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How To Make A Notebook-&-Pencil Holder
As mentioned in a previous post, I’m in the middle of making some gifts for family and god-children. One of the gifts to be given to my younger godchildren will be a Notebook-&-Pencil holder.
Here is a completed holder:
And the holder opened up:
This is quite a straight-forward gift to make and I thought I’d provide a tutorial on how I went about putting this one together. Please note that I am no sewing expert :-) so please excuse my rather barbaric methods and lack of proper sewing vocabulary :-) Please also note that this is an image-heavy post, so allow a few minutes for all the images to load up.
This holder has been made to comfortably fit an A5-sized 100-page notebook. You may need to alter the dimensions for larger notebooks.
What You’ll Need
- A 40cm x 28cm piece of fabric for the outer cover (I used a heavy-weight canvas cotton print)
- A 40cm x 28cm piece of fabric for the inner lining (I used a light gingham)
- A 40cm x 18cm piece of fabric for the pocket (I used the same light gingham as the lining)
- A 40cm x 28cm piece of interfacing
- Two strips of ribbon, each 30cm in length
- Materials for embellishment e.g. felt, buttons, etc
Instructions
1) According to the instructions for your interfacing, attach interfacing to the wrong side of the outer cover fabric.
2) On one longer side of the pocket fabric, turn in the edge 1cm, then turn in again 1cm to make a clean edge and sew down hem. It helps to iron it down before sewing to keep it in place.
3) Putting the ‘sandwich‘ together.
a) Place the lining fabric down with the right side of the fabric up. Then place the pocket fabric on top, with the right side up also, so that left and right edges line up with left and right edges of lining fabric.
b) Place the two pieces of ribbon across the lining fabric, just above the top edge of the pocket fabric. Ensure that one edge of one piece of ribbon slightly overhangs the left edge of the lining fabric, and one edge of the other ribbon slightly overhangs the right edge of the lining fabric.
c) Place outer cover fabric on top with wrong side facing up and ensure the edges of the ’sandwich’ are all lined up. Pin in place, making sure ribbons are securely pinned in place.
4) Starting in the middle of the top edge, sew the sandwich together using a 7mm seam allowance. Leave a 10cm opening at the top edge.
5) Clip the corners (if you want pointy corners) and turn inside out. Slip-stitch opening closed and iron out flat. You can skip this next step if you prefer, but I like to stitch around the edges (about 2mm in from the edge) just as an added step to secure the sandwich together.
6) Marking & sewing in the pockets. This holder has been designed to hold pencils so if you are planning to include larger pens or textas, you will need to adjust the following measurements. For standard pencils, from the left edge, mark 2cm in, and keep marking every 2cm until you have marked 10 pockets for the pencils. Mark at the top and bottom edge to ensure a straight line and mark in the lines (they are hard to see in the picture below but I have marked them in with eraseable fabric pencil).
7) Sew down the lines from top to bottom. Ensure that the thread you are using to sew in the pockets matches both the lining and outer cover as it will be visible on both sides. You should end up with 10 thin pockets for the pencils and one large pocket for the notebook. This is what the outer cover looks like after sewing down the pocket lines (and before I clip the excess thread).
8) Embellishment. I decided to feature the recipient’s initials so I cut out the letters in wool felt.
I stitched the initials and some cute buttons on a circular piece of the yellow gingham and appliqued that onto a piece of wool felt. I then stitched it onto the upper corner of the outer cover. Please note that if you do embellish, you will have to keep it towards the top section of the cover so that you don’t accidentally sew over the pockets!
9) And finally, apply some Fray Stop (or similar product - available at craft stores) to the raw edges of the ribbon to prevent then from fraying.
And there you go - a simple Notebook-&-Pencil Holder! I hope this tutorial was easy to follow and understand.
Variations include making a patchwork cover (rather than using one piece of fabric), or converting the holder into a pencil roll by shortening its length and width, sewing pencil pockets all across the width, and attaching both pieces of ribbon to one side only so that it can be tied around the roll.
Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the instructions or any feedback on improvements. And please let me know if you do end up making one - I’d love to see it!!!
Jhoanna this notebook and pencil holder is a wonderful idea and you have done a beautiful job, thank you so much for sharing it with us with your excellent tutorial!!
what a wonderful gift idea! i can’t wait to make this someday. thanks so much for the tutorial. and hey, if it works for you (your barbaric sew ways) then it’s all good ;0) x
Thank you Jhoanna. The tutorial look great, it’s so generous of you to take the time to post it.
It looks great! Thanks for posting such clear instructions!
this is so nice!
thanks for the tips!
;D
kisses
glá
Very cool - would work great for crochet hooks and dpn knitting needles too. Wonderful step by step tutorial!
this is awesome.. thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this, it looks wonderful! I’m going to have a go at making one of these. Thanks!
Awesome tutorial, thanks for taking the time to post it!
Thank you ;) your pictures are great, I’m so visual I definitely needed this.
Hi Jhoanna,
What a very nice idea for a gift! Thanks for the tutorial, it explains everything.
I haven’t made it yet, but I think I will someday!
