On the Eleventh Day of Sewing…
We are in the final stretch of the 12 Days of Sewing and we saved our favorite handmade gift for today! We love taking inspiration from fabric and for today’s project the fabric truly spoke to us. A little unconventional, it is a printed canvas panel from Japan with fun hipster items- a tote, eyeglasses, camera, shoes and headphones- in trendy colors. (Panel is also available in Aqua here)
We thought, how fun would it be to make the ultimate travel essentials using each of these pieces? What a fun way to organize all of those necessities for anything from an overnight to a trip overseas! Now keep in mind any of these items could be made in any durable woven fabric, we just wanted to have a little fun and really show off how cool this “hipster” panel is.
We started with two printed panels– so that we would have a piece for each side of our travel items. We then paired it with a fun cotton print for the linings and a solid black twill as needed. Our goal was to have everything coordinate and truly look like a set- something to consider when selecting fabric. Now, let’s go through each item- here are the dimensions and steps that we used to create each one.
Eyeglass/Sunglass Holder:
To start off these travel essentials we decided to start with one of the easiest projects- the eyeglass case. We cut out each eyeglass piece from the panels (8″ x 4-1/4″) and stitched them together giving us an 8″ square. Cut out matching squares from the lining fabric and some scrap batting and layer the pieces as follows- canvas and lining right sides together on top of the batting. Pick two matching corners to round and cut all the layers to match.
Then, stitch all the way around the square leaving a small opening for turning at the end opposite the rounded corners. Turn right side out and press. Topstitch across the end with the opening to close it, add an additional row of topstitching for an accent. Fold the holder in half and stitch along the long side and rounded end, backstiching at the beginning and end. Just like that the eyeglass holder is complete!
Note: You could also make a phone case using the same type of technique and the corresponding panel pieces. We chose to use the phone pieces as a pocket in our Carry-All Bag.
Camera & Headphone Pouches:
For these protective little totes we used the same technique as the zipper pouches for Day 2. Rather than run through all those steps again, here is a link to the instructions- Zipper Pouch Tutorial
Here are the dimensions of the fabric pieces we started with- each ended up being the perfect size for their matching accessory.
Headphones- Cut your fabric and batting pieces 9-1/2″ x 9-1/2″ square and we made the bottom gusset 2″ wide.
Camera- Cut your fabric and batting pieces to be 8″ x 4-1/2″ and we made the bottom gusset 1″ wide.
Note: You could also make a pencil pouch using the same technique and the corresponding panel pieces. We chose to use the “notes” pieces as a pocket in our Carry-All Bag.
Carry-All Bag:
For this handy on-the-go tote we based the pattern off of one of our favorite bag patterns, the Super Tote from Noodlehead. We simply adapted the pattern’s dimensions so that the printed purse panels could be used as the front and back. Other than that we used the same overall construction. Inside we added cell phone and note/pen pockets using those pieces from the panel as well. We also used the printed handles as one side of each handle with black twill on the other side. We highly recommend having this pattern in your arsenal of go-to patterns but if you have another favorite bag pattern you could similarly adapt that as well.
Our main goal when sewing up the bag was to not have any of the cream background of the canvas showing. We cut each bag panel piece out about 1/2″ larger than the outline and then went back to stitch a bit large seam allowance wherever needed to make sure no cream was showing. The result was well worth the extra time and steps.
Note: For the pockets, we cut the cell phone piece 7″ x 5″ and the “notes” piece 7″ x 7″. We then layered them on top of a matching piece of lining, right sides together, and stitched all the way around leaving an opening for turning. Turned them right side out, pressed and then topstitched them to one side of a bag lining piece.
Shoe Bag:
Time got the better of us on this project and we just didn’t get our dream shoe bag in time to post. Our thoughts are to create a simple drawstring bag to keep a pair of shoes in using the matching panel pieces. Perfect for a short trip when you want to throw everything in one bag and don’t want your shoes to get everything else dirty. We promise as soon as we get this done we will give you all an updates!
Complete Set:
Together all of these pieces make such a great travel set, modern but sophisticated and a little geeky all at the same time. We love the idea of the set as a whole- perfect to make out of any fabrics (or the panel if you like) and give to someone who loves to travel, loves to have everything in its place or just loves to have everything match!
Happy Sewing!
P.S. December 11th Only! All jersey and ponte knits are 20% off. Also save on some of our favorite tools by buying them as a special bundle. Perfect to treat yourself or to give as a gift to a seamstress friend. Shop Here