Knitting Needle Case from a pillowcase

Make a case for all your knitting and crochet needles, hooks and accessories from an old pillowcase.

This post contains affiliate links, if you do decide to click through and make a purchase using these links the cost to you is the same but Sum of their Stories will be paid a small commission.
I have a confession, I find it really hard to walk past a Charity shop (a UK version of a Thrift store) without going in for just a 'quick look'. Last week I was sourcing fancy dress costume elements for a halloween party so I had a good excuse for going in and I fell across this set of 2 quilted pillowcases that were just too pretty to leave behind. (I did get the costumes sorted too) 

The patchwork is that printed 'fake' patchwork, but the tops were thick and quilted. The brownish border was a separate piece so I cut that away. The back was in 2 pieces, one big-one small, with ties. 

I decided to make a roll up case for knitting needles and crochet hooks with 3 rows of pockets, so there would be room for accessories as well. I used the front of the pillowcase as the main part, the back as 2 pockets and then needed to add in some white and blue fabric from my stash for the lining and the middle pocket. 

To make a Knitting needle case like this you will need:

Main case piece - 17" x 20" (44cm x 51cm)

Lining piece - 17" x 20" (44cm x 51cm)

Pocket 1 - 17" x 19" (44cm x 48.5cm)

Pocket 2 - 17" x 12" (44cm x 31cm)

Pocket 3 - 17" x 7.5" (44cm x 20cm)

Ribbon 39" (100 cm)

Thread

A Water-Erasable Fabric Marking Pen

All the pocket here are doubled over, this is because the fabric I had from the back of the pillowcase was very thin. You could make your pockets half the height and just turn a small hem.

Press each of the pocket pieces in half and then arrange then on the lining like this:

Hold the layers in place with a few pins and mark the pocket sections with an erasable pen. 

Working from right to left, I marked 3 sections 1.5" wide and then 12 more at 1" wide.

You can see them a little better in this close up. 

Stitch over the lines, going back a few stitches at the top end to make sure the stitches don't come undo when your case is in use.

When you get to the last 6 rows on the left side, pin back the top layer and just stitch through the 2 larger pocket layers for 2 rows.

Then replace the smallest pocket layer for the next row. Then pin it out of the way again for the last 2 rows. 

This will create some larger pockets on the bottom left, which are useful for tape measures, scissors etc. 

Next lay the pocket layered piece and the main piece right sides together. Fold the ribbon almost in half. That sounds a bit odd, fold it in half but unevenly, so one end is about 60cm and one is 40cm. Position the ribbon on the left side of the case, 7" (18cm) from the bottom with the long ends all inside.

Stitch all round the case using a half inch (1.5cm) seam allowance and leaving a 3" gap on the right edge. Be careful not to catch the ribbon in the seams.

Trim the corners and excess seam allowance and then turn right side out.

Press with the iron then top stitch all around to neaten and close the gap you'd left for turning. 
You can remove any remaining erasable fabric pens marks just by rubbing then lightly with a damp cloth. 

Now just fill the case with all your knitting and crochet bits and pieces, fold the top flap over, roll it all up safely and secure with the ribbon ties.

On reflection I'm not sure I need all 3 pocket layers, so next time I might play around with their depth and maybe only do two. I was guided by the sizes of the pillowcase back fabric on this occasion. The nice thing about making your own is that you can make it any size you like with whatever pockets you like. 

I'll be linking this project up with some of these link ups

Little House Lavender Bags

Use an old sweater and a little embroidery to make pretty little house lavender bags.

With autumn well and truly on us, we've been looking out our warm cosy clothes. Several wool jumpers had got past the repair stage and so I've been experimenting doing a little felting. One cream coloured jumper was a pretty small size to start with but after a hot wash in the machine it shrunk up to next to nothing. This jumper needed to be made into some thing small!

I almost forgot to take a before photo, it did have 2 sleeves! The original jumper was quite fine so the felted material was not especially thick. I had so much fun making some little house shaped scented sachets filled with lavender.

To make your own you will need:

Felt, an old felted jumper/cardigan or shop bought
Scraps of fabric - something with small patterns work best
A length of ribbon about 5.5"/14cm
Embroidery thread and needle
A sewing machine and thread
Scrap paper

First you need to make a house shaped pattern and a roof pattern.

Cut 2 houses from felt and 1 or 2 roofs from patterned fabric. Originally I wanted to have the patterned roof front and back, it's possible but it is tricky to stop the fabric on the back puckering and catching when you stitch. It's your choice, but having tried both ways I'd recommend only putting a fancy roof on the front.
Cut a tiny door from patterned fabric about 3cm x 2cm

Pin the fabric pieces in place then machine stitch the roof onto one felt house piece just along the bottom, and stitch round the door on 3 sides as shown.

