The " Mini Keeper" Tutorial Pattern
At the beginning of January, our monthly Across The Pond Sew Along project was announced... Scissors Keepers.
Amanda, The Patchsmith, had time to whip up two pretty and practical scissor keepers , in her perfect Patchsmith style and colors. Aren't those flowers so cute!
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| And this is Amanda's " About Town" case , for traveling |
There are some more beautiful scissor keepers that are posted in our ATPSA Flickr Group. (Hop on over to see the beautiful Heart Scissors keeper, and the darling linen and embroidery keeper! )
After looking around at all of the different ways to keep scissors, I was inspired to make my own little pouch. This little "Mini Keeper" attaches quickly to my sewing machine, to hold scissors ,a seam ripper, little screwdrivers , little rulers, etc.
The Mini Keeper ... an attachable little pouch to hold your scissors and tools alongside of your sewing machine
I decided to make up a free tutorial , so I could share the pattern with you .
The Mini Keeper Tutorial SS04 designed by Susie's Sunroom
A printer friendly pdf file is here: SS04 The Mini Keeper pdf
www.SusiesSunroom.blogspot.com
The Mini Keeper Tutorial SS04
~ design by Susie @ Susie’s Sunroom
A handy, little pouch (“keeper” ) for small scissors and sewing tools, alongside your sewing machine
Finished dimensions:
8 ½ “ x 3 “ for pouch
Supplies list:
Fabric- 1 – 9 “ x 7 “
main fabric
1- 9 ” x 7 “ lining fabric
1 - 22 “ x 3 “ strap
fabric { can be lining fabric or an
accent fabric} *this length might
need be adjusted to fit your sewing machine
Batting-
1 - 9 “
x 7 “ batting or fusible fleece . I recommend Pellon FF 987 fusible fleece
Velcro -
2 “ piece Velcro strip , ¾ “ wide (I recommend no sticky types)
Tape measurer - to
see how long to make the straps
Measure your sewing
machine:
Take your
measuring tape and place it around your machine, in the same way you will be placing
the straps for your pouch.
See in the photo above- your pouch will be about 8 inches cross. So, 22
inches will be long enough for the strap on this machine : the straps are sewn
into the left and right sides of this “keeper” pouch. You can adjust the length later, before you sew the straps into the pouch
sides.
Cut fabrics:
Cut out
: 1 main fabric 9” x 7 “
1 lining fabric 9” x 7 “
1- Batting or fusible fleece 9 “ x 7
“ .
This is ironed (or basted) to the back side of outer main fabric. * I
often use up my scraps of FF987 in this way.*
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Pieces of fusible fleece ironed onto back of main fabric |
1 1- Strap fabric 22 “ x 3 “ *
adjust the length if needed, from the
measuring step page 2.
Making the pocket
pouch:
Sew main outer fabric to lining
fabric
Lay lining fabric right side up. Place main outer fabric right side down on
top of lining. (Right sides together.)
Pin together, leaving a 2 ½ “
gap for turning.
Sew around all 4
sides, using a ¼ “ seam allowance.
Remember to leave the 2 ½”
opening.
Trim the excess
fabric away from the corners.
Turn the
fabric…. that is, pull the main outer fabric out through the gap you left. Carefully
push out the corners and sides.
Press with an iron , and turn under the
gap opening , so it will be sewn into the
seam later.
Put aside
the pouch piece for now.
Make the straps:
Fold each
short end in ¼ “ and iron. (This creates
finished ends.)
Create the
long center crease by folding the strap fabric, wrong sides together, and
ironing the fold. (The piece will be 22
“ x 1 ½ “ now.)
Open up, and
then fold the top half in so the raw
edge meets the newly created center crease. Iron
well. Repeat this for the bottom half
of the strip. The raw edges are now
meeting at that center crease . (Strip is 1 ½” at this point.) Lastly,
fold the halves together so that the folded edges meet , making the strip a final ¾
“. Press well and pin. { There are no raw edges at this point.}
Sew along
all 4 edges with a 1/8” seam allowance.
