Tuesday, 17 January 2012 03:00

Our cute quilted case is sized to hold everything from thin readers to designer sunglasses. Batting makes it soft, and the smooth cotton lining will help keep your lenses scratch-free. We added a perky ruffle to crank up the cute factor. Plus, there's a carabiner key clip so you have all the essentials at hand: glasses and keys; "I can see... I can drive. I'm ready to rumble!" We picked the pretty Oh La La fabric collection by Pillow & Maxfield in Red Petite Fluers and combined that with Dear Stella's J'Adore Stella Pink Sunburst Stripe. Two different designers but both with a French accent! Together they create a wonderful color and print combo for a lovely Valentine's Day gift.
Our thanks to Fat Quarter Shop for providing all the fabric for this project. Kimberly and the Fat Quarter Shop crew always have a great selection of the latest collections... hey - that rhymes! You can search by collection or designer or theme. In honor of the heart-themed holiday, I searched on Valentines Fabric - oh my, puddin' 'n' pie, there are dozens and dozens of pretties to choose from.

Sewing Tools You Need

Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Jem Gold 3, which comes with a Free Quilting Kit )
Quilting attachment set with guide bar (optional)

Fabric and Other Supplies

¼ yard of 44-45" wide fabric for the case exterior; we used Ooh La La by Pillow & Maxfield's for Michael Miller Fabrics in Red Petite Fleurs
¼ yard of 44-45" wide fabric for the case lining and ruffle; we used J'Adore Stella from Dear Stella Fabrics in Pink Sunburst Stripe
¼ yard of lightweight batting
2" scrap of coordinating ribbon; we used a soft pink ¼" satin ribbon
Small key ring and/or carabiner in a coordinating color (optional)
All purpose thread to match fabrics
All purpose thread in a contrasting color for quilting stitches, we used white
See-through ruler
Fabric pen or pencil
Iron and ironing board
Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
Tape measure
Straight pins

Getting Started

Download and print the Sunglass Case Template.
IMPORTANT: The template consists of ONE 8½" x 11" sheet. You must print this PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page.
Cut out the template along the solid line.
Test the template on your glasses or sunglasses before you cut your fabric. Our case fits standard contemporary frames like the ones shown in our photos. To confirm the fit for your particular glasses, wrap the template around the glasses, noting that a little more ½" will be lost in the seam and with the thickness of the quilting.
Using the template, fussy cut TWO pieces from the exterior fabric, lining fabric and batting.
From the fabric for the ruffle, cut ONE 3" wide x 14" long strip. For our directional stripe, we cut so the stripe was running vertically across the width.
Cut ONE 2" length of ribbon.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Exterior and lining

Pin a batting piece to the back of both exterior pieces.
Quilt the two layers together in a diagonal pattern.
We used the quilt guide bar attachment on our Janome sewing machine and stitched the seams 1" apart. This was a perfect fit for the motif on our Petite Fleurs design. If you do not have a quilt guide bar, you can use a fabric pen or pencil to draw evenly spaced lines to follow.
Find the 2" length of ribbon. Fold it in half and pin it onto the right side of one quilted exterior piece approximately 1" down from the top edge. The raw edges of the ribbon should align with the raw edge of the fabric - so the loop is facing in. Pin in place.
Place the two quilted exterior pieces right sides together, aligning all the raw edges and sandwiching the ribbon loop between the layers. Pin in place.
Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch around the entire outer edge, leaving the top open.
Press seam open. Trim the seam allowance back to ¼".
Clip the bottom curve, being careful to not clip through your seam.
Turn the case right side out. Press flat.
Fold down the raw edge of the top opening ½" all around. Measure carefully and press well.
Repeat to create the lining but omit the batting and quilting steps. In other words, simply pin and stitch the two lining pieces together, leaving the top open.
Then, with the lining still wrong side out, turn down the top raw edge ½" all around. As above, measure carefully and press well.

Ruffle

Find the ruffle piece. Fold it right sides together, aligning the 3" edges. Pin in place.
Stitch together, using a ½" seam allowance. Press seam open. You have a ruffle loop.
Fold the ruffle loop in half wrong sides together and press well.
Using a long basting stitch, stitch ⅜" along the top raw edge of the ruffle piece through both layers, leaving 4-5" lengths of thread at the beginning and end of the stitch.
NOTE: If you are new to ruffling, we have a short tutorial on the subject.
Pull the 4-5" thread tail to gather the ruffle evenly to match the width of the top opening of the case.
Remember when you pressed the top raw edge of the case exterior down by ½". Now, I want you to unfold it so the raw edge is up and there is a visible crease at the ½" point.
Slip the ruffle loop over the top of the case exterior, aligning the raw edges of the ruffle loop with the raw edges of the fabric/batting. Pin in place.
Using a ½" seam allowance, stitch the ruffle to the exterior.
Fold the top edge back down along the ½" crease line. This will cause the ruffle to stand up. Pin the seam allowance down from the front of the case.
Slip the lining (which should be WRONG side out) inside the exterior.
Match up the seams and the top folded edge of the lining with the ruffle seam line. Pin in place.
Re-thread your machine with thread to match the lining in the top and thread to match the exterior in the bobbin.
Working from the inside, edgestitch the lining to the exterior all around the top
Press well.