Quilted needle pouch
Jul. 13th, 2014 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzWhile sorting through my knitting needles last week, I realised I wanted to have all my needles from the same brand. I had a few KnitPro circular needles where you can attach any cable length. The system is really cool and the needles a lovely colour. Better still, by adding just one new cable length, you can combine it with any kind of needle thickness.
It all started with my new knitting project (attempt number 5 for knitting something very pink for my mom) that required a cable needle (to park a few stitches on while you knit on, not a cable to connect circular needles with). The knitting store in Eindhoven I found near Son didn't have my needle system and I thought was horribly overpriced, so online I went.
I wrote down which needle gauges I was missing and found Dol op Wol, which had everything I needed and wasn't expensive at all! for 32 euro's I picked up the remaining three needle gauges, a couple of extra cables and a cable connector set, so you can link several different cables together for some extra length. Shipping was free to boot.
But now I had so many needles I needed a good way to store them. The KnitPro set I had originally bought in Tilburg came in a clear plastic pouch that had three pockets over one another, which made it really bad for stuffing to the brim. At some point, everything will just fall out because there's only so much plastic to go around.
I dug up my quilt fabrics and matched up several colour combinations. A few examples from Pinterest looked interesting to replicate, but I didn't feel like sewing too many fabrics together to get a large enough piece of fabric to make my needle pouch from. In the end I chose a dark red fat quarter my mother once gifted me, and combined it with some batik scraps from a previous mini-quilt. I added some strips that were sent to me in the Brown Hex Swap for binding.
First, I made some pockets for the inside. I used quilt fabric I didn't like so much for the inside. You wouldn't see it anyway, but it would lend some support to the pockets. I made some straight-grain tape to bind the top. I pinned all the knitting needles into the large pocket to see how wide the stitching needed to be apart for the needles to fit.
Now I realise that the needle gauge in millimeters can be used to calculate the size of the pocket stitching, but I was lazy and this was less work. (Lol. I wasn't in the mood for 𝜋)
The fat quarter was divided into two and interfaced with Vlieseline 180, just to add some body. The outside and inside were completely finished before joining. On the outside, I appliquéd the word "Naalden" (needles) with the machine. (I was dismayed to see my machine doesn't do a zigzag smaller than 1 mm.) Vliesofix kept everything in place while I stitched.
I then basted some batting to the outside fabric and quilted around the word and made a pattern of roughly 1 inch (2,5 cm) diamonds. The diamonds do not intersect the letters, so stuff had to be tied off securely.
Tying off. Just start anywhere.
The finished outside.
With everything sewed down, all I needed to do was sew the inside with the pockets to the outside with the quilting. Just put wrong sides together and stitch at the edge.
Of course, the previous steps had all taken a few week nights to do, so by the time Sunday morning came rolling around, I was just about ready to bind off. The two loose strips were sewn together and made into another bit of straight-grain tape. I pressed it carefully and bound off the edge. The remainder of the strip was just enough to make a tie to close the pouch with.
The finished needle pouch!
Final thoughts:
- Sewing is easy when you've got oodles of fabric. At work I'm spoiled with an abundance of fabric in several choice colours. There are no deviations, but you can always order more. With this project I had to make do with what seemed very little fabric. There was plenty, but it just seemed like so little fabric! It was nice to workwith small amounts and thinking and planning ahead.
- The needles are tight in their spaces but because of that, the inside pulls a little. Just aesthetical, and since you only open the pouch to get the needle of choice out, nothing to worry about.
- The inside and outside layer are only connected at the edges and where the ties are sewed down. I saw no other way.
- The smaller pouches for cables, cable ends and connectors only work because the cables are wedged in tight and can't move. The other pouch holds the cable ends, which tend to slide out. A pocket flap would help, or perhaps a button. I see no way of adding one without having to tear half my work up or sewing through-and-through, so we'll see how much it annoys me.
- The space above the needles is awfully empty, but I had nothing to add. Some elastic or ties for cable needles might be nice. There is also no space for my sock needles.
- There is no way to know which needle you get out once the printing gets worn off by use. I could embroider the needle size on the pouch by hand, but I have a gauge meter so I really doubt I will.
- I have resolved to not buy any more needles. I doubt I'll make anything that requires needles of 15 mm, but you never know. I'm also not going for the half-sizes. (4,5 mm, 5,5 mm etc.) This is it.
