Saturday, January 31, 2009

Double-Pointed Needle Case

Last weekend, I had an inspiration for a way to keep my double-pointed knitting needles organized. I have enough pairs now that it was getting to be cumbersome to keep them in the little plastic sleeves they come in so that I knew what size they were and so that I didn't loose one of the five needles. I was inspired by a jewelry case my sister gave me from China, and by a notebook I have that has sleeves for colored pencils to go along with it. I didn't write the idea down and luckily I found the time today to try out the idea before it was long forgotten.

The basic plan is that there is a inside fabric (purple stars) with quilting batting behind it. I took another fabric that is half the backing height and sewed to it at the bottom and sides. I started with my smallest needles and made vertical pockets for each pair, leaving room for the sizes I don't yet have. I may eventually use a fabric marker to label the sizes on the pockets.
I was using fabric scraps from my collection which is why I ended up with two different colors of the velvety upholstery fabric for the pockets. After making the inside, I pieced together quilting fabric in stripes for the outside, and sewed the layers together with ribbons coming out the right side.
The long rectangle rolls up starting with the smallest needles, and ending with the largest and then a few extra slots I made with the extra space.
Now all my double-pointed needles are now safe and sound in one case.

4 comments:

Rabia said...

and it looks lovely, too!

Amanda said...

Nice fabrics! Just a little hint in case you make another... add a strip about 1" wide at the inside end opposite the one that holds your needles, and that way the needles can't fall out of the roll if it gets turned! Especially helpful if you have any metal needles! :D

Now I would love a pattern for a case to hold circs...

Elena said...

Very cute! Abby got me something similar from Etsy to hold single points, with the flap that folds down to keep them in. And my mom got me one for circs and dps that has pockets that open in the center and are labeled. I find that the labels are key since some needles aren't labeled.

Check out Rachel's blog--she's making a jean rug too.

yoshjosh.blogspot.com

pussman and co said...

What a good idea!
I could make one to put my pencils in and my paint brushes!