Knitting Needle Case

My sister recently took up knitting, and so I decided to make her a handy knitting needle case. It's entirely made of scraps I had in my stash, but I'm happy how the combination turned out.

14" x 9 1/2" main fabric - a heavy weight IKEA print

14" x 9 1/2" lining - a lightweight print with beige and white polka dots

14" x 8" pocket - a pretty polka dot fat quarter remnant

5"x8" outer pocket - same fabric as the outer pocket

14" bias tape

Scraps of pajama elastic

18” piece of ribbon

I started by cutting the pocket fabric at an angle, to accommodate different length needles. For a polished look, I finished the angled edge with bias tape.

The next step was to space the pocket on the lining, as well as the elastic scraps.

I basted the pocket to the lining, and sewed down vertical lines to make individual slots for the different needles.

With a zigzag stitch I sewed down the elastic onto the lining, where it can hold small scissors or other little knitting helpers.

For the outer pocket, I made a double folded hem for the top edge, and ironed the sides and bottom in 1/4" before topstitching to the outer fabric.

Finally, I sewed the lining and outer fabric with right sides together, catching the ribbon in the side seam and leaving a small opening for turning. After pushing out the corners, I topstitched all around, for a more finished look and to close the opening.

French Memo Board

There are many, many different tutorials for French Memo Boards in Blogland, and I wanted to use the simplest method possible. I thought this would be a great gift, both as a vehicle for whimsical mini-gifts (the photos, the ornament, the disco pencil), as well as a useful desk organizer later on.

Materials:
picture frame
1 sheet of felt
1 fat quarter
1 yd of elastic
13 buttons
thread and sticky tape

So I bought a picture frame and layered a piece of felt and a piece of fabric onto the glass. I'd cut the felt to exactly the size of the glass, and the fabric with some overhang. In the absence of a glue gun, I just used sticky tape to glue the fabric overhang to the back side of the glass. No pictures of this as all the files were corrupted!

Then I cut and laid out my pieces of elastic until they were (mostly) evenly spaced, and sewed the ends onto the back side of the fabric with a few small stitches to keep everything in place.

With buttons of the same color, but different shapes and sizes, I attached each "intersection" of elastic to the fabric and felt backing.



Whe all the elastic pieces and buttons were securely in place, it was time to put the glass back into the picture frame.

I was afraid the clamps on the back of the frame might not hold down the glass with the felt and fabric but they worked.
Love the result - this is certainly not the last French Memo Board I'm going to make!
























There are many, many different tutorials for French Memo Boards in Blogland, and I wanted to use the simplest method possible. I thought this would be a great gift, both as a vehicle for whimsical mini-gifts (the photos, the ornament, the disco pencil), as well as a useful desk organizer later on.

Materials:
picture frame
1 sheet of felt
1 fat quarter
1 yd of elastic
13 buttons
thread and sticky tape

So I bought a picture frame and layered a piece of felt and a piece of fabric onto the glass. I'd cut the felt to exactly the size of the glass, and the fabric with some overhang. In the absence of a glue gun, I just used sticky tape to glue the fabric to the back side of the glass.

Then I cut and laid out my pieces of elastic until they were (mostly) evenly spaced, and sewed them onto the back side of the fabric with a few small stitches to keep them in place.

With buttons of the same color, but different shapes and sizes, I attached each "intersection" of elastic to the fabric and felt backing.



With all the elastic and buttons, in place, it was time to put the glass back into the picture frame - and add a sorts of flat objects!

I was afraid the clamps on the back of the frame might not hold down the glass with the felt and fabric but they worked.
Love the result - this is certainly not the last French Memo Board I'm going to make!

Business Card Holder

This handy little business card holder is for my MBA friend, who is constantly attending networking events and handing out her business cards! I wanted to make her something stylish and cute, but at the same time sturdy so her cards won't get bent. It closes with a button, but has an open pocket on the back (of course! since I love outer pockets).

I started out by cutting my fabric and 2 pieces of pretty sturdy cardstock.
Then I made the little outer pocket by folding over one long edge twice and stitching it in place.

With right sides together, I sewed the bottom of the pocket to the outer fabric, stitching down the center of the outer fabric.

Then I folded the pocket up so that the wrong side of the pocket would face the right side of the outer and top stitched the bottom to encase the raw edge.

Next step was the flap, it's just a piece of fabric folded in half and joined wrong sides together. After turning right side out, I made the button hole close to one of the short edges of the flap.

Then, with right sides together and sandwiching the flap between the outer and lining, I joined the two long sides and one short side of the outer and lining pieces, leaving the other short side open for turning.
Time to clip the corners, turn right side out and press!

Then I inserted both pieces of cardboard through the open short side.

The cardboard is what gives the business card holder its stability. Then I folded over the raw edge of the short side twice ,onto the outer fabric, and topstitched it down.

