New Sewing Kit

I can't believe that it's already October 3rd!  Where did August and September go? 

In anticipation of Sewing Summit (which is only 8 days away!) I decided that I needed a way to keep all my quilty tools organized.  With hundreds of quilty people in attendance all bringing their own tools I knew that things would get lost if I didn't have some way to keep my stuff all together.

Thus came an idea to make myself a large pouch to hold everything.  Using the Perfect Zip Bags pattern from Elizabeth Hartman and a Gnome Paper Piecing pattern from Bubblestitch I whipped up this pouch to match the amazing pouch I received from Karen as part of the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.

Gnome Pouch

Pouch From Karen

The pouch is mainly linen, but for the background of the paper piecing detail I used Kona Bone, the same fabric Karen used to make my little pouch.  I also lined the pouch with a grey dot that matches the fabric inside the wonky house pouch.  For a fun detail (and since the back was boring) I embroidered my Blog logo "Sewing By Stephanie" onto the back.

Detail of back of pouch

I made a few modifications to both patterns.  For the gnome pattern I omitted the lantern that the gnome guy usually holds and added in the grass.  For the bag pattern I made all of the dimensions larger than the pattern calls for so that I would end up with a larger bag.

After making the bag I used it for a few days and then decided it wasn't enough.  Knowing myself I know that I would still manage to lose my tools while at Sewing Summit, even if I took this bag with me.  Then I saw this post by the Sometimes Crafter as part of the Sewing Summit Travel Handmade series and knew I needed to make myself something like it.

I didn't use a pattern, instead I just pulled together all the tools I knew I wanted to take with me and figured out what size I would need to make it so that it would all fit.

Open Sewing Kit

I made this out of the same linen I used for the gnome pouch, and for the lining I used one of my favorite dot prints.  There are three layers of pockets: one large one in the back, two medium ones in the middle, and four smaller ones in the front.  Each layer is padded, and you really can't see in the pictures but the back is quilted with a swirly design.

Open Sewing Kit

I added a velcro closure and a piece of felt on the flap to hold pins.

Closed Sewing Kit

And on the outside of the flap I did a little more embroidery (you know-- just to make it match).

I still have a TON of stuff on my "to make" list before Sewing Summit next week, including:
-4 swap items for our roommate swap
-PJs
-Pouch for the pouch swap
-Luggage tag
-Name tag
-Camera Bag
-Organizer

I've been holding off on making both the camera bag and organizer because I want to make them using Pat Bravo's Rock and Romance fabric line.  The fabric was just released yesterday and I ordered it from the Fat Quarter Shop as soon as I heard.  Hopefully it'll arrive in time for me to make both the organizer and camera bag before I leave for Sewing Summit!