Specs Cases

Hello! I thought I'd share with you some unselfish sewing I've been doing recently. I made these glasses cases for my Mum and Dad. They're both belated presents - my Dad for fathers day and Mum's for her birthday which was in June. I've been holding onto these presents until I next see them, which is this weekend.

I used a pattern and instructions from Sew! Cath Kidston which was given to me as a present. I'm not actually a fan of Cath Kidston, I find the prints too faux vintage for my taste, however the book has some great projects.

This is the first time I have tried one of the projects and I was very impressed. The book comes with a set of templates to trace. I hate tracing patterns, so simply folded the sheet and photocopied it.  

Each case uses very little fabric. To create my Dad's specs case, I used some leftover navy blue gingham with plain navy polycotton for this inside lining. For my Mum, I used another leftover, a green and blue floral print, and pale turquoise cotton voile for the lining.

I used some cream woven piping from my stash for both cases, which works really well with both colourways. This was the first time that I have inserted piping and it was very easy to work with. The only thing that I struggled with was the corners - until a quick google search, where I discovered I had to cut notches along the hem of the piping for it to fit around the corners.

The whole process was simple and the instructions easy to follow. I did manage to skip a few steps - I had iron-on quilting wadding so didn't need to tack this to the lining and I also machine tacked the piping. I hate any hand sewing and avoid it wherever I can. The instructions called for me to slip stitch the lining and cover together, but instead of this I sewed around the top with right sides together and then turned them out.

The button loops are hand sewn. Yawn! The book gives limited instructions on this but I found this tutorial to be really easy to follow and I managed to complete both fairly quickly in one sitting, without getting too bored.

I am really pleased with these specs cases- they're so cute! I generally spend far longer sewing something that is going to be for someone else, but despite this they were really fast to complete. I was also really impressed with the pattern and instructions from the Sew! Catch Kidston book. It was a great way to use up some leftover fabric and has got me thinking what other useful things I could make. Ovengloves? Peg bag? Washbag?

Have you done any unselfish sewing recently?