 Finally, I edgestitched the folded business card holder's sides to keep them together, right next to the cardboard. Adding the button was the last step and there it is, sturdy and cute and exactly the right size for business cards, drivers license or credit card!

Jewelry Roll

This one is for my mom.
It´s a little mobile storage solution for jewelry, with from top to bottom:

• a roomy pocket with elastic top
• a zippered pocket
• a mesh pocket that can be used to store stuff inside it, or to hang earrings
• loops for hanging bracelets and necklaces

It all rolls up into a neat roll and can be tied with little straps while en route, and hung from a hook upon arrival!
Materials:

• 8"x16" piece of fabric for outer
• 8"x16" piece of fabric for lining
• 8"x16" piece of interfacing

• for the pleated pocket: 10"x 4.5" piece of fabric and 8" piece of elastic
• for the zip pocket: two 8"x4.5" pieces of fabric and 9" zipper
• for the mesh pocket: 4"x8" piece of mesh and 8" piece of bias tape
• for the loops: 8" piece of bias tape
• for the hanger: 18" piece of bias tape (this is the only bias tape from the outer fabric, all other strips are from the lining fabric)
• for the straps that hold the roll together: 18" piece of bias tape
• for binding: two 16" pieces of bias tape

My first step was to iron the interfacing to the lining. This gives the stability needed to support the weight of the jewelry.
Then I made a drawstring for the loops and basted it across the lining, about an inch up from the bottom.
Stitching vertical lines about an inch apart over the drawstring gave me the loops for hanging necklaces and bracelets. First part completed!

For the mesh pocket,  I sewed bias tape onto one long side of the mesh using a zig zag stitch.
After stitching the bottom part onto the lining, and basting the short sides to the lining peace, I sewed down the vertically to create two pockets. And that was it for the mesh pocket!

The third part was the little zippered pocket.  I sandwiched the zipper between the two pocket pieces to form the outer and lining of the pocket:

After turning right side out and topstitching the zipper,  I basted the pocket with the its outer facing the lining fabric, then flipped it up and topstitched the bottom seam to encase the raw edge and create a neat seam inside and out.

The final step was the pleated pocket on top. I basted the pleats and then stitched the pocket bottom in place right onto the zipper. This seam holds the pleated pocket as well as the zipper in place.

After folding over the top of the elastic pocket about 1/4", I folded over another 1/2" to create a casing for the elastic. This keeps the top of the pocket from gaping despite the roomy bottom.

To assemble the jewelry roll, I joined the outer and lining fabric, right sides together, on the short sides. The drawsting for the handle and closure need to be inserted at that point as well. So I sewed drawstrings out of the bias tape for the hanger and closure. Then I pinned the loop from which the roll will hang to the left and right upper corners of the lining. And the drawstring for the closure is folded in half and the fold is pinned to the upper center of the outer fabric. When sewing the outer and lining together, all of the drawstings are sandwiches between the layers and caught in the seam.

To finish the jewelry roll, I used the remaining two fabric strips and double folded both long sides to encase both unfinished edges. After basting everything in place, I handstitched the fabric strips to 

the lining.

 This is the roll in its transport state. I hope it will get lots of use!

File Folder

 

 This little experiment was a custom order: my sister asked for a stylish folder to transport lose leaves. I decided to go for a paisley fabric with contrasting bias tape.

Materials for a folder that will hold letter sized paper:

• shell and a lining piece of 18.5" x 13" each
• pocket piece 18.5" x 7"
• interfacing 18.5"x 13" 
• bias tape
• elastic for closure

 I cut all pieces with rounded edges as this makes adding the bias tape so much easier. First step was to fuse the interfacing to the shell piece.

Then I prepared the pocket piece by sewing bias tape along one long end and pinning the pocket piece to the lining.

 For the closure, I added the elastic to the shell and backstitched a couple of times to hold in in place securely. The backstitching is close enough to the edge to disappear under the bias tape later.

 Time to assemble the layers, the shell and lining fabric go wrong sides together. I basted the around the perimeter to keep the pocket, lining and shell aligned. Then I added the bias tape to encase all raw edges.

The final step was to sew a vertical line down the middle through all layers. This divides the pocket and helps folding down the middle. And that was it!

iPad Sleeve

Given that I have no iPad, and have never even held one in my hands, I wanted to follow a tutorial to sew an iPad Sleeve with exact dimensions for this Christmas gift. Made by Heidi has detailed instructions, exactly what I was looking for!

To modify the design a bit, I added an outer pocket to one of the side pieces (surprise! I add a pocket to everything!). Stitching down 4 times got me 2 pockets and 2 pen pockets.

For some extra padding, and because I had leftover fleece but no batting, I made the lining out of a thick fleece. Both sides of the binder pieces are covered by it. It made the lining a bit more voluminous and I almost didn´t get it fully inside the shell. But after handstitching down the lining to the zipper, everything turned out fine.

Nice and sturdy, and with a super soft lining! I hope this one will be a hit under the tree :)