3.25.2013

kids art portfolio


I love making birthday presents for Hudson's friends.  One of his little friends just turned 3 and she loves to draw.  She will focus on a drawing forever.  So I wanted to make her a little art carrying kit.  I saw a few tutorials on line that I used as a starting point.

I started with a 9"x12" drawing pad from Target.
Drawing Pad - White (9x12

Using this as my guide, I figured out how big to make the case.

Here's what you need to cut out:
2 pieces 14"x23" of front and back fabric (white polka dot)
1 piece 14"x4.5" of pocket fabric (red polka dot)
1 piece 14"x7.5" of pocket fabric (white polka dot)
1 piece 14"x10.5" of pocket fabric (red polka dot)
1 piece 9"x10.5" of zipper pocket fabric (red polka dot)
2 pieces of webbing 6.5" or longer

optional: interfacing for each of the pieces.

1. Fuse interfacing onto the back of each piece.  The interfacing makes it pretty thick.  If I make one again, I might only put interfacing on the outside piece and skip the large inside piece.  The pockets definitely need interfacing to make them thick enough.  Or you could double the fabric to give it more stability.  I did not do interfacing on the zipper pocket.

 2. fold over one long end of each pocket 1/2 inch to create a hem.  I serged mine first, but you don't need to.  Stitch down to create a finished edge.


3.  Lay out your pockets right side up on the inside large piece.  The red pocket is the notebook pocket and the white pocket is for stickers.  Pin the sides and sew them in place.

 4.  The Zipper Pocket: Place the zipper face down, with the pull to the left on the right side of your fabric.  You want the zipper to be a half inch shorter on each side.  If your zipper is too long, you can just trim it.  Sew along the top as close to the zipper as you can.  Open and press.

5.  Fold up the other end of the fabric to meet the other side of the zipper.  The zipper pull will still be to the left.  You should now see the wrong side of the fabric on the outside and the zipper shouldn't be visible.  Pin and sew as close to the zipper as you can.


6.  You should now have a little tube of fabric connected by the zipper.  Open your zipper half way.

 7.  Press your pocket lightly so that the zipper is slightly down from the top.  You need room to sew it to the large piece later.  Sew along the short sides to close the pocket.  On the side with the metal zipper stop, sew as close as you can, making sure the two zipper pieces line up to each other.  On the other side, make sure to sew on top of the zipper so it will stop.


8.  Turn the pocket right side out through the opening.  Ta-da! You have a zipper pocket!


9.  On the other side of the big inside piece, lay out your crayon pocket and zipper pocket.  Note: all pockets should be opening up the same way towards the top.  Take the crayon pocket and turn it over so it is wrong side up.  Sew along the raw edge.


10.  Turn the pocket up and press.  Stitch along the side to hold it in place.


11.  To make the crayon pockets, measure every 1 1/8 inch using chalk or a fabric marker as a guide.  I made the pockets to hold 2 crayons, but you could make them just hold one.  Just make them a bit smaller.  Sew along these chalk lines to make the dividers.



12.  Stitch around your zipper pocket, close to the edge.

 
13.Take one piece of webbing and pin it facing the inside to create a handle.  Repeat on the other end.


14.  Take the back piece and place it right side down.  Sew around the edge, leaving a 3-4 inch section open on the side.  Go nice and slow here.  Your machine is sewing a lot of layers.  You may even want to use a heavy duty needle.  Turn it right side out and pin the opening.  Top stitch around the whole outside, closing the hole.



And you're done!  This was a pretty quick project.  Only took me 1 nap time :)







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