Lined Zipper Pouch - Bullet Journal Hack

Happy New Year!  This post will be one way I am getting myself organized for the new year.

I love to Bullet Journal. I've been doing it for about 18 months now. Of course, I don't use the BuJo in the original way it was designed, but I've found a way that works for my brain and my life.  There's no fancy washi tape or designs (although I tried it for a hot minute), but I do have some colored pens to give me some visual interest.

Well, the bullet journal does not have any way to hold pens, which is important because I cannot be expected to carry around TWO things: the journal and the pen.  I'm just not that responsible.  So I purchased a pen holder from Etsy.  Which was cute and all Doctor Who and stuff.

But then the elastic wore out and got too stretchy.

Which got me to thinking that I could perhaps design and create a zipper pouch so that not only could I carry pens with me, but I could also carry chapstick and my phone, too!  This would be amazing.

I did a little Googling to see what designs were out there that might be hackable.  I settled on this post about making a lined zipper pouch.

Skip to my Lou's directions are what I followed for the basic structure.  However, there are two main modifications I made to her zippered bag: a pocket on the front and elastic on the back.


This is a picture of the first one I made, but I re-made it because while the first one came out exactly as I imagined, it had two main flaws: the pocket was too big and floppy and the position of the elastic didn't allow for easy zipping.  Fortunately, I had enough Doctor Who fabric left that this did not pose much of a problem.


When I made this, I cut the pocket piece out and attached it to the front piece before I started on the directions by Skip to My Lou.  For the remake, I topstitched the front to create three smaller pockets.  You can see the remake on the left in the picture below.  The original is on the right.  I like the smaller pockets much better; my pens feel more secure in the smaller spaces.


Next, I followed Skip to My Lou's directions until it was time to sew the lining pieces and the outer pieces together.  At that point, I positioned the elastic (I used fold over elastic for its nicer appearance) close to the seam allowance on the end farthest from the zipper and as close to the zipper as I dared.  Going to the extremes keeps the pouch in place much better for zipping and unzipping.  No more flop!


New on the left.  Old on the right. 

Then I followed the remainder of Skip to My Lou's directions to finish the pouch.  The second one is closer in line with the functionality I'm seeking.  But silly me - I put the zipper on the left side, which is not ideal since I'm a righty!  Oh well, guess I'll have to find a Whovian southpaw who BuJos to gift it to!


Now to make Round 3!

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