How to Make a Dopp Kit for Your Dapper Dude

You know we’re all about organizing our own beauty essentials, but what about the dudes in our lives? They need a stylish way to carry their toiletries as well. We teamed up with Velcro Industries and JoAnn Fabrics to bring you a next level sewing project: a dopp kit for your dude. This is definitely a step or two above Sewing 101, and is a great way to challenge yourself in that department. We got everything we need at JoAnn’s, making this an easy go-to gift that you should definitely bookmark for the holidays.

Materials:

leather
canvas
VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back for Fabric
thread

Tools:

pins
ruler
sewing machine
scissors
pen
iron

Instructions:

1. Cut out a 12 x 20 inch rectangle from your leather and another (same measurements) from your canvas.

2. Using leather scraps, cut a strip that is about 11 x 1 inch.

3. Pin the strip of leather to the top center part of the canvas. Then alternate pins every 3 to 1 inch until you’ve reached the bottom of the leather strip. Using the sewing machine, sew where you have marked your pins.

4. With the good sides touching, pin and then sew around the outside of the rectangle. Remember to leave an opening to turn the piece right-side out.

5. Turn your piece right-side out and sew the opening hole.

6. Iron and then fold (or measure) your piece in thirds and using pins mark a straight line across. Sew these two lines.

7. Time to make the carry-all bag. Cut out one rectangle that measures 9 x 4 inches and another that measures 26 x 8 inches. This will be the bottom and sides of your bag.

8. Fold the larger rectangle in half and sew the sides together to make a loop. Then pin one edge to the rectangle bottom. Sew together.

9. Fold and pin the top of the bag over to create about a half inch hem, then sew.

10. Turn your bag right-side out and attach VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back for Fabric. We rolled our bag down like a lunch box and attached VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back for Fabric to the front and back side of our toiletry carry-all.

11. Fold your bag into thirds and attach VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back for Fabric in the center to close the bag.

We went with a retro color palette of gray and tan, but you can do any combo you like.

Cut out two rectangles, one from canvas and one from leather. Each rectangle should measure 12 x 20 inches.

Using scrap leather cut out a strip that measures 1 x 11 inches. This piece will be used to hold your toothbrush and other handle held toiletries.

At the top of your canvas piece, find the center and pin the long leather strip in place. Alternate pinning every 1-3 inches down the leather strip. This will create small pockets to hold toothbrushes, razor, etc. Then sew straight lines where you have sectioned off with your pins.

Lookin’ good. Let’s keep going.

Pin the leather and canvas together with good sides facing in. Sew almost all the way around your rectangle, but make sure to leave room to turn your piece right-side out.

Fold, pin, and sew the opening hole. Even though this hole only reached less than half away across the top seam, we continued the top stitch all the way across for aesthetic purposes.

Iron your piece to make sure the edges are as crisp as possible. Then fold into thirds and mark straight lines with pins. You can also measure this portion but we found it easier to just see where the fabric naturally folds. Once you have pinned your two lines, sew a top

These top stitches anchor the two fabrics together so its easier to fold and use.

Time to make a small carry all for the bottom section. Measure and cut two rectangles. One that is 9 x 4 inches and one that is 26 x 8 inches. These rectangles will be the bottom and sides of your bag.

Fold the long rectangle in half and sew to create a cylinder shape. The pin and sew the small rectangle to the bottom. This is a bit tricky. Remember to anchor your needle into the corner, pick up the presser foot, and rotate the fabric 45 degrees to get squared corners.

Hem the top of your bag. Fold about 1/2 inch over and sew with a relatively small seam allowance.

This carry all is lunch box inspired. That means we rolled down the top, just like how you would roll down a brown paper bag. We used VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back for Fabric in two places, once to secure the roll, and once to secure the bag to the overall dopp kit. This will make the bag easily removable if you are just doing a quick overnight trip and don’t need all your other toiletries.