Belt pouch tutorial

On the rare occasion I post about arts and crafts on this site, on an ever rarer occasion I post about Mommy crafts, which usually means sewing because I like to sew. This is that blue moon where I share a sewing tutorial, today it’s a belt pouch, and you’ll get a small glimpse into the craziness of my mind.

A bit of fashion history: what is a belt pouch?

A belt pouch is a small bag worn on your belt.  This ensured thieves could not steal it from you, and was before pockets became common.

Then people started having pockets, paper money became more common, so belt pouches weren’t needed.

Then in the 1980s fanny packs were introduced.  They were a horrible amalgam of several things and just looked awful.

Now, belt pouches seem to be relegated to costumes and Renaissance Festivals.  I’ve got about 4 of them, and they are immensely useful, because I can’t accidentally leave my belt pouch behind.

 

Belt pouch supplies

scrap paper for designing the pattern

fabric scraps (approximately 1/4 yard, or a fat quarter)

8 inch zipper

sew in velcro

 

Making your belt pouch pattern

First decide on the size of your pouch.  I wanted my kids’ pouches to hold a mini-water bottle, a couple of protein bars, and their wallet.  I also wanted it slightly tapered and to be gusseted,  wider at the bottom than the top, I’ve learned this is best for holding the most stuff efficiently.

Now using a straight edge draw out the top and bottom of your pouch, ours is about 6 inches tall, 4 inches wide at the top, and 6 inches tall at the bottom.  I connected the two lines with a straight edge, and then traced around a plate to get a rounded corner at the bottom.

Then I folded my pattern in half and cut it out to ensure it was equally balanced.

Cutting out the belt pouch pieces

cut out a back belt pouch piece

cut out an 8×4 inch rectangle (top front piece)

cut out an 8×8 inch square (bottom front piece)

cut out a 2×24 inch rectangle for the side gusset

cut out 2 2×5 inch rectangles (belt loops)

cut out a 4×5 rectangle (front pocket)

Sewing your belt pouch

Hem your belt loops by folding under 1/4 inch and sewing around them, then place your belt loops on your back belt pouch piece about 1.5-2 inches below the top, sew the top and bottom to the back belt pouch piece.

Iron under 1/4 inch hem on the top front piece and do the same for the back front piece, and attach the zipper however you feel comfortable.

Trace the shape of the belt pouch onto your pieces sewn together.  Sew over the zipper inside your cutting line so the zipper pull cannot come off as you are putting your bag together (make sure the zipper pull is inside the sewing lines).

Once you have secured the zipper cut out your front belt pouch piece.

My kids’ wallets are about 4×3 inches, so I needed a front pocket about 5×4 inches.  I made a rectangle about that size, and hemmed the top while sewing the soft side of the velcro to it (to save on space I cut my velcro in half along the length to make it narrower).  Iron under the remaining three sides, and set the pocket aside for a moment.  Sew the hook side of the velcro to the front of the belt pouch, and attach the soft side of the velcro to it.  Now sew the remaining three sides of the pocket to the front of the belt pouch.  If you’re worried about edges fraying I would zig-zag over the loose ends or use an iron on stabilizer to cover them (I chose to zig-zag over the whole thing, I wasn’t worried about how it looks).

Now attach your side gusset to the front, right sides together.  I used a half inch seam allowance and sewed around the entire thing, then I zig-zagged inside the seam allowance to finish the hems (if you have a serger this is not necessary, or if you opt to line it).

Repeat and sew the back to the side gusset, right sides together.  Do whatever ironing you wish to make sure seams are flat.  Turn the bag right side out and unzip the zipper.

Now turn the bag inside out and fold in the gussets, then sew the top seams closed, and zig zag over it to finish the raw edges.

Turn your belt pouch right side out through the zipper, and there you have a nice simple belt pouch that probably took you an hour or less to make.