Needle Case Tutorial

A couple weekends ago the local sewing store had a 50% off sale so I ran out and bought a bunch of needles for my sewing machine.  After going to sewing class and listening to the importance of using a needle meant for the type of fabric you are sewing and changing them often I knew the only way I'd do this is if I actually had these needles on hand.  So I stocked up.  And then realized I needed somewhere to put all these needles, enter the needle case!  Just what I like in a project - all materials were on hand and it's quick enough to complete in a day/few hours.  And in case you want to make one too I've put together a tutorial.

What you need:

• Two pieces of fabric, 6 x 5 1/2 inches
• One piece of interfacing, slightly smaller then the fabric
• Thin elastic
• A snap (or other closure)
• Thread to match elastic and fabric
• Fabric marker (I use the purple disappearing ink kind)

Step 1:
Iron your interfacing to the backside of one piece of fabric.

Step 2:
Layout your needle cases and use them as a guideline when figuring out where to sew the elastic.  Mark these places with your fabric marker. Using 6 Schmetz cases I marked dots at 5/8", 2", 3 3/8", 4 7/8" across the fabric at 1.25" & 3.5" from the bottom edge.  The second picture shows (with ugly blue dots) where I had marked the sewing spots.

Step 3:

Sew the elastic on the dots you've marked leaving a little ease in each section of elastic so it bubbles up.

So when you're done it should look like this.

Step 4:
Take your two pieces of fabric and sandwich them right sides together.  The ends of the elastic should stick out the sides.  I wanted the top of my case to have curvy corners so I drew those on with my marker before sewing. 

Sew around the edges leaving space for turning at the bottom.  (After taking this picture I realized I hadn't left enough room and ripped some stitches out).  Trim the seam allowances, including elastic, and clip the curves & corners.

Step 5:
Turn everything right side out and edge stitch the whole way round to close up the bottom seam and make it look nice.  Here I am edge stitching the newly learned cheater way with a blind hem foot to guide my fabric.

This is how it should look now.

And when you slot your needle cases in:

Step 6:
Attach your snap according to the package directions and fold up your case.  I pressed mine a bit to help make the folds

Enjoy!