And Finally I’m Sewing Again!

After getting my motivation to be creative back, and giving my sewing machine a good clean, I finally managed to actually sew something at the weekend! There was actually quite a bit of pressure on to get the sewing machine out, as I had been commisioned by a friend to make a personalised pencil case as a present for a little girl she knows, and she needed it by Monday. My breif was to make a big pencil case, in pinks and purples, with the girl’s name on the front and a zip that was nice and big when opened allowing easy access to the contents inside. I got to work, using purple cord for the outside, bright pink for the inside, and flowery fabric for the appliqued letters. I also reinforced the base of the pencil case with some stiff webbing stuff I use in the messenger bags I make (I don’t know what it is called, I buy it in John Lewis).

First I appliqued the name onto the front of the fabric using bright pink thread and a zig zag stitch

I then sewed the outer and inner pieces of fabric to each side of the zip

After sewing up the bottom to make a base I added this stiff stuff to give it strength and help hold its shape

I finished off by topstitching around the top, under the zip, and adding a little tab to the end of the zip

I used a really simple design, similar to my prim pouches, but instead of using prism shapes for each side I used rectangles, which would make the opening at the top wider in proportion to the whole pouch. The pencil case turned out really nicely, and I think I will make a few more as the size was just perfect. I don’t know about you, but all my pencil cases are so full it’s hard to find anything in them! Which reminds me, I need to sort out all of them, get rid of all the pens that don’t work and sharpen all the pencils, a nice theraputic job for the weekend perhaps?