knitting needle holder tutorial

My knitting needles were a disorganized mess, so I made a new little case for them.  Here is a tutorial so you could make your own.

I cut two fabric rectangles, about 20" wide by 18". I put right side together, sewed 1/4" around all the edges except leaving about a 4" opening. I clipped corners, turned right side out and pressed flat. At this point it's about 19 1/2" by 17 1/2".

I folded the bottom edge up about 4 1/2".

I have a lot of double-pointed needles that I wanted to keep separate from my regular needles, so I added a second rectangle (made the same way as the first one, 19 1/2" wide by about 7" finished) which I sandwiched under the folded up bottom edge. Then I sewed around all four outer edges through all the layers.

I turned the upper edge under about an inch and a half. This helps to keep the needles from falling out. Then I sewed vertical lines of stitches about 2" apart, all the way across. A walking foot helps to keep the stitch lines straight and to measure the space between the previous line and the current line. Alternating lines go halfway up and the others go all the way up, to hold down the top fold. Hopefully this makes sense.

Sew a ribbon, twill tape or shoe string about 2 feet long, on the outside along one of the sewing lines, about halfway up.

So this is how it looks with needles in it. Pretty cool, huh? It holds most of my needles, including the circular ones, with room for more.  My oversized needles go somewhere else.

This is the pathetic one I made a few years back, woefully inadequate. But I learned from it: make it wider, for more needles (10 sizes)! Make two rows, for double pointeds and regular needles! Leave wider space for each size! And make it nicer looking!

doggie coverup tute

I never thought I'd be sewing dog clothing, but our grand-dog Ginger has a bald patch on her back (from a brown recluse spider bite from a few years ago). So she wears coverups to hide the bald patch, as well as to prevent sunburn and skin cancer. Besides, she looks pretty darn cute in her little outfits. This pattern was adapted from coverups that my daughter made - I didn't have velcro, so I made straps to tie in a bow. This coverup is nice for summer - it's lightweight and minimal.

I took these photos a while ago, so I figure it's high time to do a dog coverup tutorial! Since dogs come in all shapes and sizes, think of the first try as an experiment. You might need to make adjustments to make it fit better next time. ;-)

The shape of the coverup should be something like this. To figure out the width and length, measure the dog from her collar to the tip of her tail. Then measure the dog's waistline. The coverup will go most of the way around the waist, minus 2-3 inches where tabs attach. Make a freezer paper template, and cut two, allowing about 1/4" all around for the seam allowance.

Cut two strips at least 18" long and 1 1/2" wide. You may want yours longer. Keep in mind that my dog is a miniature dachshund. Then cut a rectangle to make two tabs - this one is 4" x 11". Make it longer for a bigger dog.

For the two longer strips, fold under 1/4" at one end, then press them in half lengthwise. Then foldand press the raw edges towards the center lengthwise, to make long narrow strips about 3/8" wide.

Then take the 4"x11" rectangle and press under 1/4" at both short ends. Then press it in half lengthwise. Now fold and press the edges towards the center lengthwise. You should have a smaller rectangle about 10 1/2" long and 1" wide.

Edge stitch all the way around all three pieces, going through all layers on the machine.

Cut the third piece in half as shown, making two tabs.

Take the the two pieces of fabric that you cut out for the main part of the coverup, and place them right sides together. Slip the long ties between the two layers, with the raw edges at the top end of the coverup (shown here on the right), pin down. Pin the tabs at the wide parts of the coverup, raw edges out and finished edges inside. Pin the two coverup pieces together all around, making sure you don't catch the tie ends.

Stitch all around the coverup, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving an opening about 3" wide.

Turn right sides out through the opening, and it should look something like this. Press neatly and whip stitch the opening closed if you wish. Topstitch all the way around the coverup along the edge.

This is what it will look like on the other side. Did I mention that it's reversible? Try it on your dog, threading the ties around the collar and figuring how where to place a buttonhole on one of the tabs and a buttonhole on the other tab. You can certainly use velcro if you prefer.

Ginger is modeling her new coverup while snuggling in a leopard robe at the Solarmar in San Diego a while ago. I actually made it in mind for 4th of July. Ask me if you have any questions, and have fun!