Little Monster Earbud Pouch - Free Sewing Pattern

This little monster earbud pouch is just adorable! It's easy to sew using my free sewing pattern. Great for back-to-school!

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Back when I was a kid, school supply shopping meant a shopping cart full of crayons and notebooks and packs of paper.  These days, in addition to the crayons and notebooks, you’ll often find a USB drive or pair of earbuds on the school supply list.  Schools have changed!  These little bits of tech make it easy for kids to save documents they’ve created on school computers, or listen to recordings in music class or language classes. 

But here’s the thing….  These small gizmos tend to get lost easily.  I know this because it’s happened to us sooo many times!  And usually we don’t discover it till we’re walking out the door, or needing to print out a document the night before it’s due.  School mornings are hard enough without a last minute electronics crisis!

What you need is a little pouch to keep those earbuds safe and sound!

My Little Monster Earbud Pouch is a cute way to keep those earbuds and USB drives from getting lost in the bottom of a backpack or, worse, falling out of a pocket on the playground or school bus. 

I’ve got a tutorial and free sewing pattern for you below!

And for even more back-to-school sewing ideas, see my round-up of some really great back-to-school sewing tutorials.

The little zipper pouch is just big enough to hold a pair of earbuds or USB drive, and has a swivel hook that you can attach to a backpack loop.

I think the monster face is so adorable!  He’s so goofy and lovable with his wonky ears and mismatched eyes!  The zipper makes a funny monster mouth.  I used a black and white stripe for the lining so it kind of looks like teeth when the mouth is unzipped.

Supplies

Main fabric – fat quarter or large fabric scraps

Lining – fat quarter or large fabric scraps

Nylon zipper at least 6 inches long affiliate link Don’t use a zipper with metal teeth!

2 buttons, not matching

2 inch piece of 1” wide twill tape or grosgrain ribbon

1” swivel hook affiliate link

Free pattern

Prep your pieces

Cut out pattern pieces.  The pieces are not symmetrical so pay attention to when you need to “reverse” a piece. 

When you’re cutting the pieces from the fusible fleece, trace the pattern to the non-fusible side of the fleece.

Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the fleece to the backs of the main fabric.

Sew the zipper

Start by making a sandwich with your zipper and the Top Front pieces.  Place the lining piece right side up, then the zipper right side up, and finally the main fabric right side down – with raw edges touching.

Stitch the layers together, using a zipper foot to stitch close to the zipper.

Your zipper will be longer than the fabric pieces.  Just sew it in and let the extra zipper hang off the edge; we’ll trim it later.

Turn right side out and press. Top stitch close to the zipper.

Now let’s sew the Bottom Front pieces to the other side of the zipper.  Place the lining right side up, then the zipper right side up, and finally the main fabric right side down, raw edges touching.  Stitch the layers together with the zipper foot.

Turn right side out and press.  Top stitch close to the zipper.

UNZIP THE ZIPPER at least half way. 

Set your machine to a wide zig zag and a very short stitch length (as you would to create a satin stitch).  Stitch the open ends of the zipper together, 1/8” in from edge of pouch.  Sew at least 3 stitches to make sure it’s good and secure.

Repeat with the closed end of satin stitch.  Now you’ve got temporary zipper stops to keep your zipper pull from coming off the end of the zipper tape.

Trim the zipper tape even with the edges of the pouch.

Sew the Face

To make the eyes, sew the buttons to the Top Front piece, stitching only through the main fabric.  Don’t stitch through the lining.

Thread the twill tape through the end of the swivel hook and bring the ends together, creating a loop.

Place the twill tape (with swivel hook) to the left edge of the pouch ½” above zipper, raw edges aligned and right sides together.  Then, baste in place with a 1/8” seam allowance.

Assemble the earbud pouch

For the Top Front, Bottom Front, and Back pieces, glue baste the main fabric and lining layers together, WST.  The Top Front and Bottom Front pieces are already sewn together along the zipper, but go ahead and glue baste the rest of the pieces.  This will help keep the layers of fabric from shifting when you assemble the pouch.

UNZIP THE ZIPPER MOST OF THE WAY. The final step in this project will have you turn the pouch right side out through this opening, so make sure it's big enough.

Place the Back on the Front pieces, right sides together.  Then, stitch all the way around with 3/8” seam allowance. 

The 3/8” seam allowance is probably a little bigger than you’d expect but it gives some wiggle room when working with lots of layers and tight curves.

Trim seam allowance. Clip curves and corners.  If you have pinking shears, you can use them to clip the curves.  It’ll make it go faster, plus it will help control the fraying on your seam allowances.

Turn right side out.  Press.

Your Little Monster Earbud Pouch is finished!  Look at his goofy little face!!

Be sure to check out my back-to-school sewing round-up for even more school sewing ideas!