EPP Case

I am so excited about the project I'm sharing with you today. This block of hexagons has stumped me for weeks, as I tried to decide what I wanted to do with it. Well, I finally figured it out. Meet my new English Paper Piecing Case.

The retro library case that I made last year never got around to carrying books -- it was too perfect for holding my EPP projects on the go. But since there's only one pocket on the inside, I usually found myself stuffing all my pieces into various Ziploc bags. Efficient, but not very pretty to look at. This little organizer has been a long time coming, but I am absolutely thrilled with it.

Take a look, folks. There's a pocket for everything...everything -- paper pieces, basted pieces, scissors, thread, seam ripper, and fabric! I even zig-zag-stitched a tiny pincushion to the center of the case; I like to have a landing spot for my needle when I'm working on a project in the evenings since needles that get set down in my room have a way of disappearing and then reappearing in someone's foot. I used black yarn dyed Essex linen for the body of the case and sewed down the hexagon block on top of the outside. The inside features my new prints from Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt which I absolutely adore. I used another DS scrap for the flap and lined it with a fun Japanese print.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm going to tell you that the slot for the seam ripper was a happy accident. When I sewed the final seam around the case, I went to try out the flap and found that it was way too long. After a moment of panic, I found that by doubling it over and stitching along the same outside seam line for the case, the extra fabric made a perfect loop that exactly fit my seam ripper. (Insert giant sigh of relief here.)

If you're interested in making one for yourself, the design for this case is very similar to the Navigator's Clutch tutorial I posted last summer which you can find here on my tutorials page. There was quite a bit of bulk on the edges with the extra pocket and the extra layer of hexagons that I added for this version, so I had to go slowly and be patient. It was so worth it, though. This little case is going to be well used and well loved.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.