Summer is well under way yet it is not too soon to be thinking of back to school sewing. Sewing simple totes, easy backpacks, lunch bags, pencil cases, book covers art smocks, notebook covers and more from fabric leftovers or new novelty fabrics make for effective cost savers.

Consider letting children choose their favorite cotton novelty prints when making back to school items and traditional cotton fabrics for clothing items for those still warm beginning school days.

Children love to be part of the sewing project and giving them a chance to choose a fun fabric and seeing the back to school item come together can be exciting and a great way to encourage a positive experience for the first day back at school.

With warm summer days still ahead it seems odd to be thinking of sewing cooler weather clothing however fabric stores have their fleece fabrics on sale now so making that light weight vest or zippered hoodie becomes a great bargain vs. purchasing retail ready-to-wear.

Back to school items benefit from iron-on or sewn-in clothing identification labels. You can make your own custom clothing labels using iron-on transfers and your inkjet printer or you can purchase them from a variety of online vendors. Usually purchased identification clothing labels are thin and soft, designed to be easy to sew or iron-on , are comfortable to wear and worth the initial investment.

Fold-up Crayon Pouch from blog Nested.

Free Tote Bag Pattern and Tutorial from Mama’s Pocketbook.

Sew You, Sew Fun Backpack from Husqvarna Viking.

Let’s Do Lunch – an insulated lunch bag from SEW News.

Pencil Case Tutorial from blog Ric Rac.

Art Smock for Kids from Martha Stewart Crafts.

Print Your Own Iron-On Transfers from HP.

Sew happy, sew well.

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