Horris and Deedle: Double Banger Pencil Case

This pencil case is a great option for anyone battling the endless packets of stationery as we all get the supplies ready for the new school year. It keeps the colouring supplies separate from the every day lead pencils, biros, glue stick and scissors but keeps everything together in one place. If you've made a basic zipper pouch of any sort before you will have no trouble with this.

You may be forgiven for thinking I'm a tad obsessed with pencil cases at the moment. I wrote my original Pencil Case tutorial last year for Issue 5 of One Thimble.

Then I sewed up a frenzy for School teachers gifts at the end of last year

and the Chunkster Pencil Pencil Case was born.

Now it's the double banger. Maybe it's because I was desperate to have some sewing time which was encouraged by the kids during the school holidays, maybe it's because I wanted a trip with all of them to the fabric shop so that they could "choose their own fabric." Whatever it was, it was great to get back on the sewing machine again, even if only for a few hours.

When this pencil case is complete, it measures 10.5"x8". If you're not after something that big simply make the length shorter. For this pencil case, each piece of fabric you use is double the length of the finished product. So work out what size you want the finished product to be, double it and add an inch for seam allowances.

For example, if you want your finished pencil case to only measure 6" in height when it is finished,

6 x 2 =12 +2 =14 inches.

At this point, I'd like to apologise to all those Aussie girls out there who are wondering why on earth I work in inches. Well I used to work in cm but being a quilter I got so sick of converting everything to cm first.

Anyway, getting back on topic, here is what you need:

- 4 pieces of fabric, each measuring 12" x 16". One is for the outer shell (on the left), one is for the lining (in the middle) and the 2 on the end are folded in half and for the zippered compartments.
If you're using regular quilting cotton, you'll need a piece of interfacing on the outer shell fabric to give it some stability.

- 2 zippers, 10"/25cm in length

- 4 zipper ends, approx 4" x 2" each, folded in half, wrong sides together.

- 3 sets snaps/ studs

To being with, fold inner compartment pieces in half, right sides together and press. Set aside.

Using a zipper foot, sew folded zipper ends on each end of both zippers.

Unfold one inner compartment piece and lay one zipper on the top, matching up top edges, then place top edge of your outer shell piece, with right side facing down on top of zipper.

Make sure edges are aligned (except for the zipper ends which you can trim to size if desired) and stitch along edge using a zipper foot.

When you have sewn that seam it will look like this:

Next, take the raw edge of the inner compartment piece and fold it up so that the raw edge meets the free edge of the zipper on the underside of the zipper.

Next, take the lining piece and align one of the short edges with the top of the zipper on it's free edge.

Sew them together using your zipper foot.

Afterwards it should look like this with your outer and lining fabric on one side each of the zipper and your inner compartment inside the zipper.

Put the right sides of the outer and lining fabric back together.

The next step is exactly the same thing with the second zip and inner compartment and the other end of your outer/lining fabrics.

Lay the right side up of the outer fabric, place the zipper on top, this time with the zipper facing down, and then place the edge of your inner fabric on top of the zipper. Sew it down with the zipper foot.

Then on the other side of the zipper repeat this step with the lining piece and the other end of the inner compartment. When you are finished, it should look like this.

This is how it looks when it is turned out the right way.

Next, top stitch around the edge of each zipper using your zipper foot. I found I had to change mine to the other side.

Turn it back inside out, MAKE SURE THE ZIPS ARE OPEN PEOPLE! Then stitch around the due as indicated by the red line. Use a 1cm or 3/8 " seam allowance.

When you get to a zipper, make sure you push the zipper ends down towards the compartments.

Snip open the fold where you left a gap in the stitching.

Trim off the corners and bulky zipper ends.

Turn it all inside out, tuck in the raw edge of the opening in the compartment and then stitch it together.

Push the zippered compartments inside the zips and give it all a good press.

Find the centre of the pencil case by folding it in half and stitch a line about 3/4" on each side from the centre. You can't see my stitching in these photos at all, but it helps to give the pencil case stability as well as anchor the inner compartments.