Accordion Pouch

Tools and materials:

• Solid fabric
• Pattern fabric
• Snap button
• Interfacing
• Scissors
• Sewing machine

Cut out your fabric 

Cut out one 5 ¾ by 15-inch rectangle from each fabric and four of each that are 5 ¾ by 10 ¾. Next, cut out five pieces of interfacing, one that’s five by 14 ⅛ inches and the other that's five by ten. 

Make the outside 

Fold your larger piece of interfacing in half (the long way down) and then cut off the corner to round it. Place the interfacing on the back of the patterned fabric and iron it on. Next, place both fabrics together, right sides touching, and pin them together. Sew along the interfacing leaving a half-inch border. Cut off the excess fabric and then make little notches in the fabric to help it lay flatly. Cut off the (non-rounded) corners and iron the seams. Flip the pouch inside out through the hole that you left earlier, iron it down again, and hand sew to seal the opening. Topstitch across the bottom. 

Repeat this process 

Take the four smaller pieces of interfacing and iron them to the smaller pieces of patterned fabric. Next, pin the patterned fabric to the solid fabric, right sides together and sew along the interfacing, leaving a half-inch seam allowance and a small opening through which we’ll turn the pouch right side out. Cut the sharp corners and iron the seams. Turn the pouch right side out and hand sew the opening closed. Finish with a top stitch on both short ends. 

Attach the pouches 

Use a ruler and some tailor’s chalk to mark two notches on the short edges that are 1 ⅜ inch from the long sides. Next, bring the markings down 3 ⅝ inches to make a small box (pictured above). Once that’s done, place the pouch you just drew on over the bigger pouch, right sides together. Pin and sew by the markings. Repeat this process with the remaining pouches, attaching each new one to the previous one’s edge.

Form the pouches 

Fold the last pouch in half, wrong sides together, clipping the sides. Repeat this with the rest of the pouches until they are all clipped. Sew the sides one by one and then sew all around the tall outer piece. When you’re done, your pouches form an accordion. 

Finish the pouch 

To finish the bag, we need to add the snaps. Sew one onto the inner flap of the tall back piece, and the other onto the outer part of the bag. Make sure you align the snaps so the button can close and secure it in place. 

This simple accordion pouch is super easy to make and incredibly useful. You can make it in any color you want and match it to any style. If you make one too, show me how it came out in the comments down below!