containers Archives - Page 13 of 15

Containers

I’m pretty much obsessed with making containers for all the electronic gadgets that come into my life. My cell phone doesn’t have one, but essentially everything else does.

My little USB modem got a case out of leftover fabric from some capris I made years ago, and a (purely decorative) button out of my grandmother’s button box. It’s a simple pouch with a snap-closed flap. I like how it makes me think of a mushroom.

My previous camera had a pouch with a flap that came up a narrow side and over the top, and a pocket between the flap and the main pouch that would hold two spare AA batteries. The fabric was purchased as a remnant. Unfortunately it was AWOL when I went to take the photos for this entry.

My current camera has a pouch with no flap – there is an elastic loop that keeps everything together. I used ribbon to hide the cut edge so I wouldn’t have to turn it under; this fabric was from the Sew-Op and I wanted to use the barely-large-enough piece I had.

My laptop has the same laptop sleeve that my previous laptop had. The fabric was clearance upholstery fabric and the ribbon was from my stash. It’s starting to show a lot of wear, though – my embroidery around the edges of the ribbon is coming out in places. I have pulled out the appropriate floss and will hopefully make some repairs in the near future.

Ulu knife sheath

I’ve shown my Ulu knife on here before. It’s fun but it is hard to store. For Christmas I asked for an Ulu knife sheath, but my mother decided to spend her Christmas budget on other things, so I got this:

My father was still amusedly shaking his head at the whole thing, but he was conscripted to help. Mother included a tracing of an Ulu knife in the kit, so I cut that out, traced it onto the leather, and added a seam allowance to the curved edges. Dad cut the pieces out for me with a utility knife and lent me his leather punch. I used one of the purse straps to make a strap for holding the blade in.

The purse instructions said to use saddle stitch for most everything, which is just double running stitch (Holbein) simultaneously with both ends of the same thread. I followed those instructions and then sewed the strap on afterward. To make the open edge (necessary to get the knife in and out) look the same I did a double running stitch on each side individually.

At this point I had to pause until I got home to my actual knife. I wanted the strap to hold it in snugly, so I didn’t want to guess on positioning the closure. Retroactively (by an hour or two) it became Craft Countdown #1. I determined where to cut the strap and epoxied black velcro to each side.

It fits really well. Now I can stash it in a drawer!

Half-hour reversible drawstring bag

Last Tuesday afternoon I had a haircut. As often happens, I completely forgot that it was the holiday season, and I would like to give my stylist a gift, until a couple of hours before. Or, really, about an hour and fifteen minutes before. I thought I would cut a piece of nice fabric, get cookies, and wrap them in the fabric.

In about twenty minutes I made a reversible drawstring gift bag, and then I stopped by the nice grocery store en route for some gluten free cookies. That is why these pictures are all in my car.