[...] Mappe für Notizbuch und Stifte [...]
A fantastic tutorial. Very clear and easy to follow. It reminded me of the knitting needle and crochet hook holders I made many years ago. I have been inspired to make several notebook holders after seeing this page.
[...] Mappe für Notizbuch und Stifte [...]
[...] How to Make a Notebook & Pencil Holder Read More Post a [...]
This is wonderful - I am going to go and knock one up right now.
Jhoanna thankyou so much for this tutorial - I have just made one (a very quick attempt - but still cute all the same) Pics in my blog and it is alot smaller than your measurements but made for a quick cute little gift!
i didnt understand this lol n i really wnated to make one sorry
Thanks so much for the fab tutorial! I’ve just made one and plan on creating more soon,
Cheers
Melx
it’s very cool I like this……:-);)
THIS IS SO GREAT! And I love the fabrics you chose. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! This will make a GREAT gift for my 7yd dd. She LOVES to write!
Pretty nice forum, wants to see much more on it!
http://srubibablo.com
Forgive that beside You was little ed!
Very nice! I make the “roll” that you mentioned for color crayons. I use the 24 box of crayons with 12 facing each other which is then folded over each other and rolled and tied with a ribbon. Using bright, fun patterns for kids makes them enjoyable for the kids! Great “grandma” gifts for birthdays and Christmas. I plan on trying your pattern also. Thanks for the great idea. If this is a project you want to sell, buy your crayons when they are marked down for school supplies in late summer.
Great idea. Thank you!
Jhoanna, I was wondering if it would be okay to make some of these to sell at our school fair next year? All proceeds go to the school…but I do understand if you prefer it not to be used in that manner.
Melx
I love you’re tutorial. I will make a whole bunch of them soon. Some friends will get them, with a graditude of life journal inside. The perfect gift for them. Thank you so much.
Dear Jhoanna,
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I an going to make this for my sister-in-laws birthday present this week!
I found your site from the Sew,Mama,Sew website! I am inspired to make this! You did a great job putting this together!
God bless,
Elaine
Excellent tutorial! I’ll get to work :)
Hi! Great tutorial. I am trying to make one of these for my daughter. Can you tell me what size an A5 notebook is? I am trying to make one for her to hold an 8.5 x 11 notebook, and trying to calculate the new dimensions! Thanks! :)
Very cute and neat idea! Thanks for sharing! :)
Johanna,
First I need to say I love your stuff and your website! Sooo cute!
I used your idea for the book cover for a gift for my little sister. I made a book bag for her and thought the book cover is a perfect accessory for it! Thanks again for sharing!
Eranah
PS One day I will make a doll!
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh284/eranah_2008/Portfolio.gif
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh284/eranah_2008/Bag.gif
here are links to pics for the above comment.
This is fantastic! I will definitely be making one of these to take with me to college..it would be perfect for my art classes. Thanks for sharing!
I’m going to make my mom one of these with a space for a ruler and several kinds of art pencils for her idea-book. Maybe with a matching bag for library art books…
Found you by way of Sew, Mama, Sew, which was mentioned on Simple Mom.
Thanks!
Wonderful tutorial! Unfortunately I’m of the generation from the USA that was not taught the metric system. I’ll get my daughter to assist with the measurements to convert to inches. Could you please provide the dimensions of the “A5 notebook”, this is not something standard in the USA. Thanks for your generosity.
Thank you for sharing :)
Wow! Your post is over 2 years old and still going strong! I love, love this idea and thank you so much for sharing it.
Thank you so much for sharing, I´ve just found your blog and I am excited reading so many great things, ideas, colorful stuff, congratulations!!!!
Thanks!,
i am so thrilled to find your web site, by accident. i appreciate so much your sharing photos and patterns. i am new at this and have so many of my own ideas, but you have given me the spark to go for it. i live in a very small town in maine. we have had three people in our family with cancer and this is how i deal with it. thanks again
..hey this is so cool..tnx 4 this wonderful idea,,i will do this and present as my project in t.l.e,,,and i love the color and the name…”c.j”,,tnx,,,
thanks for the great tutorial! I’m going to make up one of these for my girl’s birthday — she’ll LOVE it! I think rather than the notebook, I’ll slide a clipboard with a flat-ish clippy part in there, so I can use plain paper or printed out coloring sheets. For the young set, I think it’ll get more mileage that way. Thanks again for taking the time to put up the tutorial! Cheers!
I LOVE IT..
MY DAUGHTER IS 4 YEARS OLD, THIS WILL BE HER FIRST YEAR FOR SCHOOL… I WAS LOOKING TO SO SOMETHING FOR THE STUDENTS AND THIS IS A GREAT GIFT… THANK YOU SO MUCH…. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEA TAHT I CAN CREAT FOR THE CHILDREN I WILL SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU.. :)
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Thanks for sharing your pencil holder and notebook pattern. This is a great idea!
Thank you very much for the idea!
I going to sew that for my new course. The best greetings to Melbourne from the Black Forest.
Two years ago we visited this lovely city and enjoyed it so much.
Christiane