little man's work pouch

This little man's tool pouch has been a popular item at our house lately.  I made up the first one when one of the little guys in my preschool class began carrying all the tools from the playroom in his pockets.  Front pockets, back pockets, he even unzipped his pants and was carrying them in his fly.  I said, "He needs a tool belt."  He now runs for the tool belt first thing.  No more need for any pant unzipping.  Crisis averted. 

Lou wanted one, then another friend wanted one.  I decided to go ahead and make up one for a tutorial and stick a few in my shop.  Might as well. 

Want to make one too?  You can use whatever fabric you want.  This is from a pile of fabric my (too early in the morning) gym partner and neighbor gave me.  Thanks Abbey!

You will need to cut:
50x4 inch for the strap
9x15 in. for the back piece
8x19 in. for the front piece

These directions are vague a bit, I hope you can figure out what's going on. 

1.  Turn the front piece back at one of the long edges, twice.  Create a little hem and sew in place.

2.  Fold and pin the strap however you like to make a strap.  I folded in half, ironed, opened it up and folded both raw edges inward, then folded in half.   Don't sew yet. We're going to kill two birds with one stone in a minute.

3.  Place front piece on back piece.  Keep the previously sewn edge up (right sides together).  Line up the two side edges and pin in place.  Create three little pleats and pin in place at the top and bottom. One should be in the middle and the other two half way from middle to the edge.

4.  Sew along side, bottom, and opposite side edge of the two piece.  (Only where the two pieces touch)

Do you smell that, is it just in my sewing room?  Geesh, that potting soil sure smells fresh!  Form the farm fresh!

That, or it's the sweet potatoes starts.  Blah.

5.  Flip.

6.  Iron.  Fold those pleats back in.  Pin and iron in place.

7.  Sew sides, bottom, and opposite side again.  This time, sew the entire length of the sides.  Also sew a straight line halfway in between each pleat.  This will be a total of two sewn lines creating three pockets.

8.  Fold down the top edge of the pouch, this is the last raw edge.  Iron.

9.  Take that strap, still unsewn and pin it on to the pouch.  You'll want to find the center of the strap and line it all up properly.  Sew along the edges of the strap, all the way around, close to the edge.

10.  Double check to make sure all the parts have caught during the sewing on of the strap.

11.  You can leave it as is or add some painted tools.  If this is going to be a garden belt, a painting belt, whatever- you can find images for that.

I googled 'tools clipart' or somthing like that and found a few tools I liked.  I printed them out, traced them onto freezer paper, cut out the freezer paper,

ironed it waxy side to the fabric,

 painted, let dry.  Peel off the paper and the tool belt give it to the tool man.

He'll get right to work.

He might have time for a quick pose.

But then it's back to work.

Hard at work.  The tongue out helps him concentrate.

If you want a tool belt, but already have a long to-do list or can't seem to clear the kitchen table off long enough to dig out the ol' sewing machine, I have a few  for sale in my shop. 

Then your tool man can get busy.

I'm linking up to some of these fine parties, won't you join me.

Made by You Mondays @ Skip to my Lou,

Tutorial Tuesdays @ Hope Studios,   Anti-procrastination Tuesdays @ New Nostalgia, Talented Tuesdays @ My Frugal Family,  Get Your Craft on Tuesday @ Life as Lori,  Toot Your Horn Tuesdays @ Silly Little Sparrow, 

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style,  Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts,  Show and Tell Wednesday @ Blue Cricket Design, We did it Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado

Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple,   Look at me, I'm so crafty @ It's fun to craft,

Feature Yourself Fridays @ Fingerprints on the fridge,  Fantabulous Fridays @ Momma's kinda crafty,  Fridays I'm crafty Party @ So You Think You're Crafty,  Fibers on Friday @ Visions of Sugar Plums,  Christmas in July Fridays @ Just Another day in Paradise,  Fabric Fun Fridays @ Cheap Chic Home,  Creative Girl fridays @ The Girl Creative,