Following the small but no less important pride of having redone my old PSP case earlier this month, I also made a fabric tool roll case similar to my handsewing husswif, this time from scratch to hold my crochet tools. Afterwards I utilized the roll and tried to crochet but couldn’t understand the first step of how to crochet a granny square so maybe I should give this case to my mom who can knit and crochet lol.
Here is the kit closed with a polkadot mint ribbon from Michaels or Joann’s. I used a cotton linen canvas bought from Japan years ago that you may remember from my 18th century stays corset. I only had a handful of scraps left, but the largest piece was just big enough to hold crochet hooks, and I was eager to use up this fabric since it didn’t have much purpose other than stays. I also used more of the teal blue-green polyester cotton bought from Joann’s for a cosplay because it matched and I don’t see myself using that shade for another costume anytime soon.
Here is the inside of the kit. I just made this with no pattern, but I was inspired by this adorable pink crochet case listing on Etsy. First I cut a rectangle of the canvas then a piece each for the crochet hooks and the flap to keep them from falling out. I cut matching pieces of teal lining cotton to give the pieces strength. Then I fiddled around with the zipper case size but decided to use the entire length as on the listing example so I didn’t have to cut the zipper which I always hate doing because if you’re not careful to bind it, the zipper pull can slide right off. The Daiso zipper fit almost perfectly vertically, so I cut a long vertical piece for body of the zipper pocket, then a smaller piece for the other side of the zipper to hold it down onto the case, which was not done on the original case I was referencing. I cut a lining piece for larger side to make finishing the zipper attachment easier and also give it strength since the canvas was loosely woven. Then I cut a piece of elastic to help keep the tools in place, a piece of vintage cotton lace with wide holes to hold the stitch markers onto the zipper tab side, and decided on this mint ribbon that wasn’t getting used for anything else for the ties. I also cut a piece of pink fleece to use as the batting/padding layer for the entire case to make it sturdy. I was too lazy to quilt this time, but that might have been a fun decoration to do.
Just like with the husswif, I machine-sewed the lining to the components fabric, then sewed the components to the case lining, deciding to sew 4 partitions for the hooks. Afterwards I basted the lining to the batting and outside fabric so it wouldn’t shift around. I handmade some bias binding (not on the bias lol) from the same teal fabric because I didn’t have any other complementary color in my stash, about 2.5 inches wide but I could have just made it 2.25 or even 2 inches wide. I machine-sewed the bias to the interior and broke a needle because I forgot the metal part of the zipper was in the sewing path. Thankfully the machine survived that ordeal. With a new needle, I finished sewing carefully. Then I folded the bias over the raw edges and hand-sewed it down on the outside, and attached the ribbons at the very end with more hand-sewing.
Everything worked out perfectly for this creation that only took me half a day to complete! As mentioned, my bias binding technique leaves a lot to be desired, and I could have cut the binding narrower so it doesn’t look so puffy on the outside, but I preferred to have more room to work with and prettiness is not as important to me for a tool kit. The example case I referenced also had a snap tab for holding small scissors into the tool slots, of which there were two layers, but one, I didn’t have that many crochet hooks to warrant 2 layers of slots and two, my scissors already had a home in my hand sewing kit. Overall, I am super proud of myself for figuring out the zipper compartment steps on my own with no help, and I love the overall look of this kit, so colorful and happy, just a useful and pretty and quick project that is super satisfying to make and use. Currently I am keeping my crochet hooks bought from Joann’s, Michaels and Daiso in the case, along with a handful of stitch markers, one large yarn needle and a packet of the rest of the stitch markers, the only thing missing is the small scissors (I guess I do have 2 pairs of small safety scissors so I could stash one in there.) And crochet skills lol.