Sew Sturdy Sewing Organiser Case by Annie Unrein/Craftsy.com

My very good friend Maureen had previously made two of these fantastic cases, one for me and another for Adrienne. Knowing that Maureen had more than enough sewing projects to complete before Christmas I knew that if there was to be one made for Joan, it would have to be me that made it.

https://www.craftsy.com/sewing/classes/sew-sturdy-travel-organizers/35473

I had purchased the lesson and pattern from Craftsy.com quite a long time ago – just never plucked up the courage to undertake what I could see would be quite a complicated and involved project. But the desire to make a really lovely gift for Joan was sufficient to stiffen my resolve, to roll up my sleeves and get stitching!

Joan is a collector of all things “Elephant” so I originally planned to make the organiser in an Elephant print that I previously bought from Fabricland. But disappointment – no more Elephant print in the Salisbury shop. Instead I elected for an Elephant Grey background, printed with charming bouquets of flowers! There was a co-ordinating Grey spot print and that is what I used for the project. Although I knew that I had some clear vinyl in my bag-making stash – it was out in the garage store, buried under a great pile of storage boxes. It was cold and dark in the garage, I did not stay long enough to uncover the vinyl – no problem, I would purchase another length from “The Range”. Again, disappointment – no plain clear vinyl to be had. I purchased ½ metre of a simple patterned vinyl which I subsequently discovered was even better for stitching as being slightly embossed it was much easier to feed through the machine when making the pockets for the inside of the organiser. The mesh required for the outer pockets that are on the reverse of the outer front and back had posed a problem. That was until Adrienne suggested we buy laundry bags from Poundland. I cut the mesh from the bag which left the zipped bag still in one piece and the 2 mesh pieces were just the right size for the project. Result!

First task was to check the dimensions of all the pieces and work out a cutting plan prior to quilting the various sections. After 4 hours of quilting in a 1¼ inch square grid I had all the various sections prepared. Now to get making up the case.

I had read through the written instructions and also watched the video on the Craftsy.com website. Having “set up shop” in the dining room, I downloaded the lessons to my tablet which I stood next to the sewing machine. As each lesson was completed on the tablet, I undertook that same lesson on my sewing machine and gradually the project took shape.