DIY Notebook Pen Holder | Easy Sewing Tutorial for Beginners!

Hello, crafty friends! 👋

If you’re like me, you probably have a few notebooks, planners, or journals floating around your desk, always in need of a little extra organization. Well, today I’m going to show you how to make a DIY notebook pen holder that’s perfect for storing your pens, bookmarks, and even a nail file! It’s simple, functional, and adds a bit of personality to your stationery setup. 🖊️📓

Whether you’re a bullet journaler, a planner enthusiast, or someone who loves to stay organized with cute and practical DIYs, this easy sewing project is perfect for you.

In today’s post, I’ll walk you through the steps to make your very own notebook holder, along with some fun customization ideas! And, as always, you can follow along with the full tutorial on my YouTube channel (see the video below).

Why I Made This Notebook Holder

Last year, I started using a bullet journal to help organize my thoughts, plans, and daily tasks. But something was always missing—a pen holder that I could keep with my notebook! I kept misplacing pens and bookmarks and needed a solution to keep everything together. So, I decided to make this cute notebook holder that would not only hold my pens but could also store bookmarks and even a nail file for a little personal touch. It’s simple, functional, and a perfect DIY project for anyone who loves to craft and stay organized!

Supplies You’ll Need for This DIY Notebook Pen Holder

Before we dive into the project, let’s gather our supplies. Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 fabric pieces – 8.5" x 3" (for the front and back of the holder)
  
  

• 1 piece of interfacing – 8.5" x 3" (for the back piece)
  
  

• 1 fabric piece – 11" x 3" (for the pocket)
  
  

• 1 piece of interfacing – 11" x 3" (for the pocket)
  
  

• Elastic – About 11" of 5/8" to 1" wide foldover or regular elastic (depending on your notebook size)
  
  

• Coordinating thread
  
  

• Fabric scissors, pins or clips, ruler, iron, and of course, a sewing machine
  
  

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Instructions

Step 1: Cut Your Fabric and Interfacing

Start by cutting out your fabric and interfacing pieces. For the main holder, cut two 8.5" x 3" pieces for the front and back. For the pocket, cut one 11" x 3" piece of fabric and one piece of interfacing the same size.

Step 2: Apply the Interfacing

Apply the interfacing to the back piece and the pocket piece. This gives your notebook holder a bit more structure and durability.

Step 3: Fold the Pocket and Mark the Center

Now, fold the pocket piece in half, wrong sides together, and press the fold. Then, fold it in half again to find the center, and mark it with pins at both the top and bottom.

Step 4: Attach the Pocket to the Front

Pin the pocket to the front piece of the holder, aligning the bottom edges. Make sure the center of the pocket matches the center of the front piece.

Optional Step: To create a divided pocket for extra storage, sew a straight line down the center of the pocket. This is great for keeping pens and bookmarks separated!

Step 5: Add the Elastic

Cut a piece of elastic about 11" long (depending on your notebook size) and align it with the center of the pocket and front piece. Baste the elastic along the bottom of the pocket and the top of the front piece. Pin it out of the way for now.

Step 6: Sew the Holder Together

Pin the back piece to the front + pocket piece, right sides together. Sew around the edges, leaving a 3-4" opening to turn the holder right side out.

Step 7: Finish the Project

Clip the corners to reduce bulk, then carefully turn the holder right side out. Use a turning tool (or even a chopstick) to push out the corners. Give the edges a quick press with your iron (but don’t iron the elastic!). Finally, topstitch around the edge at 1/8" to secure everything in place.

One of the best things about this project is that you can personalize it however you like! Use fabric that matches your style or the theme of your planner or journal. You can also change the pocket size, add embroidery, or make it a little longer to hold more pens.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try adding a divided pocket by sewing a straight line down the middle, which will help you organize pens and bookmarks even better!

