Sew4Home Roll-up Case

If you haven't visited Sew4Home.com, you should check out all the great projects featured there. All projects include very clear, well-written tutorials. At my monthly American Sewing Guild meeting, we made the roll-up makeup brush case.

I forgot to bring along the clear vinyl which would make the inside of the case easy to wipe off so I adjusted the size of the pockets, making them about 1 inch. I filled my case with colored pencils, turning it into a storage case for art supplies. It's great to keep kids organized and also great for long trips.

I decided that I needed a little sketch pad to complete the art set. I made the cover for the sketch pad using the same construction method as the roll-up case, customizing the size to fit the sketch pad. This would make a great gift set for a little artist.

Here are a couple of the other fun projects that my ASG group has made this year from Sew4Home.

Fleece Neck Pillow

Fabric Basket

And this cute towel is on the schedule for December - a great last minute gift idea!

Kitchen towel with rick-rack

Don't forget that September is National Sewing Month! What have you sewn this month?

Purse Accessories

After sewing lots of journal covers and wallets for family and friends, I decided to make myself a matching set. The journal cover is from Quilting Arts and can be found here.

I use the wallet to organize my coupons from local stores. The tutorial can be found on  A Spoonful of Sugar's blog.

The business card holder was created by Craftycupboard. It is the perfect size for holding my gift cards.

I found the buttons in my stash. I bought them about 20 years ago when J. C. Penney carried fabric and notions. They were marked down to 10 cents per card! I used ponytail elastics for the closures. They come in lots of colors and are so much more fun than plain white elastic.

What are your projects for the new year?

Journal Cover

I love to make these little journal covers for gifts and for myself! They hold a 5 x 8 junior-sized legal pad which you can find at Wal-Mart, Staples, Office Depot, etc. The pattern is from Quilting Arts Gifts Holiday 2009/2010.

I use heavyweight fusible interfacing to make them crisp and sturdy. I use a ponytail holder instead of elastic because it comes in so many different colors.  There is a pocket on the left side which is great for coupons. I use mine daily for my shopping list. I also like to make them in Christmas prints for holiday shopping lists. If the brand name on the top of the notepad really annoys you, you can cut a strip of fabric and fuse to the top header of the pad. 

This is one of my favorite prints to use for this project. I bought this fabric years ago knowing that the right project would come along to use it for. I used a pearl button for the closure.

A quilting friend gave me this cute print with yarn balls. I use this journal for my knitting notes.

A sewing friend let me dig through her button jar to find the perfect button for this bright journal cover.

There are lots of other great patterns and tutorials for journal covers. What is your favorite?