Twin Boxy Bags

When I discovered a tutorial for boxy pouches on Pink Stitches via Crazy Mom Quilts, it suddenly occurred to me how much I have always wanted to make a boxy pouch like this. So naturally I made two! My twin nieces start kindergarten at the end of August, and I had already been planning some sort of beginning of the school year package, and these totes are just perfect for school supplies!

This pink fabric has appeared in two other projects: a Cathedral Window ornament, and my fabulous hexie turtle. It was just perfect because it's matching fabric, but, with the way it is cut, the bags are noticeably different. I used the alphabet stitch on my machine to stitch the girls' names on the handle of the bags, but the pink thread isn't dark enough to make it stand out very much. I was glad the names ended up oriented properly on the outside of the bags! I added some ribbon and beads for a cute little zipper pull.

I started with 8" x 13" panels to make the smaller bag. The end of the pouches turned out more rectangular than square, but that is not a problem. I quilted the exterior panels, but I opted not to use interfacing, as I don't usually and didn't have any. The lining ended up not being as snug as I would have liked, so I picked up some interfacing for the next one to see if that helps the problem. 

Finished size: 3" x 4" x 8.5"