I hope you love making this DIY notebook pen holder as much as I did! It's the perfect project for beginners and anyone looking to add a little organization to their workspace. Let me know how yours turns out in the comments below—I can’t wait to see your creative versions! 😊

If you enjoyed this project, be sure to share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel for more DIY tutorials. I’ve got plenty of fun and easy projects coming your way!

Watch the Full Video Tutorial

For a more detailed guide, check out my YouTube video where I walk you through each step of the process. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more easy DIY tutorials!

Watch the full video tutorial here: https://youtu.be/PjdAQKjvEJw

The Ultimate Fabric Organization Guide: How to Store & Track Your Fabric Stash + Free Printable Swatch Card!

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Ultimate Fabric Stash Organization Guide

If you love sewing, you probably have a fabric stash that’s grown over time—maybe even out of control! But having an organized fabric collection saves time, reduces waste, and prevents you from buying fabric you already have. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to declutter, organize, and store your fabric stash so you can easily find what you need for your next project. Plus, I’ve created a free downloadable fabric swatch card to help you keep track of your fabric details!

📌 Watch the full tutorial on YouTube! → https://youtu.be/dbzIbYajqKs

📌 Download the FREE Fabric Swatch Card → https://bit.ly/3DgqgTs

Step 1: Declutter & Sort Your Fabric

Before organizing, take everything out and sort through your collection. Ask yourself:
✔ Do I love this fabric? If you don’t see yourself using it, consider donating or repurposing it.
✔ Do I have enough for a project? Small fabric cuts might be better for scrap projects.
✔ Is it still in good condition? Get rid of fabric that’s damaged or deteriorating.

💡 What to do with unwanted fabric:

• Donate to local sewing groups, schools, or charities.
• Sell or swap with fellow sewists online or at craft meetups.
• Repurpose into scrap-friendly projects like quilt blocks, hair accessories, or doll clothes.

Once you’ve decluttered, sort your fabric into categories:
🧵 By fabric type (cotton, fleece, knit, canvas, etc.)
🎨 By color (I love organizing in rainbow order—it makes it easy to find what I need at a glance!)
📏 By project or yardage (Keep fabrics set aside for specific projects together.)

Step 2: Folding & Storing Fabric Efficiently

To keep my fabric neatly stored and easy to see, I use comic book boards as folding guides. This method creates uniform fabric "bolts" that can be stored on a shelf, in bins, or in a dresser.

🛍 Get Comic Book Boards Here: Amazon Storefront

Storage Solutions:

📚 Bookshelves – My preferred method! However, after my move, two of my bookcases broke. While I plan to replace them eventually, for now, I’m using:
🗂 Bins & Drawers – Flexible bins work well for lightweight fabrics, while thicker fleece and sweater knits go in a dresser. Tip: Avoid overloading dressers (especially IKEA ones) to prevent sagging!

💡 Alternative storage ideas:

• Fabric organizers with dividers
• Hanging organizers for small cuts
• Clear bins for easy visibility

Step 3: Keep Track with Fabric Swatch Cards

Ever forget why you bought a fabric or how much you have? I’ve been there! That’s why I created a Fabric Swatch Card to track:
✔ Fabric type, width, and yardage
✔ Pre-washed status
✔ Purchase details
✔ Project plans & notes

You can clip the cards to fabric, store them in a binder, roll them up in the fabric, or keep them in a drawer for reference.

📌 Download the FREE Fabric Swatch Card → https://bit.ly/3DgqgTs

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

With your fabric stash organized, you’ll save time, money, and frustration when planning sewing projects! 🎉

✨ Coming Soon: I’m working on a Fabric Scrap Busting Series to help you use up every last bit of fabric—stay tuned for fun projects!

