It has been a while since I wrote a pattern. Larisa @stitchingnotes and I hosted the EPP Necessities Sew Along in February which got me inspired. Inspiration came from all the amazing makes and all the creativity. There are never enough sewing organizers, especially for English paper piecing. I tend to carry my EPP projects everywhere. I always wanted to have a small sewing organizer where I can put my thread, needle, scissors, glue pen and templates. This is where the idea for this pattern came from. In this blog post, I'll share how I designed this sewing accessory.
Fabric
Does fabric inspire you? It definitely inspires me. I love tiny florals of Liberty and Tilda, but you rarely see solids in my works (except for the background). I bought some Grunge fabrics from Tilkkunen with an idea to make a quilted coat but I couldn´t resist making something small from those beautiful solids.
When I looked at those fabrics, I came up with an idea of a low volume background and some pop of color. It is simple and minimalistic, yet effective.
Shapes
As you know, Hexagon is one of my favorite shapes. Some people find it uninspiring, but I never get tired of playing with colors and various hexagon sizes. In this organizer I combined 1" and 1/2" hexagons. I used Hexiform templates for small hexagons, because its construction gives the fabric a padded effect.
I am a big fan of rounded corners and I often use them in my makes. This sewing organizer has rounded corners and rounded flaps on the pockets.
Quilting
In my opinion simple quilting is often the best. Stitch in the ditch (quilting following the piecing lines) is particularly effective for EPP, as it lets the fabric shine and enhances the shapes and design. 1 inch hexagons are easy to quilt by machine using regular machine foot or stitch-in-the ditch foot.
Of course, I couldn't pass on some hand quilting - around small hexies and along the patchwork panel on the background fabric.
Pockets
This organizer is small, but has 8 pockets (4 on each side). In the big pocket there is room for scissors, a glue pen or paper templates. In the three small pockets you can put thread, seam ripper, thimble, glue refill etc.
One of the flaps has a piece of felt for pins and needles.
Closure
I like adding leather details to my projects. This organizer closes with a button and leather loop. I usually upcycle leather from old bags and that works just fine.
You can also use round elastic, make a matching fabric loop fastener or use your favorite closure method.
This is a rather quick project once you get the EPP part done. I couldn´t resist and made a Tilda version. I didn´t use small hexagons there, as these floral prints are quite busy. I call this organizer (made from beautiful Tilda Woodland collection) "Once upon a time...", as it reminds me of a fairy tale.
Then I made a Moda fabric version.
Here I used contrast colors from the same fabric collection for 1/2" hexagons.
I still can't decide which one I like most.
In the pattern I give instructions for using Grunge fabric, but you can use any other fabrics. It's all up to your imagination.
Often one idea leads to another. I was curious to see how this organizer will work with half inch hexagons. I needed to adjust the measurements slightly as to cut only unsewn parts of hexagons at the edges.
First I decided to combine embroidery and EPP. I am very happy how it turned out. I fussy cut Tilda Woodland fabric for the flaps.
You can personalize this pattern in your own way by using cross stitch or upcycling a piece of vintage embroidery. You can also add tiny EPP embellishments.
In this version I used Hexie flowers made from 1/4" hexagons and a cute ladybug button.
If you don´t feel like stitching all these tiny hexies you can simply use one piece of fabric for the background, quilt it with a simple cross hatch then add EPP embellishments.
The version below features 3/8" Hexiform hexagons and hexie petals. I like that padded effect Hexiform gives to a project. The organizer is still missing a button but it will be finished very soon.
Pattern testers´s versions
Here are the beautiful Hexagon Sewing Organizers made by wonderful pattern testers. I like how they all personalized the organizers in their own way.
Penny @nutallkipenny made a loop fastener that coordinates with the binding and she used beautiful pinks and reds in her organizer.
Jenny @createsbyjenn used Liberty fabrics, her favorite closure method, contrast binding and added beautiful hand stitching on the binding.
Andrea´s @annakopatchwork version is made from Tilda´s Woodland and solids collection. She made a matching fabric button and used round elastic for the closure.
Gillian @sewgolly made her Sewing organizer from Grunge collection. I absolutely love those soft neutral colors combined with muted pinks and turquoise.
Kathy @kathylooi55 made this amazing Half inch Hexagon Sewing Organizer and adorned it with embroidery and applique.
Jothi @jothiquestscraft made her 1/2" Hexagon Sewing Organaizer with Liberty fabric. I love how the color flows from blues to pinks. What a great idea to use a crochet embellishment!
I hope you like these Hexagon Sewing organizers as much as I do and find a version which inspires you to make your own.
You can find the patterns and some kits to make them in my shop . On the day of release I will donate 25% of sales to the Red Cross.
Happy Stitching!❤