Janome Life

Spring Sewing

The temps here in Winnipeg have finally started to be consistently above the zero degree mark! That means several things here: 1) it’s shorts weather (ha! maybe not for me but I’m seeing a lot of people who think this is true!); 2) it’s time for some spring-themed sewing.

I dove right in to making this cute little organizer recently. The flowery fabric makes me think of gardening and getting outdoors (although that’s still a bit of ways off as the ground here is still frozen for the most part). And anything that helps me be more organized is always fun in my books!

Make an “Anything Organizer” on the Fly

This will be a make-up organizer for me but it can essentially be used for anything where there are bits and pieces that need their own containment system.

I’ll explain a bit about the basic premise of this project incase you’re inspired for a little spring sewing as well! But this is one of those customize-as-you-go projects.

This project started with two main pieces – an exterior and interior piece – and a lightweight batting. For this project my main pieces were cut 13 inches by 19 inches.

Envision the tri-fold bag divided into three sections. When placing pockets, leave room to fold up the finished bag without catching the pockets.

Pockets were measured out according to various needs. When folded, this organizer has three sections – so I tried to keep that in mind as I created my pockets.

Each pocket consists of two pieces, sewn right sides together and then turned right-sides out and pressed.

For a little extra finish, I rounded the corners on the pockets.

Practice your Favourite Techniques, Or Tackle Something New

There are all sorts of options for pocket closures. I opted for one zippered pocket and one button closure.

Once all the pockets were prepared, the next step was to top stitch the pieces to the interior fabric and batting.

Interior and exterior pieces are then placed right sides together and sewn around all four sides except to leave a two inch opening at the top, right in the middle, to turn right sides out.

Before the organizer was top stitched on all four sides, I made a small loop using a two inch piece of fabric folding like binding and pinned in-between the open section.

Now – fill and organize!

Do your fabric choices change with the season? What projects are currently on your sewing table? What’s on your spring sewing to-do list?