📌 Watch the full tutorial on YouTube! → 🧵 The BEST Fabric Organization System! Track & Store Fabric
📌 Shop my favorite organizing supplies! → Amazon Storefront
📌 Check out my nail polish featured in my video! → A.V.A. Lacquer

💬 How do you organize your fabric stash? Let me know in the comments, and tag me on Instagram or Facebook @DIYwithAshley if you try these tips—I’d love to see your beautifully organized collection! 💕

Meal Planning Recipe Binder + FREE PRINTABLE | Create & Organize Your Recipe Binder

 This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you! Thank you in advance for helping to support DIY with Ashley.

Create and Organize a Meal Planning Recipe Binder + FREE PRINTABLE

Over the last 15 years, I’ve been collecting recipes from family, friends, cookbooks, and countless online sources. Ten years ago, I started meal planning to streamline my busy life as a mom and save both time and money. One of the most helpful tools in my kitchen has been my 3-ring recipe binder—a simple, customizable system that keeps my recipes organized and easily accessible. Whether you're just starting your recipe collection or have a pile of clippings that need organizing, this step-by-step guide will help you set up your own recipe binder.

Watch my YouTube tutorial here:

Why a Recipe Binder?

With all the recipe apps and digital tools out there, you might wonder why I prefer a physical binder. Here’s why it works so well:

• Customizable: You can organize it however you like, whether by meal type, cuisine, or cooking time.
• Easy to Update: You can easily add or remove pages without disrupting the whole system.
• Hands-On: I love flipping through my recipes while meal planning or cooking—there's something about a physical binder that makes it feel more personal.
• Family-Friendly: It’s a great tool to pass down recipes to your kids, share with family, or hand off to your spouse or babysitter when needed.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

To start, you'll need:

• A 3-ring binder: Choose a size that fits your collection. A 1.5-inch binder is great for a modest collection, while a 2-3 inch binder works better for larger collections. I use this binder: Avery Heavy-Duty 1.5" Inch 3 Ring Binder (Mint).
• Clear sheet protectors: These protect your recipes from spills and make it easy to swap out pages. I use these clear sheet protectors like these: Amazon Basics Clear Sheet Protectors for 3 Ring Binder.
• Dividers: Use tabbed dividers to create sections. I recommend starting with at least 8-10 dividers. I use these clear tabbed dividers: Samsill 8 Tab Recipe Dividers/Recipe Sleeves.
• Labels: If you're not using the divider/recipe sleeves, you can use page tabs for each section. You can use printed or handwritten labels like these: Avery Printable Self-Adhesive Plastic Tabs or 
  Avery Margin Ultra Tabs 
• Hole punch: If you don’t plan to use sheet protectors, a hole punch will be necessary for inserting your recipes directly into the binder. You can use one like this one: Amazon Basics 3 Hole Punch.

Step 2: Decide on Categories

Think about how you naturally search for recipes. Do you look for breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas? Or maybe you prefer to break things down by cuisine (Mexican, Italian, etc.) or meal type (soups, salads, desserts)?

Here are some category ideas to get you started:

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Appetizers
• Soups & Stews
• Salads
• Side Dishes
• Main Dishes (you can break these into subcategories like Poultry, Beef, Vegetarian, etc.)
• Desserts
• Drinks
• Seasonal (or Holiday) Recipes
• Family Recipes

  

Click here to access the printable coversheets. 

You can always refine these categories as you add more recipes to your collection. I've created coversheets and and a table of contents that you can use for dividers your recipe binder. 

Step 3: Sort Your Recipes

Before adding recipes to your binder, lay them out in piles based on your categories. Take this time to decide which ones you still love and use, and let go of those you haven’t made in years or know you’ll never try again. Trust me, it feels great to declutter!

Once you have your piles organized by category, it’s time to insert them into the binder. For printed recipes, slip each one into a sheet protector, or punch holes in the pages and add them directly to the binder.

Step 4: Add New Recipes as You Go

One of the biggest benefits of a recipe binder is how easy it is to update. As you try new recipes and find keepers, print them out and add them to your binder. If a recipe no longer sparks joy or you find a better version, simply remove or replace it. I like to do a quick refresh every few months, especially before the holidays, to keep things current.

