Pocket pouches - saving your clothes from perilous objects... one crayon at a time.

Don’t you love pockets?  bug LOVES putting his hands in pockets.  They are so amazing to him.  He tries to put his hands in every pocket, even if they are way too small. You can fill them with all kinds of good stuff... keys, kleenex, frogs, stones and crackers (if you’re bug).  Of course, all that good stuff then goes through the laundry when you forget about it.   And that is how I came up with the idea for the “pocket pouch” - a cute little pouch to keep all your prized possessions in.

I made my first “pocket pouch” for my good friend Veronika’s sweet little nephew’s second birthday.  I stocked it with crayons.  I did NOT take a picture of it, because I finished like 15 minutes AFTER we were supposed to leave to get there on time, so pictures were the last thing on my mind.  (mostly I was thinking about how we couldn’t go anywhere at all without being at least 20 minutes late and if it would get old to continue blaming the poor kids who can’t stand up for themselves.)

So, it’s a good thing I really wanted to make one for bug for the plane ride so I could get some quick pictures.  This version is a little different than the first one I made, but I think the possibilities are really endless.  For the plane, I wanted a place to keep all of bug's crayons snug, so they didn't go rolling around everywhere.

First, I cut the back pockets off of a pair of adult jeans, leaving them attached to the pants part behind, so the pocket is left intact.

Then I trimmed closer to the pockets, getting rid of all the excess, jagged pants material.

I measured the length of a crayon, measured down from the top of the pockets and sewed across each pocket from side to side, so the crayons wouldn’t drop any lower and get lost in there.

Then I measured the width of the crayon, and sewed down from the top of the pocket to the pre-sewn line - I did this 6 times on each pocket to make little pockets within the pockets for each crayon.

I cut a rectangle out of a pants leg.  I sewed a zipper to this rectangle, then sewed the rectangle to the top of the two pockets, with the pockets facing away from each other.

I sewed around the sides and bottom of the pockets.

I had left the little “carpenter” loop intact thinking I could use it.  I cut one side of it off of the pockets and sewed a snap to it and the pocket.  

This way, bug can attach it to different things - his belt loop, his backpack, etc. 

Unfortunately, using the carpenter loop this way means that the pocket pouch hangs upside down when attached to something.  I don’t really like that.  In fact, it kind of bugs me a lot.  So I won’t be doing this next time.  Though, the zipper closure means that nothing falls out or anything.

I hot glued some ribbon on to the front of the pocket in the form of letters.

And then I stocked the pocket pouch.  I put a crayon in each little pocket I created.  In the pocket inside, created by putting the two pockets together, I put a little mini notebook.  

bug had everything he needed to doodle right within reach.  And THIS pocket won’t send those crayons through my dryer. 





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