This Liberty sewing tidy project is an excerpt from The Liberty Book of Simple Sewing published by Quadrille Craft and written by Christine Leech and Lucinda Ganderton. This book is full of beautiful projects for the home made with stunning Liberty fabrics.
This sewing organiser is a great way to use up leftovers of furnishing fabric, this portable hanging storage system, with pockets and places for all your sewing notions, means your scissors, needles and pins are always to hand.
YOU WILL NEED
• 110 x 80cm cream cotton drill fabric
• 130 x 20cm Liberty Linen Union in print of your choice (we used September Roslynd in colourway A)
• 30cm matching bias binding
• 20 x 5cm felt
• 20cm narrow lace
• small amount of polyester toy filling
• wooden coat hanger
• sharp pencil
• dressmaker’s squared paper
• matching sewing thread
• sewing machine
• sewing kit
CUTIING OUT
From cotton drill fabric: | From Liberty Linen Union | From felt | ||
front panel one 50 x 60cm rectangle back panel one 50 x 60cm rectangle strawberry pincushion | pleated pocket large divided pocket small divided pocket Adverts     large scissor pocket small scissor pocket knitting needle pocket | needlebook cover needlebook pages strawberry hull |
TEMPLATES
Download the Liberty sewing tidy templates., then enlarge the pleat pocket template by 400% and all the other templates by 200%
ASSEMBLY OF THE LIBERTY SEWING TIDY
1) Shaping the front and back panels
Mark the centre top of one panel. Position the coat hanger across this edge so that the hook is in line with the mark and draw along the upper edge of the hanger. Extend the curve out to the side edges, then neatly cut along the marked line. Use this piece as a template to shape the second panel.
2) Making the pleated pocket
Press under a 12mm turning along the side and bottom edges of the pocket, and make a double 12mm hem along the top edge. Insert pins into the top and bottom edges to mark the fold lines, at 2.5cm and 10cm intervals, following the broken lines marked on the template. Fold and press each line in turn to create four inverted pleats.
3) Pin the pleats together and position the pocket centrally on the front panel, 5cm up from the bottom edge. Pin and tack the side edges, then machine stitch 3mm from the fold. Now tack down the bottom edge and stitch through all the layers, 3mm from the fold. Divide up the pockets by hand stitching a vertical line down the centre of each inverted pleat. If you prefer, you can sew this and the other pockets on by hand with small slip stitches.
4) Adding the small pockets
Bind the top edge of all five pockets with bias binding. Press back a 1cm turning along the bottom edge of each pocket, then press a 1cm turning along the side edges. Fold the corners down and press them too, so that they don’t project above the top edge. Press the divided pockets in half and then into quarters to mark the stitch lines.
5) Following the photograph as a guide, pin the knitting needle pocket and the large scissor pocket above and to the left of the pleated pocket and the small scissor pocket to the right.
6) Position the divided pockets in the top right half, with the right edges in line with the pleated pocket. Machine stitch down, 3mm from the folds, then sew along the crease lines on the divided pockets.
7) Sewing the strawberry
Join the two straight edges with a 6mm seam. Trim a small triangle from the tip, then turn right side out. Sew small running stitches around the top edge and stuff firmly with toy filling. Draw up the thread and securely fasten off. Cut a 10cm length of lace and fold it in half. Sew the ends together and thread on the hull. Stitch the ends of the lace to the top of the strawberry and sew down the tips of the hull.
8) Assembling the needlebook
Fold the remaining lace in half and sew the ends to the centre top edge of the cover. Pin the felt page to the cover and hand stitch the left edge. Fold the book in half and work a few stitches through the spine to keep the book flat. Stitch the top of both lace loops to the front panel.
9) Putting it all together
With right sides facing, pin the front and back panels together. Machine stitch 15mm from the edge along the side and top edges, leaving a 1cm gap at the centre top, where marked. Press the seam open, then press a 1cm turning around the bottom edges. Turn right side out. Insert the coat hanger, pushing the hook up through the gap. Pin and tack the front to the back along the bottom edge and sew together by hand or machine.
THE LIBERTY BOOK OF SIMPLE SEWING published by Quadrille (£20)
Photos ©KRISTIN PERERS; Illustrations ©LUCINDA GANDERTON
