Sewing storage book needle case

This needle case is a great way to keep all your sewing tools and accessories in one place and a great fabric scrap buster.  

In this tutorial, I will show you the step-by-step instructions on creating this beautiful, storage book needle case. Grab your Brother sewing machine and fabric, and let’s get started!

Materials needed

• Cotton fabrics, great use of scraps! 
• Wadding 
• 18cm zip
• Felt sheets 
• Interfacing 
• Ribbon

Equipment needed

• Sewing machine – I use the Innov-is F560
• Scissors
• Notions: thread, pins, chalk or removable pen, quilting ruler, etc.

How to

Cutting the pieces

1. 2 x front and back, 20 x 32cm
2. 1 x side pocket left back, 20 x 18cm 
3. 1 x side pocket left upper, 18 x 8cm 
4. 1 x side pocket left front lower, 18 x 15cm 
5. 1 x side patch pocket left middle, 10 x 18cm  
6. 1 x side patch pocket left lower, 7 x 18cm 
7. 1 x side pocket right, 20 x 17cm 
8. 1 x side patch pocket right lower, 10 x 15cm 
9. 1 x felt top right back 12 x 9cm, 1 x felt top right middle 10 x 8cm, 1 x felt top right top 8 x 7cm
   
   

Step1

First interface the side of your back piece, this will become the structure or backing of the inside of your booklet.

Step 2 

Press under the long side edge of piece 7 (side pocket right) by 1cm, then under again another 1cm. Top stitch this in place. 

Press under the top edge of piece 8 by 1cm, then another 1cm. Top stitch in place.  

Press under the left side of piece 8 (the right side facing you), and then pin to piece 7 at the bottom.  

Stitch this in place across the side, bottom, and other side, but leave the top open.  

Then you can add stitch lines on the pocket to make smaller compartments, I used my mini scissors as a reference for how wide I wanted my sections, and then top stitched the from the top of pocket down.

Step 3

Pin your two layers of felt as in the image below, and baste them in place at the top a few mm from the edge.  

Tip: I used different felt colours to make the design pop! You can have a lot of fun picking out your fabrics, and colour choices for this.

Step 4

Stitch the zipper to pieces 3 and 4, with the smaller piece at the top and the longer piece at the bottom. Use a zipper foot and take your time to line the zip up to match both pieces.

Step 5 

Add the pockets (pieces 5 and 6) in the same way as you sewed in the other pocket in Step 2 – by folding under the top edge twice of each pocket and top stitching in place.

Step 6 

Layer the smaller pocket piece onto the larger one at the bottom, then baste both of them to piece 4 at the bottom (see image below). Pin your back piece 2, right sides together to 3 and 4, making sure your zip is half open. Sew all the way around with a 1cm seam allowance, clip corners, and then turn this through the zipper hole, and press to neaten.
 

Step 7

Pin the finished pockets to your interfaced piece 1, and baste the right-side pockets in place top, bottom and right side, keeping the left side open.

Repeat on the left pocket, carefully stitching a couple of mm bottom, left side, and top, making sure to avoid sewing over the metal part of your zipper.

Step 8

Layer piece 1, the fabric you want on the outside, with your piece of wadding and pin together with the right side of your main fabric right way up.

Using a quilt ruler, add some quilt lines at a 45-degree angle, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Repeat from the other corner, to create a grid. Stitch these lines on your machine, using a walking foot in you have one, or increase your stitch length to 3.

Step 9

*Optional extra*

I added some embroidery to the front cover by stitching the words ‘Sewing Stuff’ onto a piece of felt using the Brother Innov-is F560’s built-in sewing fonts. I cut around the felt with pinking shears and placed it onto the front quilted cover. I sewed in place across the sides and bottom, leaving the top open as another little fun pocket. Decorate the front of the book as you want with buttons, embroidery, and whatever else you fancy!

Step 10

Baste some ribbon to the middle of each shorter edge, on each side of your quilted front – this will be the ties that you can close your book with.

Step 11

Place your front and back pieces right sides together, sandwiching the ribbons inside, and stitch around all sides, leaving a 4-5 inch gap at the bottom edge. Clip the corners and turn through the hole.

Give it a good press, then stitch the hole at the bottom closed either by hand or on the machine. I used the opportunity to close the hole and continue top stitching all the way around to add it as a detail and make really crips edges.

That is it! I hope you enjoyed seeing how to make this gorgeous sewing storage book and needle minder!