Step 5: Use It in Your Meal Planning

Since I’ve been meal planning for 10 years, my recipe binder is integral to my weekly routine. When I sit down to plan our meals for the week, I flip through the binder to get inspiration, making note of the ingredients I’ll need for each recipe. This not only helps me stay organized but also cuts down on food waste since I only buy what I plan to cook.

Bonus Tips

• Use a separate binder for meal planning: I keep a smaller binder where I store past meal plans, grocery lists, and ideas for future weeks. This makes planning even more efficient!
• Keep a digital backup: I still keep a digital folder of recipes on my computer just in case. It's an easy way to print out replacements for the binder if pages get too worn.
• Involve the family: As a mom, I love getting my kids involved in selecting meals from the binder. It makes them more excited about dinner and helps with the weekly planning.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re just starting out or have a collection of recipes dating back years, organizing them in a 3-ring binder is a game-changer. It keeps your favorite dishes at your fingertips, saves time during meal prep, and simplifies your weekly planning. Plus, there’s something so satisfying about seeing all your culinary treasures neatly organized in one place!

Let me know if you give this method a try or if you have any favorite tips for keeping your recipes organized. Happy cooking and planning!

Reading Pillow

As a child, my mother always encouraged me to read and have an interest in books.  Growing up, reading was one of my favorite hobbies and I could read an entire Goosebumps or Animorphs book in a day.  I knew when I had children that I wanted them to love reading too.  Thankfully my children take after me and they love to read.  

My toddler loved her books so much that she would keep them in her bed and sleep with them.  It wasn't until I changed her bedding that I found the massive stash of books she stored in her pillowcase.  I tried to keep her from keeping books in her bed but it was a losing battle.  Keeping books in her bed wasn't an issue I wanted to fight about so I drafted a quick pattern to make reading pillows with a pocket for her to store her books.  

   

To make your own reading pillow, here are the supplies you'll need:   

• 1 yard of 44" wide fabric
• 3/4 yard of fusible fleece
• Fabric scissors or a rotary cutter
• Sewing pins
• Sewing machine
• Coordinating thread
• Acrylic ruler
• Cutting mat
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Hem guide
• 16" x 16" pillow form

Pro tip: Wash your fabric before you cut your pattern pieces.

After you washed your fabric, you'll cut out the following pattern pieces.

To watch how I sewed the pillow you can watch my YouTube tutorial, which repeats the information provided in this blog post and shows you the step by step how to make your own reading pillow.

If you use this tutorial, don't forget to share your creations @diywithashley

Thanks for stopping by!!!

DIY Makeup Brush Travel Holder

Last-minute before my trip to NYC I decided that I needed a makeup brush holder so my brushes wouldn't get damaged.  I didn't have time to shop around or go look for fabric so I used scraps from a dress project.     

This is a beginner-friendly project that you can easily sew in an hour!  You can easily use this tutorial to make a pencil roll if you're an artist or you have a mini artist in your life.

To get started, here are the supplies you'll need:

•      ½ yard to 1 yard of remnant fabric
•       1⅔yards of lace
•       round template
•       sewing pins
•       hem guide
•       scissors or a rotary cutter
•       matching thread
•       an acrylic ruler and cutting mat
•       iron and ironing board
•       fabric marker
•       and a sewing machine

Next, you'll need to cut the following pattern pieces out of the fabric of your choice.

After you cut your pattern piece, watch my YouTube tutorial to see how to sew your makeup brush roll:

Thank you for stopping by!!!!!  

XOXO,

 Ashley

DIY Envelope Pillow - 2 different ways!

Hi all!  Welcome back to my blog for another tutorial!  Today I'm going to show you how to make envelope pillows.  I'll show you two different ways to make these pillows so you can customize them.  The written instructions are in this blog post and the YouTube video tutorial is at the end of this post.

