A case in point

it's been a busy and "productive" few days.  Well, productive in the sense that I have produced something tangible.  Possibly not productive in the sense of how long they took.

I still can't believe that I can produce anything, it's so out of my comfort-zone,  so.... not me.

Before "First up", I made a really pretty little credit card case,  the design came from Embroidery Garden. I don't have a photo, and I can't find the case.... I think it's possible I threw it away.  It was a lovely case, but it required finishing by hand which I am incapable of doing.  I didn't realise it needed this, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the design pack.

So, on to the things I do have evidence of.

First up was a tissue case. I have several, bought, cases. None with a zip.  Here's the one I made using a design from a company called Five Star Fonts,

Zip Closed

Zip Open

 Of course I didn't manage to capture the detail with my phone's camera. The zip and lining are emperor purple. The top is lightly padded and therefore had to have a quilting stitch over it.



Following on from the success of the Tissue case, I purchased a set of cases from Five Star Fonts.  I only have 7" zips at the moment (the postman will bring me longer ones shortly), so a couple of days ago, I tackled a 5x7 sunglasses case.  This required batting (padding).  I tried with my polyester batting, but as part of the process requires stitching directly onto the batting, this was a fail.

I popped to our local fabric shop to buy some cotton batting. and some interfacing (which, confusingly, looks like stabiliser to me). I couldn't remember why I needed interfacing, I just remember having read it on some PDF instructions,  so I bought 3 different sorts.

Yesterday, I made myself sit down and try again.  It was a bit of a long process, but I think that a second attempt would be much more speedy now I know what I'm doing.   T&he cotton batting was quite thick (too thick, perhaps),  so the finished case was fairly solid.  However, as it is a specs case, I suspect this is part of the design.

This design required me to do pattern matching , so that the fabric to the right of the zip (the yellow cat) matches up with the yellow part-cat to the left of the zip.  This  time I used a bright orange fabric for the liner and a matching bright orange zip. I might try an unlined version of this - or a version lined with, say, clear vinyl - later.

Zip closed and hidden

Zip open

I still wanted something smaller, so yesterday evening I bought a zippered bag set from Digistitches. These are quick to make, don't have any batting (padding), and the final bit can be finished with Wundaweb.  I made the 4x4 purse this morning.

This time I started with the zip - I have a few brown ones - and looked for fabric to work with it. I put the pattern matching "skill" I'd learned from the Five Star Fonts one in to practise.

Pattern Matching above & below zip

Finished - Closed

Finished - open

Once the longer zips arrive I want to try making some of the larger cases. It will be interesting to compare the process from multiple suppliers, where the sizes are similar.    I also have an inexpensive design from NewfoundApplique  to try; this one has no batting or quilting.

I wonder if the grandchildren actually use pencil cases?