- I still need to sew down the mitred corners by hand. On one of my other quilts they're folding open a bit and I'd rather have them stay put.
But yay, needle pouch!
It all started with my new knitting project (attempt number 5 for knitting something very pink for my mom) that required a cable needle (to park a few stitches on while you knit on, not a cable to connect circular needles with). The knitting store in Eindhoven I found near Son didn't have my needle system and I thought was horribly overpriced, so online I went.
I wrote down which needle gauges I was missing and found Dol op Wol, which had everything I needed and wasn't expensive at all! for 32 euro's I picked up the remaining three needle gauges, a couple of extra cables and a cable connector set, so you can link several different cables together for some extra length. Shipping was free to boot.
But now I had so many needles I needed a good way to store them. The KnitPro set I had originally bought in Tilburg came in a clear plastic pouch that had three pockets over one another, which made it really bad for stuffing to the brim. At some point, everything will just fall out because there's only so much plastic to go around. I dug up my quilt fabrics and matched up several colour combinations. A few examples from Pinterest looked interesting to replicate, but I didn't feel like sewing too many fabrics together to get a large enough piece of fabric to make my needle pouch from. In the end I chose a dark red fat quarter my mother once gifted me, and combined it with some batik scraps from a previous mini-quilt. I added some strips that were sent to me in the Brown Hex Swap for binding.
First, I made some pockets for the inside. I used quilt fabric I didn't like so much for the inside. You wouldn't see it anyway, but it would lend some support to the pockets. I made some straight-grain tape to bind the top. I pinned all the knitting needles into the large pocket to see how wide the stitching needed to be apart for the needles to fit.
Now I realise that the needle gauge in millimeters can be used to calculate the size of the pocket stitching, but I was lazy and this was less work. (Lol. I wasn't in the mood for 𝜋)
The fat quarter was divided into two and interfaced with Vlieseline 180, just to add some body. The outside and inside were completely finished before joining. On the outside, I appliquéd the word "Naalden" (needles) with the machine. (I was dismayed to see my machine doesn't do a zigzag smaller than 1 mm.) Vliesofix kept everything in place while I stitched.
I then basted some batting to the outside fabric and quilted around the word and made a pattern of roughly 1 inch (2,5 cm) diamonds. The diamonds do not intersect the letters, so stuff had to be tied off securely.
Tying off. Just start anywhere.
The finished outside.
With everything sewed down, all I needed to do was sew the inside with the pockets to the outside with the quilting. Just put wrong sides together and stitch at the edge.
Of course, the previous steps had all taken a few week nights to do, so by the time Sunday morning came rolling around, I was just about ready to bind off. The two loose strips were sewn together and made into another bit of straight-grain tape. I pressed it carefully and bound off the edge. The remainder of the strip was just enough to make a tie to close the pouch with.
The finished needle pouch!
Final thoughts:
- Sewing is easy when you've got oodles of fabric. At work I'm spoiled with an abundance of fabric in several choice colours. There are no deviations, but you can always order more. With this project I had to make do with what seemed very little fabric. There was plenty, but it just seemed like so little fabric! It was nice to workwith small amounts and thinking and planning ahead.
- The needles are tight in their spaces but because of that, the inside pulls a little. Just aesthetical, and since you only open the pouch to get the needle of choice out, nothing to worry about.
- The inside and outside layer are only connected at the edges and where the ties are sewed down. I saw no other way.
- The smaller pouches for cables, cable ends and connectors only work because the cables are wedged in tight and can't move. The other pouch holds the cable ends, which tend to slide out. A pocket flap would help, or perhaps a button. I see no way of adding one without having to tear half my work up or sewing through-and-through, so we'll see how much it annoys me.
- The space above the needles is awfully empty, but I had nothing to add. Some elastic or ties for cable needles might be nice. There is also no space for my sock needles.
- There is no way to know which needle you get out once the printing gets worn off by use. I could embroider the needle size on the pouch by hand, but I have a gauge meter so I really doubt I will.
- I have resolved to not buy any more needles. I doubt I'll make anything that requires needles of 15 mm, but you never know. I'm also not going for the half-sizes. (4,5 mm, 5,5 mm etc.) This is it.
- I still need to sew down the mitred corners by hand. On one of my other quilts they're folding open a bit and I'd rather have them stay put.
