How To Make A Journal Pen Holder

I am extremely excited to share this DIY with you guys! Not too long ago, I received an email from Tiny Prints and they were able to give me a lot of inspiration from their website; inspiration can honestly come from anywhere. While browsing, I came across their personalized notebooks and challenged myself to think of how I could incorporate sewing with stationery. Slowly but surely, this idea finally popped into my head!

I know one of my biggest pet peeves is not having a pen around when I need one or having to search really hard in my bag for one. Here's the solution: a journal pen holder! You just simply wrap it around the cover of your book and you'll have something to write with wherever you go! Many journals are similar in size so this accessory can easily be reused. Below, I have two variations you can make.

What you will need:

• Sturdy fabric (I used twill)
• Thread
• Elastic
• Your journal/book

1. Cut out a rectangular piece of fabric with these measurements:
Length: the length of your book + an additional 3cm / 1" (ex. my book was 18cm so I cut out a length of 21cm)
Width: 8cm / 3 1/4"

Additionally, cut out another rectangular piece that is 8cm by 8cm / 3 1/8" by 3 1/8"

2. Fold the largest rectangular piece lengthwise in half with the right sides touching. Fold the smaller rectangle in half as well, right sides touching. Sew the folds together as close as you can to the raw edges. Flip the two pieces inside out. Iron them flat.

3. Take your smaller rectangle and center it on the rectangular strip, as shown below. Depending on how large your journal is, you can position this rectangle higher or lower on the strip. I went around 5cm / 2" down from the top. Sew the smaller piece to the longer strip straight down the middle.

4. Take the raw edges and tuck them in. Tuck them in until about a little less than 1cm / 1/2" is sticking out from the sides. Sew the tucked ends to the edge of the long strip. It should bulge out slightly so that it can fit your pens nicely.

5. Tuck the ends of your long strip of fabric until the length of the strip matches the length of your book. Cut a piece of elastic that is the exact same length as your book. Put one end of the elastic into the top opening of the rectangular strip and sew it shut. Repeat with the bottom opening.

6. Put your pens in, wrap the elastic around the cover of your book and voila, you're done!



7. Basically, repeat all the steps above except you need to cut out an extra piece of fabric for the small pocket. Cut out a rectangle that is 12cm by 6cm / 4 3/4" by 2 3/8". Fold it in half so that the longer of the two dimensions gets halved (becomes 6cm by 6cm / 2 3/8" by 2 3/8") with right sides touching; sew the fold down.

8. For the pocket, sew it down after you have completed step 5 from before. Place the pocket piece so that it starts at the very bottom of the rectangular strip. Tuck in the ends of the pocket piece until it matches up with the edge of the long piece (EDIT: it originally said to have the fabric stick out but I realized having it aligned is better). Sew only the bottom edge and the two side edges to the rectangular strip.

What I like about this second version of the pen holder is that you can use it multiple ways:
- Stick the pens into the separator and the pocket
- Only stick the pen into the separator and use the pocket to store sticky notes, paper clips, etc
- Only stick the pen into the pocket without the separator

The versatility of this accessory is that it can also double as a bookmark or an elastic to hold your journal shut!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! :)