The first version of this tutorial has a contrasting back.  This version is perfect if you want to use sequin fabric or a panel design.

If you’re making version 1, you’ll need 1/2 to 3/4 yard of each of your fabrics.  If you’re making version 2 you’ll need 1-2 yards of fabric.  The amount of yardage will depend on your pillow size.

The rest of the supplies you’ll need for this DIY are:

• sewing pins
• an acrylic ruler
• a cutting mat
• a rotary cutter or fabric shear (if you’re using sequin fabric, you’ll need strong craft scissors for cutting)
• a hem guide
• an iron
• a pillow form
• a sewing machine
• coordinating thread
• a serger or pinking shears

If you’re making version one with the contrasting front, you’ll need to cut your front piece of fabric 2.5” inches larger than the width and height of your pillow form.  For example, if you have a 16” x 16” inch pillow, you’ll need to cut a square that is 18.5” x 18.5” inches.  

For the back fabric, you’ll need to cut 2 pieces of fabric.  To calculate the width you’ll take the width of your pillow and add 2.5” inches.  To calculate the height, you’ll use the height of your pillow and add 10” inches.  Take this number and divide it in half so you now have the height of the two pieces of fabric.  If we use our 16” x 16” inch pillow, we’ll need to cut two pieces of fabric 18.5” x 13” inches.

Once you have your fabric cut out, you’ll start by creating the hem on the back two pieces.  Using your hem guide, fold over a 1/2” inch on the wrong side and iron.  Then fold over another 1/2” inch and iron again.  You’ll repeat this step on one edge of each of the back envelope pieces.  You can use your sewing pins to pin the hem.  Next, you’ll take your back pieces to your sewing machine and sew 1/8” inch away from the hem edge.

With our back pieces finished, we can begin to assemble the pillow cover.  Start by laying your front piece right side up them layering your back pieces on top, right sides together with the hems in the middle.  The center should overlap about 4” inches.  This overlap is to help keep the back securely over the pillow form.  After you have your fabric arranged, you can start pinning all the way around.  When you’re done pinning, you’ll take your pillow cover to your sewing machine and sew 1/2” inch all the way around the outside.  To finish your pillow cover, you can serge the raw edges or use pinking shears.  Then cut the corners off and turn your cover right side out.  Yay!  You just made an envelope pillow!!!

To make the second version of this envelope pillow, we’ll need to cut out one large piece of fabric.  To determine the width, you’ll take the width of your pillow form and add 2.5” inches.  To calculate the height, you’ll take the height of your pillow form, multiply that number by two and then add 9” inches.  For example, if your pillow form is 24” inches wide, you’ll add 2.5” inches and get 26.5” inches for your width measurement.  If your pillow is also 24” inches high then you’ll multiply that by 2, which gives us 48” inches and then you’ll add 9” inches.  This gives us a height of 57” inches.  Since this is a large piece of fabric, you may want to get 60” inch wide fabric and cut across.  The direction of cut won’t matter for this project unless you have a directional print.

Again, we’re going to start off the same way and iron down our hem at the top and bottom of the fabric.  Using your hem guide, fold over 1/2” inch on the wrong side and iron, then fold over another 1/2” inch and iron that down.  Use your sewing pins to pin the hem.  Sew your hems a 1/8” away from the edge.

After the hems are sewn, we will fold the fabric with the right sides together and the hems overlapping 4” inches in the back.  When you overlap the back, you’ll need to measure and make sure it is exactly in the middle of the back.  This part might be a little tricky, just make sure as your adjust the back overlap to be in the middle, you keep the 4” inch overlap.

Once you have the back centered, you can pin the two edges on the sides then sew them using a 1/2” seam allowance.  Finish off the side seams using a serger or pinking shears and clip the corners before turning the pillow cover right side out.

To make my pillow case fun I used my Circuit and cut out this iron-on a graphic with the lyrics of one of my favorite songs from the musical Hamilton. 

YouTube Video Tutorial: