{OrganizedHome} Day 7: DIY pocket Organizer

[This is day 7 in a 31 day series called 31 days to an Organized Home. Enjoy!]

Originally this wasn't supposed to be a blog post all it's own. I was just going to buy a pocket organizer, cut it down to size, plunk it on the door of the sink cabinet and include it in my kitchen tour.  But...

Those things cost, like, 20 bucks!  For something I was going to cut up!? No way!

So there I was, standing in the hardware store with a cart full of children, saying to my husband "I could make this for way cheaper."

Now you need to know that this is soooo backwards. Because it is almost always him who says this. Every time I'm drooling over a piece of furniture, or decorative items, or pretty much anything made out of wood, metal or stone, my husband will scoff at the price tag and say something akin to I could make this for 3 bucks out of scrap lumber and pure testosterone...

And I tease him about it.  I say things like, Yeah?...with all that free time you have?

So when I stood there with a cart full of children and said that I could make this for cheap my husband raised an eyebrow and gave me a look and said it.

Yeah?  With all that free time you have?

I tell you this because I want you to know that this really is a simple project.  You can whip one of these up before the baby wakes up from her nap.  And you can do it with three bucks and pure estrogen...um, or not.

Start with a piece of sturdy fabric cut to the size you want.  I cut mine from a drop cloth.  Draw lines dividing it into equal columns and rows the size you want your pockets to be.

Cut some sort of plastic material into strips almost as high as your rows and about one and a half times as long. 

I used something my construction worker husband calls "poly" and I couldn't tell you what it's for if my life depended on it.  But you could use whatever you've got.  You could cut apart the bag your duvet came in, or you could use a mesh material or just some pretty fabric. Sew bias tape along the top edges.

(NOTE: after consulting my husband I discovered the stuff I used is also called 6 mil vapor barrier.  Still have no idea what it's really for....)

Now start pinning the  plastic to the fabric, leaving a little fold or two in each section so that the pocket won't lay so flat that you can't put things in it. (this is why the strip started out longer than the fabric) 

Once you have all your rows pinned in place, start sewing. Sew along the bottom of each row, and then the edges of the organizer and down the columns.  Use the lines you drew at the start as a guide.

And then zig-zag stitch around all the outside edges to help keep them from fraying.  I originally intended to sew bias tape all around the outside, but my helper was getting impatient and giving me a look...

Fold under the top of the organizer and sew a channel to hold a piece of dowel.

Add some loops and hang.

 
Thanks for stopping by The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking.  Happy Organizing!