Sew Easy Templates make perfect circles and hexies

The outside of our pret-a-porter portfolio is looking gorgeous! Let’s get the inside scoop and use Sew Easy Templates to make perfect circles and hexies for sewing case.

I found a zippered pouch made from vinyl mesh at my local dollar store. The vinyl is tough and perfect to keep my stitching bits safe and secure. The pouch wasn’t the right size, so I cut it up to suit my needs. The pouch is 10″ wide. The top portion is 2″ long and the lower portion is 7″ long.

I also found the zipper I had on hand was too long. No worries, I simply cut it to fit too. To make sure the zipper stayed viable, I zigzagged the edges together. Attach your machine’s zipper foot and install the zipper (see photo below).

Bind the edges of the vinyl using 1″ binding strips.

Sew binding to the sides and then the top.

Top stitch the pouch to one side of the portfolio lining.

Sew the outside edge first then repeat the stitching ⅛ʺ inside the previous stitching.

Cut a piece of fabric 10″ x 6″. Cut batting 5″ x 6″. With right sides together, fold the fabric in half. Place batting on the back of this small quilt sandwich. Sew the three sides, using a ¼ʺ seam allowance and leave a opening to turn on the bottom long edge. Sew and the clip corners. Turn right side out.

Press and slip stitch the opening closed. Embellish pocket with ribbon, cotton tape, lace, etc. Sew to the lining. Create divisions for a small ruler, pencil, notepad, whatever you wish.

Download and print out the patterns for the scissor holder and pincushion.Make 6 paper-piece hexies and join in a ring. Don’t make a center hexi.Fussy cut a 3″ circle center. This is easy to do with the Sew Easy templates since they are transparent plastic you can see the fabric underneath. I picked a little busy bee motif. Cute, right?

Cut the same size circle from muslin. Cut fusible interfacing ¼ʺ (or so) smaller than the muslin. Fuse the interfacing to the muslin.

Turn under a small, but even seam allowance on the fabric circle. Use a running stitch to baste this seam around the circle, but don’t pull it. Aim for as true a circle as possible.

Repeat for the muslin circle. With right sides together, sew the circles together, clip curve, and leave a space for turning.

Turn right side out, press to create a round shape, and stuff lightly with fiber fill. It’s a challenge to keep the circle truly round. Do your best.

Applique hexi ring to the lining. Sew pincushion to the center of the hexi ring by hand, using small, even stitches. Sew Smooth really helps with this process because the thread glides through without tangling. I went around the circle twice. On the second pass, the pincushion becomes more round. Press the pincushion flower with lots of stem. This helps flatten it out a bit more.

We’re nearly finished our Pret-a-porter Portfolio. Join me tomorrow when we create a scissor holder and finish our portfolio, just in time for a weekend of stitching fun!