Friday 18 May 2012

pencil case

Only four days until I go to Tunisia and I have so much to do before I go!  For those of you who don't read and absorb my every word (that'll be everyone then!), I'm going to Tunisia for a week on business.  I'm quite looking forward to it as our company's factory is located in a seaside resort and it's summer out there.  Oh, and I get to stay in a very posh, very cheap, 5 star hotel with 4 swimming pools!

But you didn't drop by to hear me brag about that... (there are bad points to the trip too...).  A couple of weeks ago I showed you all my Zakka Style pencil case which I made as part of the Zakka Style Sew Along and which was not fit for purpose as my pencils were too long.  It's now my crochet hook case, but that didn't get me past the fact that I actually needed a pencil case.  I like to take pens, pencils, rubbers etc to glass class and I didn't have anything to store them in. 

So, did I find a nice tutorial or a pattern in one of my many, many, many craft books?  (Yes, I have added to the stash, but they were free!  I get Amazon vouchers for doing on-line surveys so it's perfectly legit!).  Nope, I winged it.  Or did I wung it?  As a former-English teacher I really should know that.


I started by making your standard zippy-pouch, but sewing it together at the ends like in the photo above.

I'd gone all Zakka-Stylie and used linen and some scraps of Bliss.  The long blue pieces are down to the fact my measurements were a little on the small side!


As usual, my points are appalling, but I really don't care, I like it anyway.  You can see in the top photo that this method of making a mid-zip pouch leaves raw seams on the inside. I didn't want to do that so I decided to pull out all the stops and bind the edges.


It's inside-out in the picture so you can see the very in-expert binding.


And if you look form the inside, you can just see it at the very end.  Now, I measured and calculated VERY carefully when I made this pouch to make sure that my pencils would fit.


Damn you freakishly large English pencils!!  How did it happen??  I was SO careful... But, not to worry, I came up with a solution:

Ta dah!






  

13 comments:

Rosa said...

Oh my God - you are freaking funny!!!
Just had a good and laud laugh about your bad measurements *LOL*
Thank God you are also intelligent and put that pencilsharpener to good use:-))))
Oh dear... I can't stop laughing..
I'm mean, I know it!
But you are going to Tunesia and I'm not, soooo.... ;-)
Nice pouch. It is cute no matter the size or what.

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

Ooooooooooooo! Sounds like such a fabulous trip coming up! I would brag too!
Too funny...I was thinking "I would just have to sharpen those pencils down after all that hard sewing work and then you did. hee,hee,hee.

Pam @Threading My Way said...

LOL!!! You could have used your Zakka style pencil case after all. It wouldn't have taken long to sharpen them to size. The new pencil case looks great! Enjoy your holiday... sorry, your business trip!!!

Sandra :) said...

R
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girlfriend you must have one awesome collection of freakishly large pencils - what a hoot! Note to self: when visiting England check out their pencils to see how freakish they are :D

mdgtjulie said...

LOL, smart girl! Your freakishly large pencils now fit. Grats on the finish. I love the colors in it. Good job!!

Mistea said...

glad you found a suitable solution after all your hard sewing!
The pencil case is very cute - I feel there may be some more here soon?

Enjoy the trip - tough for some people.

Allie said...

Ok Wendy, I need adult diapers to come visit you....this just killed me...I want to know how big the people are who use those freakishly large English pencils, lol! A tight squeeze or not, I LOVE this pencil case, very very clever with the binding on the inside!

Susanne said...

Love your pencil case!
Wish you a great time in Tunisia. Hope its not all work and no play :)

JoJo said...

I think your paper is larger in England than ours is in the USA (our standard size is 8.5" x 11") so it makes sense that your pencils are larger! lol

Have a great trip to Tunisia! I hope you get to do some fun stuff besides the work obligations.

Ady said...

Hahahahaaa!! Love it - love the pencil case and love the fact you craftily reduced the length of your pencils to fit! Have a good business trip. Is this the same hotel where they laid your negligee carefully on your bed when they turned the covers down for you?

Sewing for Utange said...

Thanks for the laughs!
Love the pencil case.

Hani said...

so cute.. Love the fabric. :) Thanks for linking up at friday fun party.

Unknown said...

what a pretty and cute pencil case. love the fabric combination you used!

thanks for sharing!

Hugs,
Lelanie

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