Friday 4 November 2011

A Quick Make

Another of my work mates is headed overseas.  This is her first trip out of the country and she has a brand spanking new passport.  I thought this would be just the ticket for her.

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It was a nice and easy pattern I found on A Spoonful of Sugar. I’ve had the fabrics for a while, just waiting for the right project.

I used plastic on a roll bought at Spotlight for the pocket on the inside.  It was a little testing for me, as it tended to stick together.   Therefore, it also stuck to the bed of my machine and the foot, so wouldn’t feed through.

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To sew the binding on I had to lay a piece of fabric under the plastic so that it would feed through.  The pattern says to baste the plastic to the lining fabric before sewing, but there was no way I could do that, but then it didn’t want to move, so it wasn’t a problem.  The next challenge was the stitching down the centre of the plastic to make the two pockets.  In the end I used my teflon coated foot from my little Elna Stella machine. Luckily I had one, as I don’t know how I would have proceeded without it.  I was supposed to top stitch around the edges, but that just wasn’t going to work and I think it looks fine without it.

If I made another one of these (and I think I will, as I want one for my passport) I will use a different plastic.  I’m thinking the plastic from a heavier duty sleeve for a 2-ring binder might work well, as it is more slippery.  With the right plastic it would take no time at all to make.

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Anyway, it was well received and I hope it gets lots of use over the coming years.

8 comments:

Ann-Mari said...

What a lovely gift you made for your friend.
A tip for sewing with plastic is to put greaseproof paper on top of the plastic. This is easy to rip off after you have done the stitching:-)

Chookyblue...... said...

always wonderful to make your friends gifts.......

Maria said...

The end result was worth all your trouble.
Great gift and I love the fabric.

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Try the lengths of plastic tablecoth covering that you can buy at hardware stores...thicker and easy to use. :-)
Love the finished project!!
Hugs
Jenny

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

What a wonderful gift Janice..

Fiona said...

Great idea and the fabric is perfect.... I see you have had a few tips... I used a sprinkling of talcum powder to help the slipping.. worked well... for travelling goodies you would need to shake it out well... they don't look too kindly on fine white powder in bags!!!
Hugz

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Yes a challenge indeed...but a wonderful gift. I'm sure your friend will find it very handy xo

Anonymous said...

Looks fantastic Janice... Love the fabrics too