.  Don’t worry, you’ll trim it down to size. 🙂

Using a fabric pen, mark your handwriting page lines.  I made the top and bottom lines 1.5 inches apart with the middle line in the middle (3/4″ from each).

Next, also using a fabric pen or marker, have your child write their name, draw a picture, or whatever you’d like to embroider on the bag!

Next, we will start embroidering!  You can get embroidery thread at any hobby shop — grab a needle if you don’t have one handy.

After the lines and text are written, we will sew the lines using a sewing machine.  You can hand embroider these if you’d like to or don’t have a sewing machine handy, but I would use a single thread, so that the name/drawing stands out the most.

For the top and bottom line, I used a stitch length of 2.  For the center line, to give it a “dotted line” feel, I used a stitch length of 5.

Now comes the fun part!

There are SO many fun embroidery stitches, but for this project, we’ll do a basic split stitch.

To do this stitch, bring your needle up about 1/8″ from your last stitch.  Bring your needle and thread back down through the previous stitch by splitting the thread down the middle – as seen in the 2 photos below.  Continue doing this, keeping your stitch length as consistent as possible.

I think you’re technically supposed to bring your needle up through the previous stitch, but this is my favorite way to achieve this look.

Grab a good movie or binge watch your favorite show on Netflix while you continue stitching!

For the smaller text, I chose to use a simple backstitch.  It’s similar to the split stitch, but bring your thread back down at the end point of the previous stitch, instead of splitting the threads.

When you’ve finished embroidering, we will create the zipped bag!

We will create a “zipper sandwich” using the front of your bag and one lining piece.  Zippers are so fun to sew into place — a bit of magic is involved – just watch!

Place the front of your bag right-side-up.

Next place your zipper right-side-down.

Next, place the lining on top of the zipper.  If there is a right side, place it down. 

Pin in place!

Next, sew along the edge where you pinned.  Sewing about 1/4″ from the edge will land you in a good spot.

Press the seams back to reveal the zipper perfectly in place!  For a finished look, top stitch as you see above.  It’ll help the fabric stay away from the zipper teeth, and it just looks nice!

Repeat the previous zipper steps on the other side.

You’ll be left with something that looks like the above photo.

Next, open your zipper so that it’s about 1.5″-2″ from the edge of your fabric.  You’ll need the zipper open when we finish sewing and turn the bag right-side out, but you don’t want to sew the zipper foot outside of your bag!

I drew some really pretty purple lines for you – haha! – but hopefully these will help you understand where to sew.  Starting at the bottom of your lining, sew around the perimeter of your entire bag, leaving a 2″-3″ gap at the bottom of the lining.  Be sure to backstitch at the start and stop, so you don’t pull your stitches out when we turn the bag right-side out.

When you finish sewing, turn your bag out through that hole in the lining…..and voila!  Load up some school supplies and let the days begin!