Thursday, February 3, 2011

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!

12 comments:

  1. What a great project! Great tutorial! I love the fabric you've chosen, too.
    Take care,
    Angela

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  2. I love this tutorial! I'm going to feature it today over at www.excellcrafts.blogspot.com so go grab a button!

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  3. Really useful idea! Thanks for the tutorial:).

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  4. Very interesting project for my embroidery needles !! Thanks a lot for the idea ;-)

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  5. A great reminder too to change your needle often. Something I need!

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  6. This is a really great idea, I think I'll have to make one for both myself and my mother. We have boxes of needles floating around our houses and could use a way to organize them.

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  7. I made a couple of these, thanks to you, and love them!
    I'm going to link to your blog tomorrow, so keep an eye out!

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  8. Thank you very much, what a great idea!

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  9. Hey, that's pretty neat. I always wonder what to do with my needles, I always end up throwing them all in my sewing drawer.

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  10. WOW, what a wonderful idea, I have patterns for different kind of holder but never seen this one. THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH now to ~~~whip some up~~~
    Chris from WI, USA
    gramachris@charter.net

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  11. Can't wait to make this for a gift for and friend. And me of course!!

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