More on the Eyeglass Case

I have made numerous purses with linings plus small inside pocket but since this is a more narrow project I didn't want the bulk of seam allowances.  So this has been a learning experience for me as I try a different way to assemble yet still have a soft flannel lining for eyeglasses, an Apple iPod / other MP3 or cell phone.

Continuing on with the assembly tutorial, the next thing I did was put a line of glue along the bottom edge of foundation as well as a line at the second row of hooking.  My thinking was that it would make for a nice snug closure.

Lesson #1 learned......  that made it more difficult for me to hand stitch the backing at the side and bottom because the hardened glue made the needle difficult to penetrate.  The stitching process will be posted tomorrow.

After all sides were glued down, secure and dry, there was a bead of glue at the very top along the foundation very close to the last row of hooking.  It had to be very close to cover all the foundation linen. 

I pinned it in place and let the glue cure.  As you can see from the photo below, I used Aleen's Quick Dry Tacky glue.  That way the curing doesn't take overnight so some progress can be made in a day.  Yet, I still took my time to be sure everything was secure.

After that dried then it was gluing the other 3 sides close to the end of the backing.  Oops, I almost forgot to take a picture of that part and pulled the flannel up so I could show you.

After that had dried I trimmed away the excess flannel.  My object was to have complete flannel lining coverage but have the foundation to stitch to for the closure.

Eye Glass Assembly Tutorial

Here we go....... deep breath and crossing fingers.  I am not done with the assembly yet so you will know right away if this goes in the trash.  I'm taking so many pictures that I was afraid to overload poor Blogger so thought I'd post pictures of what I've done so far.

First thing I did was steam press the piece.  Then I marked 1/2" away from the last hooked row, cut the excess away and serged the edges.  Don't have a serger?  Then you can do what is recommended for rugs and do a couple rows of straight stitch and zig zag stitches so it won't ravel.  No sewing machine?  Then do what you normally do to secure the edges.

Next step was folding the foundation inside and steamed again. 

Then folding the eye glass case in half you can see the backing where the fold is. 

So, I took a #6 strip and did a running stitch down the length so the foundation wouldn't show.  You could also hook cornrow style down that area to cover it up, whichever you prefer.

This is what it looks like folded but still not lined.  Next I cut a piece of black flannel a little larger than the opened eye glass case. 

This is to be continued....... and let's hope this process works or I'll have to resort to another method.  I've already received the woman's eye glass case in the mail and haven't touched it until I see if my experiment works okay.

Hit and Miss Eyeglass Case

I didn't get a whole lot of hooking in yesterday because I spent time in the kitchen cooking.  It is great when there are leftovers that I just heat up and usually have a pot of soup, chili or some such meal available for ease. 

 

I love eggplant lasagna....but I HATE making it. OMG, it takes so much time and it would be so much easier to use lasagna noodles instead of using the eggplant as the noodle. But figure the eggplant is a healthy alternative.  The other positive point to cooking a large pan of this is that I can chill the remainder, cut it up and freeze in individual meals for me.

 

Usually the first night I just have a huge meal of just the eggplant lasagna, oh and let's not forget the red wine. With the other meals I usually have a small salad with it.   As ingredients go I use part skim milk ricotta & part no fat cottage cheese. Also, use the fat free mozzarella cheese, no salt pasta sauce, but add garlic and spices for the taste.  Put it all in layers after cooking the eggplant and then bake for an hour....voila....  and it was very tasty last night. 

 

So today I did pull the last few loops on the eyeglass case and took a picture for you.  I still need to steam it, trim and serge it and assemble.

 

If my assembly plans work well I will share that process with you. If it doesn't turn out the way I'd hoped I'll just show you a finished version and tell you what went wrong and what I did to recover.