Tape measure pouch tutorial

In an effort to win "Domestic Goddess of the day" today I have cooked Roast capsicum soup, broccoli and cheese soup, cleaned the sewing room, made (and eaten) Florentine biscuits and just whizzed up a little tutorial. Before you all hate me too much, the crown is in no danger as I forgot my mothers birthday - yep, she even visited, nothing was said, completely forgot !!!

However I have made amends and the funny thing is ...she forgot too! (it must be genetic).

I made this little zippered tape measure pouch to hold my super sharp scissors that I take to work for the Craft-at-Work challenge and though they might be a fun thing for other people to have a go at.

To begin you will need:

• Some light cotton to sew your tape measures to. It doesn't matter what it is.
• Fabric for the lining
• a zip
• some little scraps for your zip ends
• a hairdryer
• Some coloured tape measures from your tape measure collection.

My fabric measures approx. 14 cm x 46 cms and I used a wool blend for the lining - it hides my hand stitching nicely as it has a bit of texture. I also switched zips after this photo. I Didn't really like the pink one.

Begin to create your tape measure fabric by setting your machine to zig zag with a reasonably close stitch size. You want this stitch to hold your tapes together. I also made sure to use a good quality thread and an old needle. I switched my machine to slow (down on the foot pedal usually). Then you simply set your tapes next to each other on your light cotton and sew them down while joining them together.

Keep going until you have covered your cotton piece. I am not too exact with the measurements, your last tape can be a bit over or under the fabric. I always make sure the last tape, that will be at the bottom of the pouch is a wider one that is reasonable thin. This will help later.

Now you can square up and chop your very long piece in half, giving you two sides.

This is when I usually cut out my lining - this way I know it fits exactly as I use these pieces as cutting guides.
OK, so now we are really almost there. The next bit is the zip so I want you to think good thoughts, give your machine a little pat and proceed.



Have a good look at the above photo - that is where we are heading. I promise it will make sense.

See those scraps on the end of my zip? They need to be long enough, when folded in half, to extend your zip length to be the same as your whole pouch . OK?

Your zip is shorter than your pouch but not too short or you will have a narrow opening that you can't put anything through. I aim for maybe an inch of tag at the end of my zip to bring it to that same length as the pouch.


Fold one of your little scraps in half and pin the folded edge to the end of the zip. You want it to cover the endy metal part..... just.
Then you can sew it in place just behind the metal endy part - where the pin is....... being careful not to run over the metal endy part or you'll break a needle.


See there is the little metal endy part peeking out. Don' panic - it will make sense

Now, at the top of your pouch (you decide), Just trim the fabric back a little, maybe a 1/4 inch.

This is so it won't show when you attach the tapes to the zip.

OK - small pause while you go back to the photo of it all laid out and see if it is beginning to make sense. (except of course your little tags will be sewn on by now).

OK???

Lets ignore all that and start the lining.

Lay out your tagged zip so it is upside down. Lay your lining piece over it and match up the raw edge of your lining with the edge of the zipper. In the above photo just imagine giving that red wool a little tug to fully cover the zip and then sew it in place. Your lining should be longer than your zip

You don't have to be very close to the zipper for this, as you will want to hide this line of stitching later. Repeat for the other lining piece.

Once you have done that step and flipped your lining back over itself away from the zip, this is what it will look like from the WRONG side (above).

(Don't get confused by the tabs on the end of the zip - always showing the right side of the fabric- remember we folded them in half.)

and this is what you will be looking at right way up. I was a little close to the zip on the upper seam there but I went back and unpicked it.

Seriously, that is all the hard stuff done with.

You can trim up your zipper tabs now so they are the same length as your lining and trim them so they are as wide as the zip.. I always just make mine huge and trim them later.

Now just lay your tape measure pieces in place along your zip. Pin them into place. Try and put the pins where you expect to stitch and that way you'll stitch right over the pin holes.

When you pin, remember to check the underside that the pins have also held the lining away from the zip.

This line of stitching not only attaches yout tape measure sides but also stitches your inner lining away from the zip.

Make sure your zip opens easily and LEAVE IT OPEN
Then take your lining pieces to one side and your tape pieces to the other.

Sew around your lining pieces right sides together. You only need to sew up to about 1 cm from the zip. Leave a generous sized opening in the bottom for turning.

Sew around the tape measure side as well.

Now all you have to do it pass the whole pouch through the OPEN zipper and out through the opening in the lining.

The best way to do this is to warm up the tape measures for a few seconds with the hair dryer - it makes them nice and soft and easy to turn, and it helps when you press out the corners too.

Don't forget to sew up the opening in your lining or yet another project will be only be "blog finished"

This is super easy and if you just muddle through the instructions it will become painfully clear how to do it and you'll wonder what on earth I was fluffing on about.