But yay, needle pouch!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 04:50 pm (UTC)Je zou evt. de afmetingen van de naalden op een reep stof kunnen zetten en die reep in de lege ruimte stikken. Dan zitten de cijfers wellicht niet recht boven de zakjes, maar op basis van de volgorde weet je in ieder geval wat waar zit.
Wat betreft het zakje: helpt een drukknoopje? Dat kun je makkelijk met de hand erop naaien zonder iets anders los te moeten halen.
Hoe krijg jij jouw bandje zo mooi recht gestikt trouwens? Als ik biaisband ergens op zet, zit het meestal maar aan een kant mooi en aan de achterkant loopt de naad dan niet zo strak recht langs het randje. Moet ik nog zorgvuldiger spelden, of is daar een trucje voor?
no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 06:38 pm (UTC)Een rolmes en snijmat vind ik ideaal omdat je perfect parallel en haaks kan snijden met behulp van een lineaal. Het vergt wel enige oefening maar voor quilten is het onmisbaar,
Op het werk lukt het me ook niet altijd (rekkende stof biasband = hel!) maar wat vaak wel helpt is het biasband iets uitrekken. Dan loopt het minder voor je naaimachinevoet weg. Ook kun je, mits dit een optie is op je naaimachine, de voetdruk iets verlagen (de Bernina op het werk heeft dit, maar mijn Pfaff niet). Zorg wel dat je overal ongeveer evenveel rekt, anders wordt je band op sommige delen breder dan op andere delen.
Verder kun je ook de methode gebruiken die ik voor corsetten graag gebruik.
- Maak of koop biasband. (Strip van 4,8 cm op de schuine draad snijden en dan het handige vouwertje van Prym gebruiken bijvoorbeeld!)
- Vouw 1 kant van het biasband open. Leg het biasband met de opengevouwen kant langs de verkeerde kant van je stofje. Zorg ervoor dat de randen gelijk lopen. Het biasband ligt met de goede kant op de verkeerde kant van de stof.
- Naai deze kant vast net in of 1 mm naast de vouw van je biasband. Hierdoor vouwt het straks mooi over de rand heen.
- Sla je biasband over de rand naar de goede kant van de stof. Speld/rijg/naai.
Zelfs als je aan de achterkant naast je band stikt, zit het aan de goede kant altijd perfect gestikt en je krijgt nooit gaatjes aan de achterkant.
Recht stikken over biasband is echt een kunstje, net als op smalle breedtes langs randjes stikken (beleg vaststikken, of de vouw in een broek). Het is even oefenen, veel geduld. Vertrouw op je machine en hoe goed je hem kent. Die naald stikt wel, richt je vooral op het mikken waar je stof langs moet lopen. Geleidertjes en streepjes volgen is het belangrijkste. (Maar ik denk dat jij dat al weet. ;-) )
Overigens had ik een stuk van 8 centimeter waar ik net mis had gestikt aan de onderkant, maar dat was ook weer zo gefikst.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 07:30 pm (UTC)Ik denk dat het eerst vaststikken van het opengeslagen band voor mij de beste methode is. Van de andere begrijp ik het nut niet helemaal?
Mijn probleem is namelijk niet dat ik niet recht kan naaien; als perfectionist ben ik daar best goed in ;-) Mijn probleem is dat de achterkant van het band niet helemaal gelijk loopt met de voorkant, waardoor mijn rechte naad aan de achterkant soms hoger of lager over het band loopt, omdat het band daar niet recht zit. Zelfs met gekocht, voorgeplooid band. Dus ik moet netter het band omslaan en vastspelden, zodat de onderkanten precies parallel lopen. Ik weet alleen niet hoe. Of maak ik uit jouw uitleg op dat je het band helemaal niet vastspeldt? Of juist eerst rijgt?
Ik moet er wel bij zeggen dat ik het probeer op dik, bobbelig, rekbaar badstof... Niet het meest makkelijke materiaal :-)
no subject
Date: 2014-07-13 08:16 pm (UTC)En dit was quiltkatoen. Het eenvoudigste stofje wat ik ken om mee te werken.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-14 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-14 10:00 am (UTC)Zo gauw dit roze project klaar is ga ik aan mijn spencer beginnen en daarna, echt waar, dan pas mag ik nieuwe wol kopen van mezelf.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-20 09:26 am (UTC)