No Guts Boxie Pouch...

This bag is a prototype for a project one of my sons and I are working on. I've made plenty of fabric baskets, drawstring bags. tote bags and even Easter baskets, all with boxed corners, but I've never combined boxed corners with a zip.

Rather than spending the time to work it out, I looked for a tutorial and came up with the No Guts Boxie Pouch, a free tutorial on Craftsy. This was my first download from Craftsy. You need to create an account to sign in and download anything. I've only had a quick look around, but it looks like there's a wealth of free tutorials and patterns, as well as patterns you can pay for and even classes to take. (No, I'm not being paid or sponsored.) What I really liked, were the reviews under each tutorial!

The reviews for the No Guts Boxie Pouch were all positive, however, a couple of the reviewers said they had a few problems with the instructions... nothing major, so I thought I'd give it a go. 

I also found one section of the instructions in particular was not totally clear... after inserting the zipper and before making the boxed corners. The pictures didn't help, either, as the stitching was not visible. Eventually I worked it out, without any unpicking being necessary. In retrospect, I can see what was meant, and it's really quite easy to do, however, I felt that the directions weren't specific enough. 

Once past that section, the instructions were easy to follow and the pouch came together quite quickly.

I'm not sure if I mis-measured the tabs, but you can see from the photos that mine are not long enough to grab while pulling the zip. One other reviewer also had this problem.

The instructions for inserting the zipper were very clear and easy to follow. Because of the construction of the bag, there's no worrying whether the ends of the zip will sit correctly or not either.

Even though the instructions said to use a lightweight interfacing, I went for a medium weight. With either a light weight or medium weight, this makes a very soft bag which is easy to fold up when not in use. For the purposes of taking photos, I put some towels inside the bag, even though it does stand by itself. 

I'm very pleased with how this little bag has turned out. It's fully lined and so there's no seams showing inside.

Would I use the tutorial again? Yes, I would. Working from this prototype, my son and I have worked out a few changes to the next bag. We just have to do the Maths to make the bag a different size. 

Funnily enough, my adult son doesn't want this particular bag. The kids will be scoring this one.

My No Guts Boxie Pouch will be joining the 100+ bags already added to the Purses, Clutches and Pouches link party.

... Pam