Welcome to Anne's sewing blog!

I started this blog in 2012 in an attempt to keep better track of all the little things I make. I have found it fun to 'catalog' what I make so I'll continue to post my finished projects as they appear.

Its mostly for my personal use, but also gives me a way to share cute stuff with my craft-oriented friends and family. Enjoy!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Notebook Organizer

This project is another gift for a teacher.  I've had these notebook organizer plans floating around in my head for a while - it seems like everywhere I turn is another cute fabric-covered notebook that I want to copy/make.  I'm toying with the idea of using these as end-of-the-year teacher gifts this year.  I've done bags in the past and (especially since we have a repeat teacher this year) I'm thinking it might be time to shake it up and try something new.

One of the girls has had a great student teacher this year that's been with them longer than usual and whom my daughter has really taken a liking too.  Her time in the classroom is up soon so I wanted to make her a little something before she leaves.  The timing worked out well.  I needed a quick gift and I wanted to test out making a notebook organizer.  Student teacher and trial-by-fire project - they were meant for each other!  :)

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  


I pieced the front from scraps of a quilt with a little lace for fun.  

(The back is plain purple - I forgot to take a picture of that and it has already been gifted.)

It closes with a button and elastic loop on the right side.  


It opens to a 5'' by 8'' notepad on the right, a slot in the center for a pen, and two pockets on the left side.  


There is another pocket under the notepad as well.  

Actually, the notepad fits totally inside the pink pocket if you'd like it that way - I just thought it was fun to slide only the back cardboard part of the notepad into the pocket so the paper hangs out.  


I made up the pattern off the top of my head and the measurements of the notepad.

If I make it again, I'll tweak the shape of the tan polka dotted pocket so its a little larger/more secure.  
I'll also play around with different combinations of interfacings, battings, and stabilizers.  This one is cotton fabric, one layer of batting, and then I slid some stiff stabilizer into the two sides before stitching it closed.  It's some kind of handbag stabilizer I had laying around, almost like a template plastic.  It worked pretty well and the finished organizer was a nice blend of fabric/batting so it felt 'soft' but was still stiff enough to keep its shape and not get mashed up in a purse.    

This definitely has potential for teacher gifts and I think I just might need one myself - grocery lists can be pretty, can't they?  :)  






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