How to Make a Mini Charm Pack Pouch

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Mini charm packs are probably my favorite type of precut quilting fabric to buy. They might seem silly — after all, you could easily cut your own fabric into 2.5″ squares for a fraction of the cost. However, I find them fun and inspiring.

I find myself wanting to buy pretty much every new collection of quilting fabric that comes out. But there’s no way I can afford that or find room in my stash. Instead, I get my fix by grabbing mini charm packs most of the time. This lets me get my hands on that can’t-live-without-it fabric without ruining my budget.

I have collected a huge stack of mini charm packs. Part of me just likes to admire them on the shelf, but they’re also very fun to sew with.

One of my all-time favorite things to make is mini charm pack pouches. Today I’m going to show you how to make these adorable little quilted bags yourself! They’re really great for carrying around a sock knitting project, makeup, medicine, toiletries, and tons of other stuff. And because they’re so cute, they also make great gifts.

Supplies & Materials

One thing I love about this project is that it doesn’t require a lot of supplies. It’s also a great stash busting quilt project! Here’s what you need:

• One mini charm pack*
• 2 pieces of approximately 10×8″ fabric for lining (I use precut 10″ squares aka layer cakes)
• 9″ zipper. I bought this zipper multi-pack a while back and use them for everything!
• Quilt batting (optional)
• Quilt clips or pins
• Iron & ironing board
• Cutting mat & rotary cutter
• Sewing machine & thread
• Zipper foot

* For the small bag in this tutorial, you will use 36 mini charm squares. You certainly don’t have to use mini charms. As an alternative, you could cut regular charm packs (5″ squares) into fours or use essentially any other kind of fabric you have in your stash or scrap bag.

I order almost all my precut fabric from Green Fairy Quilts. All my recent mini charm packs have come from them.

How to Sew the Pouch

To make this mini charm pack pouch, you will piece together the top before assembling the pouch itself. Here is how to make the pouch step-by-step:

Choosing & Arranging Fabrics

• Choose 15 mini charms for the front of your bag and 15 for the back. Keep these separate from each other so you’re arranging two sets.
• Arrange them 5 across by 3 down, creating a rectangle.
• Next, choose 6 squares that will make up the bottom of the bag.
• Arrange 3 of these pieces below the center 3 columns on the front and back as shown in the picture above.

Piecing the Top Together

• With right sides together, sew the “front” mini charm pieces together horizontally to create strips.
• Press each strip, alternating whether you press the seam up or down so they interlock with each other when piecing the strips together.
• With right sides together, sew the strips together. Then press the seams to one side.
• Repeat with the “back” to create an identical piece.

Cutting Batting & Lining

• On your cutting mat, lay the top over your batting and lining fabric.
• Cut the batting & lining fabric out so it’s the same size as the top.

Quilting the Top

If using batting, I recommend quilting it so the bag has more structure. To do so, lay the top over the batting and use your preferred quilting method. I didn’t want visible stitching on my bag so I simply “stitched the ditch.” This means sewing vertically along the groove where your columns of fabric meet. If you are careful, the stitching will be almost invisible.

Attaching the Zipper

If you have a longer zipper (mine was 16″) you may want to sew on fabric zipper tabs after cutting the zipper to size. You can also sew zipper tabs simply to make the bag more decorative.

• Lay your quilted top face up on the table.
• Lay the zipper face down on the quilted top, lining the edge up with the top edge.
• Lay the lining face down on top of the zipper. The lining and quilted top will be right sides together.
• Carefully pin or clip along the edge, making sure everything is sandwiched together neatly.
• I recommend unzipping the zipper a few inches before you start sewing. Sew up to this point, cut the thread, and re-zip the zipper up to the top. This keeps the toggle out of the way. Then resume sewing down the length of the seam.

With the zipper attached to one side of the bag, you will now repeat the “sandwiching” process on the other side.

• Take the top with the zipper attached and fold it so that the zipper edge is sticking out and the lining fabric is aligned with the quilted top.
• Lay your other quilted top face up on the table.
• Lay the zipper edge along the top edge of the piece on the table. The quilted tops will be right sides together with the zipper lined up along the edge of the un-sewn top.
• Finally, place the other liner fabric face down (right sides together) on top of the lining fabric facing you.
• Carefully pin or clip along the edge.
• As with the other side, you can move the zipper toggle halfway through sewing to make it easier on yourself.

Top Stitch along the Zipper

This is optional, but can help make your bag look better. After attaching the zipper to both sides of the bag, you can press the top and lining away from the zipper. Then sew as close as you can to the fabric edge, sandwiching the lining, raw zipper edge, and top together. Repeat on the other side.

Stitching the Side Seams & Bottom

• Place the quilted tops right sides together.
• Pin along the sides and the bottom, leaving the notched corners for now.
• Sew the sides and bottom.
• Grasp the notched corners and pull them apart from each other to create the gussets at the bottom of the bag.
• Pin and sew these seams.

Next you will sew the lining in the same fashion. However, you do not want to sew the bottom all the way across or you won’t be able to turn the bag right side out. When pinning, leave at least 3-4″ of room open along the bottom seam so you can turn the bag.

Hand Stitching the Lining Seam

After sewing the sides and gussets of the lining, turn the bag right side out. The final step is to hand sew the bottom seam of the lining. I like to use an invisible ladder stitch. You can also machine-sew the bottom closed.

You can now turn the pouch right side out and it’s ready to use! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Be sure to subscribe to my channel on YouTube for more videos or follow me on Instagram!