Cute Boxy Makeup Pouch

I've been slacking on the projects lately, but I blame it on poor internet connections, and starting my first week of grad school courses. However, I bought a used sewing table last weekend for my new room and once I get my routine underway, I'll whip up some new things. In the works right now is a jacket- made from a pattern, but a very simple one, so hopefully you'll see that posted soon.

Today's project is just a little one, loosely based on Three Bears' little boxy pouch tutorial, found here. And mostly, today I'd like to extol internet tutorials, which are my favorite way to complete a project. Even if you don't follow it exactly, tutorials can help you with tricky things that a beginner (or anyone, really) might otherwise use the seam ripper on again and again, like the corners on a boxy pouch. There's tutorials for just about any kind of project, and if you're all about avoiding patterns and precise measurements, like me, there's no better way to get ideas. Especially since tutorials are often free.

Three Bears' tutorial is great, especially the tips for sewing zippers, which is usually a major pain, but I did change it a bit. My boxy pouch, which I use to hold makeup, has a light blue lining of a heavier cotton, which I added just by cutting extra pieces and layering them to the outer fabric while I sewed. I thought that the size of fabric used in the tutorial would be too small, so I increased it by something like 75%. This ended up being too big, and the pouch didn't hold its shape that well, so I did some tucking and reshaping on the top to pull in the excess fabric. Mine is thus a shorter and squatter version than the original.

I also stuck a square piece of cardboard in the bottom of mine, which gives it a bit of shape and some more oomph for carrying around all that makeup. Plus it keeps the fabric from getting grungy as fast. And that's it: a great tutorial and a simple project that I use every day!