Just want to share a design from Light Blue Coffee!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
DIY Roll Up Pencil Case
Okay...what I'll share today is a very simple to sew Roll Up Pencil Case.
As an artist with lots of different types of pencils and colored markers and pens and...well, you know how that goes....I always fumble inside normal pencil cases!!
Then one day, as I was painting, I saw the $5 brush holder roll-up canvas I bought from Christmas Tree Shops a while back...and had another hey-i-can-do-that moment! That will be a very convenient concept for a pencil case, so everything is right in front of you without requiring a lot of fumbling around.
I even added a hook on it so you can hang it, like those hanging toiletry travel bags. More convenient! Your art materials just hanging on your wall. :D
So, just to share, for all who want to make one yourself (it's really easy!), the drawing below was my original idea.
And here's what I came up with:
Materials I used:
And..here goes:
Cut your cloth according to the longest pencil you have. It should have a bottom flap (to hold the pencils) and a top flap (to prevent the pens/pencils from falling out), and enough allowance on the sides to fold and stitch with the fabric lining.
I am using the same pencil graphic here since it will take me another thirty minutes or so to make a marker or pen (but drawing the pencil was fun! :D)
You can accomodate upper pockets as well, for erasers, sharpener, etc. I used the garter instead of creating small pockets, so if ever I won't use them as pockets, I can hook additional pens to them.
Mark the folds and the pocket sizes according to your needs as your pens and pencils migth vary in width.
Using the same size as your main cloth, cut the lining cloth. Cut a small portion of cloth and make a hook (you can figure that one out. :D). Fold both main and lining cloths inwards at the edges and stitch together, as well as stitch the hook on the top, between the two cloths.
Place the pencils again and make sure your pocket markings are still correct, then stitch the pockets and the tie on the side. Run extra stitch at the ends of the pocket edge openings for a stronger hold.
Of course, take out the pencils first before stitching the pockets. Ahahaha...
Oh...if your fabric is too thick, you can run another stich on the fold of the top flap.
Put the pencils/pens back after stitching to make sure they fit and fold the top flap and voila....you have your rolling pencil case!
Of course, you can put a bigger top flap too if you like. I could have but ran out of materials because I was only using remnant cloths from an old bag.
And here are the pictures of the finished product!
It's not entirely the same because of lack of materials and I only added the hooks and upper pocket after the fact. (too lazy to put the tie string to the other end of the diagrams too... it would work on either side anyway...)
I hope you enjoy reading this blog tutorial! Till next...
~crutcher
As an artist with lots of different types of pencils and colored markers and pens and...well, you know how that goes....I always fumble inside normal pencil cases!!
Then one day, as I was painting, I saw the $5 brush holder roll-up canvas I bought from Christmas Tree Shops a while back...and had another hey-i-can-do-that moment! That will be a very convenient concept for a pencil case, so everything is right in front of you without requiring a lot of fumbling around.
I even added a hook on it so you can hang it, like those hanging toiletry travel bags. More convenient! Your art materials just hanging on your wall. :D
So, just to share, for all who want to make one yourself (it's really easy!), the drawing below was my original idea.
And here's what I came up with:
Materials I used:
- Main Fabric (preferably something sturdy like a canvas)
- Lining Fabric (preferably something a bit waterproof, in case your calligraphy pen cap got loose and spill on your favorite expensive light colored bag, which happens to touch your favorite expensive jeans and .... uh... you get the picture.)
- Fabric to use to tie up the entire thing. You can use the same fabric as the main fabric. I initially planned to use a black garter but I did not like the fact that they were $5 plus just for this purpose, but I found some cool garterized $2 headbands from the grocery store which actually looked better (and they come in fours too! you can use the rest for your..uh..hair.).
- Sewing machine
- a bit of sewing skills (which, again, is the only skill level I have. "a bit". LOL!)
And..here goes:
Cut your cloth according to the longest pencil you have. It should have a bottom flap (to hold the pencils) and a top flap (to prevent the pens/pencils from falling out), and enough allowance on the sides to fold and stitch with the fabric lining.
