Simple sewing to make the heart sing

After feeling rather ambivalent about the quilt I finished recently, I was in need of some pick-me-up sewing and so I made the decision to cut into my stash of Liberty lawn. Earlier in the year in the Liberty sale I treated myself to a leather cosmetics case embossed with the Ianthe pattern. This little pouch is far too nice to risk any make up spillages and instead I use it for my hexagon sewing kit. I needed a small needlecase and scissor cosy for the kit and decided to make them out of the same print.

This was such a satisfying little project using hexagons cut from card, wadding offcuts, Liberty lawn and felt. They took less than an hour to make and, unlike the quilt, I love them. The needlecase is just big enough to take some piecing needles and a larger needle for burying thread ends, whereas the scissor cosy is the ideal size for my thread snipping scissors and holds them securely in place thanks to a hidden press stud.

The case and cosy are quick to sew and can be made from scraps. I'll add a full tutorial to the projects section in the next few weeks, but in the mean time here are some basic instructions. It is easy to make any size of hexagon using a compass and ruler so for this project you don't need die-cut hexagons.

1. The size of the hexagon should be determined by the scissors and should be such that a corner (vertex) of the hexagon sits within a ring of the handle and the points of the scissors are within the hexagon.
2. Cut two hexagons from thin card and use these as templates to cut your outer fabric, wadding and felt. The outer fabric should be 1 cm larger on all sides than the hexagon, the wadding a few millimetres larger than the hexagon, and the felt a few millimetres smaller than the hexagon.
3. Glue the wadding to the card and thread baste the outer fabric to the hexagon, placing it over the wadding and taking care to stitch through only the fabric seam allowances and not the card. The stitches should be as far from the edge as possible to ensure that they are hidden by the felt.
   Glue or stitch the felt to cover the seam allowances. If using glue for the needlecase, it is advisable to only apply glue to the edge of the felt as it is easier to insert needles if the centre is not stuck down.
4. For the needlecase, with outer fabrics together, whip stitch along one side to form a hinge.
5. Stitch a press stud to the felt on the opposite side of the hinge (optional).
6. For the scissor cosy, stitch a press stud to one corner of the felt. With the felt linings together, whip stitch along four sides, ensuring that the press stud is in the centre of the open sides.