Friday, March 18, 2016

Two Side Fabric Pencil Holders

I'm onto chapter 3 of 1, 2, 3 Sew!  This chapter is all about organizers, I will be making items that exist in three dimensions without the help of a pillow form to hold them out.  Now is the time when mistakes will really start to show up, so let's get started!


This project is supposed to teach the skills of "circular bottom construction" and "button and elastic loop closure".  I am going to fail on the second category because I don't have any elastic cord in my stash.  When I went to the craft store to get supplies for the previous few projects, they didn't have any black cord and I didn't want to use white on my Halloween Themed little holder.  I think this is the first time that I'm cutting corners in a 1, 2, 3 Sew project.  I am adding another skill, and that is using iterfacing on a project.  I plan to use quilting cotton for the inner and outer layers so I will have to line them with some interfacing to make this cup more stable.



Now do I need to add interfacing to one side or both?  I purchased Pellon #931TD Fuisble Midweight  interfacing.  I would have liked to have picked a slightly lighter weight one, since now reading the instructions this looks like it is meant for heavier fabrics, but Lucky was with me in the store and I didn't have a lot of time for research.  I'm just going to line the outer fabric piece and see how this turns out.  I will cut the interfacing to the same dimensions (maybe a tad bit smaller) as my fabric, although I will attempt to get the 1/8" seam allowance.


I cut the interfacing circle first, fused it to the outside fabric and then cut around the edge.  For the rectangle, I cut the interfacing at 1/4" less in each dimension and then ironed it onto my fabric.  I think this worked out pretty well.


I have no idea how I'm supposed to press the seams open when I have tubes that I don't want to put creases in, but i tried my best.  Maybe I really need to get an ironing board with an arm attachment.  Putting my fears aside, I think I did a reasonable job because the tubes were wider than my iron.


this wasn't sewing in a circle as much as it was sewing around the outside of a cylinder in a straight line.  Thinking of it this way made it a little easier to proceed.


I pressed the top such that the lining came up slightly above the outside fabric.  This way when the top is folded over you don't see that seam on the top.


The lining doesn't exactly lay flat on the inside, and there is some puckering around the outside but I think that it looks pretty awesome.


I'm not totally satisfied after the completion of my first pencil holder.  I want to try to make another one!  Like the first one, I ironed the interfacing onto the outer fabric but not the inner one.


At the time I finished sewing, I wasn't sure how I would incorporate these into my party decor.  They are a little too tall to hold forks and knives, although I could always just fold down the lip more.  I'm sure I'll come up with something creative to do with them!


I'm still not sure if I should have put the interfacing on the inner edge, but if one of the layers is going to be wrinkled it makes more sense for it to be the lining.

If you have any tips for adding a circular base onto a piece, I'd love to hear it.  I found this really really hard and my second attempt isn't that much of an improvement over my first.

Even though I didn't add the loop and button to allow these to fold over and close, I sort of wish that I had added some kind of handle to these little bags to make them a basket.  I'm feeling optimistic with the next project, a Storage cube.  maybe adding a square base will be easier than adding on a circular base.


Project started 10.19.2015