Eco-Activity: DIY Cutlery Pouch

You’ve got your reusable bottle, your reusable grocery bags and you’re on your way to saying “so long” to all single-use plastics. But you’ve run into a problem: your reusable cutlery is rolling around in your bag and getting all gross. Sounds like you could use an awesome DIY cutlery pouch! 

Check out the instructions below, or follow along with this video.

Here’s what you need:

• A big piece of scrap fabric
• Something to draw with that won’t show through the fabric, like a pencil
• Needle and thread
• Button (optional)

Here’s how to make it:

1. Cut two rectangular pieces out of your fabric. Make sure they are longer and wider than your cutlery set. The bigger the better as you can always cut off the extra fabric
2. Put the two nice sides of your fabric together so you’re looking at the plain side. Place your cutlery set on the fabric, leaving a few inches at the top. Draw a box around the sides and along the bottom
3. Sew up the sides and bottom using the box as your guide. Keep about a half an inch of fabric around the outside and trim off the rest.
4. Flip your fabric inside-out so that the nice side is facing outwards, and put your cutlery in to make sure it fits
5. Fold the top part of your fabric over the cutlery. This will be the flap that keeps your pouch closed. Make a mental note of where the flap meets the rest of the pouch
6. Take your cutlery out, and sew a button onto the pouch in a spot that will connect with the flap.
7. Cut a small hole in the flap that lines up with the button. Make sure it’s big enough for the button to fit through snugly
8. Put your cutlery set inside, close and fasten your pouch, and voila! Stash your pouch in your bag to make sure you never need single-use plastic cutlery again!

The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog. Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!