Final Project Of 2013 - DPN Knitting Needle Case

On Sunday, I decided to spruce up my sewing room. It was really not looking good after my Christmas gift projects plus the gifts I received that would now live in this room. One thing I have learned about myself is that I cannot create in a messy space. I don't mean that every surface has to be spotless or anything, but if I have to move a pile of stuff to use a certain surface I need or dig out a certain tool to make something, it probably isn't going to get made. I know that's pretty sad that any little hindrance will completely stand in my way, but it is true for me so I know I need to keep my spaces clean. Once I had things put away and cleared off, I had a sudden urge to sew something. Imagine that :)

I've been looking into knitting needle cases for about the past month. I've pinned several patterns and tutorials, but I just never found a case that I was hoping for. So, I decided to make one completely by myself - pattern and all!

I rifled through my stash of fat quarters and came across three that looked great together. The two florals are from a fabric line called The Girly Girl Collection - appropriate, huh? lol. I've had these for a few years now, and I only bought them because I thought they were pretty. I'm glad to finally have them made into something so I can enjoy them :)

To make my pattern, I started with my needles. I laid them out one set at a time and measured them. To get a real idea of how much space each set would need, I used a tape measure and held it down on my desk at the edge, wrapped the tape over and pressed the tape to the desk top again on the other side - this way I knew there would be enough room in each pocket to fit them not only side to side but their girth as well. I added 1/10 of an inch to each pocket space, then figured how many sets would need to go in each row. It worked out that sizes 0 through 9 together and 10 through 15 together fit the same area - 10.65". So, I added for seam allowances and cut out my pieces.

I sewed the pocket pieces together first, them marked each line to sew the individual pockets for the needles. Then I used my basic embroidery features on my sewing machine with a pink thread to embroider the numbers on each pocket. I tried to center the numbers in the pocket, but didn't really get it perfect, and that's ok. At least now I can look at the case and immediately pull out the size needles I need instead of having to take a bunch of individual bags out of a larger bag and sift through to find the size I want.

The second pocket bottom wouldn't be caught in any seams, so I had to fold over the bottom and top stitch it in place. I actually sewed 3 lines there - probably overkill but I didn't want any needles to poke through over time. When the pockets were in place, I sewed the from and back together with interfacing between, flipped them right side out, top stitched and stitched lines where the pockets would fold over.

Once the case was all assembled, I made a strap by making a 1" wide long rectangle and stitched it to the top flap. When it was in place, I folded the strap around and added 2 sets of snaps to keep it closed. The best part of the snap closure is that they are strong enough to fold the strap over onto itself and snap them so it could be used as a hanger as well :) Plus the snaps make it look much more professional in my opinion and they are more reliable to stay closed than just a tie.

I'm super pleased with my pretty new needle case! I love that I was able to use all stash items and that I made it completely on my own! Now that I have all the width measurements done, I'm planning on making more for different needle lengths. Also I might do the next one roll style so it's not so large. Now that I have all the kinks figured out, I will post a tutorial next time I make one :)

And that is officially the last project of this year for me :) I can't wait to make more fun things in this new year! I'm making a 'soft of'list of goals for the next year - nothing too specific, but I think it's always good to try and improve :)