Do not cut strap yet!
Place your
measuring tape around your machine, so you can measure how long to make each
strap. I want my straps to meet in the
back, so the short strap needs to be 4 ½ “.
The long strap is about 17 “.
Cut the strap at 4 ½ “ from the left edge. The remaining strap is about 17 “.
Note:
the Velcro is 2 inches long,
so there will be some “ give and take” for attaching it behind your
machine. It is not meant to be a “skin
tight” fit.
Figure 2 A short and long strap
Sew the straps into the pouch:
Take the
pouch fabric, and fold it in half, with the lining fabric on the inside. The
fold will now be at the bottom and it
will measure 8 ½ ” x 3 ½ “.
Pin the sides together, after inserting one
strap into each side. Each strap should
be placed about 1 inch from the top edge
of the pouch .
Sew each 3
½” side together with a ¼” seam allowance.
Reinforce your stitches at the
beginning and end. Hint: I often start at the bottom edge (the folded edge) , and sew up towards
the top. It is easier to finish up on the
thicker edge.
Now we are ready to add the Velcro to the ends of the straps.
Position your Mini Keeper on your sewing
machine:
It is very helpful to place your pouch where you want it
to be positioned on your sewing machine.
You will probably want your “mini keeper” to be at a spot that is not on
top of your power cord or on/off switch. It will be most likely be long enough to fit
around the front corner of your machine.
Pin the ends of the straps
together on the back side of your
machine. Make
it fit to your own personal preference. This
will show you where you need to sew the Velcro
pieces on. Place
pins so you know where to center each Velcro strip. There will be some “give and take” since the Velcro is 2 inches long. This is a ’ relaxed fit .’
Figure 3
This is the way you will want it to connect at
the back side of your sewing machine.
Pin the Velcro onto each strap.
One
piece of Velcro is pinned to the top
side of the strap ( the short piece.)
And the other piece of Velcro is pinned to the bottom side of the other strap ( the longer strap.) Double check this before sewing!
Important details in this next picture :
Worth saying again: Add one piece of the Velcro to the TOP side of
the short strap.
Add
the other piece of Velcro to the BOTTOM side of the long strap.
Sew the Velcro to the short
strap. (The top side ) I shorten my stitch length to 2.0, and go
around all four sides twice. (Probably overkill!)
Next sew the other piece of
Velcro to the long strap (the bottom side) in the same manner.
Figure 4
Sewing the velcro on to the strap
We are almost done now!
If you would like to make
sections in the pouch, you can sew a seam down the front of the pouch to make
pocket sections. I made 2 pockets in my
mini keeper, by sewing one seam down the center of the pouch. You could create a narrow pocket, too, for
your seam ripper.
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| This Mini Keeper can "keep" a lot of sewing tools! |
Position
your “Mini Keeper” at your sewing machine, and adjust the straps so they will
connect with the Velcro at the back.
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| The back of my Viking sewing machine. |
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| Side and front view of my Viking machine |
My Viking
sewing machine is ready to go now… with my tools right at my fingertips!
I made a second Mini Keeper for my other machine, the Baby Lock Creative Pro. (I didn't want her to get jealous!)
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| The Mini Keeper on my Baby Lock machine |
Please share your pictures of any scissors keeps that you make, in our ATPSA Flickr Group! We'd love to see them.
Last thing... Cute Swap Alert:
Amy, of Amy Made That! blog, is hosting this cute pincushion swap. Here's her description of this swap:
A Skinny Pincushion is easy to make.
You can add some assorted goodies just for fun,
then send it off to a happy new friend...
and wait for your OWN Skinny Pincushion to arrive
from another swappy friend!
There are nearly 50 "swappy friends" signed up so far... from countries all over the world. Maybe you'd like to make a new sewing friend... so join in a simple and fun swap with us!
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I'm off to my sewing room!
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