I am using the same pencil graphic here since it will take me another thirty minutes or so to make a marker or pen (but drawing the pencil was fun! :D)
You can accomodate upper pockets as well, for erasers, sharpener, etc. I used the garter instead of creating small pockets, so if ever I won't use them as pockets, I can hook additional pens to them.
Mark the folds and the pocket sizes according to your needs as your pens and pencils migth vary in width.
Using the same size as your main cloth, cut the lining cloth. Cut a small portion of cloth and make a hook (you can figure that one out. :D). Fold both main and lining cloths inwards at the edges and stitch together, as well as stitch the hook on the top, between the two cloths.
Place the pencils again and make sure your pocket markings are still correct, then stitch the pockets and the tie on the side. Run extra stitch at the ends of the pocket edge openings for a stronger hold.
Of course, take out the pencils first before stitching the pockets. Ahahaha...
Oh...if your fabric is too thick, you can run another stich on the fold of the top flap.
Put the pencils/pens back after stitching to make sure they fit and fold the top flap and voila....you have your rolling pencil case!
Of course, you can put a bigger top flap too if you like. I could have but ran out of materials because I was only using remnant cloths from an old bag.
And here are the pictures of the finished product!
It's not entirely the same because of lack of materials and I only added the hooks and upper pocket after the fact. (too lazy to put the tie string to the other end of the diagrams too... it would work on either side anyway...)
Pencil case (Front)
Pencil case (Back)
Tie
Top flap
Garter upper pocket
Hook
With pencils/pens/etc. (open)
With pencils/pens/etc. (close)
Rolled up
Garter tie
Other views
I hope you enjoy reading this blog tutorial! Till next...
~crutcher
Friday, March 19, 2010
DIY Refillable Leather Journal Cover
Ever went to bookstores and see those nice leather journals and think....I can do that! :D And then you think....maybe make it refillable too!!
Well, I tried and this was my attempt. :D
Materials I used:
- Leather remnants that you can buy from Art stores ($5-15 depending on the size, type and quantity)
- Leather cord (I did not have to buy one because the leather remnants bag I bought already had some)
- Small fabric for lining
- Old Calendar or Checkbook cover (or basically, whatever you want as the "cover flap" for your journal cover
- Ribbon for bookmark
- Sewing machine capable of sewing leather (make sure you use leather needle)
- a bit of sewing skills (that's all I have really. a bit. :D)
- cheap small notebook that you can buy from dollar stores or as cheap as $2+ in the office supplies store. I used a 5.5 x 4.25 in notebook here with 200 sheets.
Instructions:
1. Measure your small notebook against the leather and cut (not the notebook, silly. the leather). Put allowance for stitching the sides.
2. Cut the fabric for lining. This is useful if you are going to use a spiral notebook, so that the spring will not damage the leather.
3. Using an old calendar cover or checkbook cover (or whatever material you can come up with), cut flaps big enough for the notebook cover to fit. Make sure it's not too tight (so it's harder to open the journal cover because the notebook cover is stuck in the flaps) and not too loose (so the notebook won't fall when you open the journal cover).
4. Add pockets for credit cards, etc. if you like (*note: oops...put the pocket on the other side. see the actual pictures for details)
5. Punch a hole for cord
6. Put the cord and tie at one end
7. Put a bookmark
8. Cut, measure and put the pen holder
9. Stitch together. (Punch holes first, depending on the thickness of the leather. You can use an awk to manually stitch together, instead of a sewing machine if leather is too thick).
And here's the actual pictures....
The remnant leather was not big enough for the measurement, as you can see in the picture below, but it's not too bad.
Exterior
Interior
Cord
Flap
Flap pocket
Notebook inside left flap
Notebook inside right flap
Bookmark
Bookmark inside the notebook
Pen holder
Small pen inside the pen holder
Almost closed journal
Tie it shut...
Top view
And there you have it......my own DIY Refillable Leather Journal Cover!
Tadah!!
Enjoy making your own....(if you want to).
~crutcher
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