Using 2 strands of embroidery thread, stitch a little window and some plant life. I used simple straight stitches, lazy daisy stitches and french knots.

When you are happy with your embroidery, layer the 2 felt house pieces wrong sides facing and pop the ribbon in the top folded in half to form a hanging loop. Pin it all carefully as the felt has a tendency to move once you start stitching. Stitch round all the sides apart from the bottom. Go slow and take care as you sew through the fabric roof, I found it liked crease a little bit and catch on the stitches.

Make a funnel with a piece of scrap paper and use to fill the house with lavender. I found 3 good pinches was about right.

Stitch the bottom of your house closed.

Tidy up the threads, I am a bit obsessive and like to sew the top thread through to the back, knot them and then sew them into the bag. you could just risk it a snip them off. 

Now make loads more!! 

If you don't want to make your own, these little lavender bag houses are now listed in my brand new Etsy shop.

Inspired by - Clasp frame Purse

Today I've got another project I've tried which was inspired by another blogger - sewing a clasp frame purse.

Sewing a purse with a clasp frame always looked kind of complicated to me so I'd never given it a try. Then about 6 months ago the lovely and very talented Anna from Tea and a Sewing Machine shared a tutorial which made it look quite do - able.

I picked up a couple of clasp frames inexpensively from the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show in July so I could have a go. Things don't always happen very quickly round here so it wasn't until last weekend that I finally got round to facing my fears and making a purse with a clasp frame. I used some scraps of left over polka dot fabric and an old yellow shirt for the lining. I did a little embroidery on the polka dot fabric first, before making it into the purse.

It's the same style as the embroidery I did earlier in the year on this tote bag.

Then I just followed Anna's instructions to make up the purse and attach the purse frame. It was a bit fiddly but not as complicated as I had feared. 

I kept getting my thread caught on the clasp which slowed me down and finishing off the thread was tricky as the clasp was in the way, but I managed.

The inside of my purse is not quite as neat as I might have liked but over all it's pretty cute. Because of the spacing of the holes in the frame my stitches seem large to me and casting off was tricky as the frame is in the way. Any tips - please leave them in the comments!

All in all this was a fun little make, if you fancy having a go I'd say 'go for it!'  Head over to Tea and a Sewing Machine for all the details, Anna show how to create your own pattern from whatever sized clasp you have and then breaks it down step by step.  Shop this Post: These are affiliate links, so if you make a purchase after clicking through the cost to you will be the same but Sum of their Stories will receive a small commission

Jackson Mouse Craft Kit Review

Today I have a kit review for you, the Jackson Mouse kit from the lovely people at Amazing Craft.

I was lucky enough to be given a toy making kit from Amazing Craft, in exchange for my honest review. My kit was to make a cute little field mouse called Jackson. If you order a kit in the post it comes in recycled packaging and a sweet little poem to explain. I think it's brilliant!

The kit comes in a lovely organza bag and contains pretty much everything needed to make the mouse. The only things I needed of my own were scissors and some pliers.

Jackson mouse is pretty tiny. He measures about 12cm standing up, and 10cm sitting down so the pieces to make him are pretty small.

You receive the paper pattern and fabric, so the first job is cutting it all out. Placement advice is in the instructions, just as well as I almost cut one leg piece with the fur going in the wrong direction! I used a water erasable fabric pen to mark my pieces and things like the dots for the joints. Then it's just a case of handsewing it together. There is no way I could have used the machine to sew him up, I don't have that sort of control! This took me 3 sessions of about an hour at a time. I was catching up on tv programs we had missed whilst on holiday so depending on the excitement of the programs I may have stitched more or less in each hour. The face is just a little stitched nose and glass eyes which are provided.

The kit contains little cotter pins to give the mouse moveable joints so I needed my own pliers to secure them. It was a little bit fiddly but not difficult.

A fairly quick and super cute little make - though I do say so myself. 

Isn't he sweet? He has little metal beads in his body that give him a lovely weight too.

Amazing Craft advises not to use the glass eyes if you want to give this to a small child. I think he is more suitable for an older child or adult really anyway. Someone who will appreciate him and all the hard work that went into making him. These kits retail at £25.00 or you can buy just the pattern and instructions for £6.99. Amazing Craft is a UK based company, they do ship the kits worldwide but it is quite pricey. The pattern is totally reuseable and they sell cotter pins and eyes very inexpensively so you could easily make more Jackson mice if you wanted to. They also have links on the website to video tutorials for the tricky bits which are really helpful. All in all I'd say this is a great little kit. This one is suitable for someone who has some sewing experience but Amazing Craft have loads of other kits to choose from too.