Pleating instructions

I was asked how to do the pleating required in my Fish Extender tutorial and I'm just now getting to writing it out.  Sorry it took soooo long, but I kinda forgot.  Here is a detailed tutorial on how to make the pleats. I used plain paper as a mock up pocket, it's not very pretty but it gets the job done :)

First, mark the center 5" on the BACK side of your pocket.  Make your marks at 3" and 8". (I would recommend using chalk, or a tailor's pencil.)

Next, fold along the line, so that you are bringing back-side to back-side

Turn the pocket over so that the right/front side is facing up.

Make a mark, 1.5" in from both edges.

Now I'm finding the next step a little hard to explain, so bear with me.

Fold the pocket, so that the crease from before, sets right on the mark you've made. Do this on both sides.

Once you do this on both sides, you will have the 5 inches in the middle as well as an inch and a half on either end, for a total of 8 inches, which is the goal.

 

I hope this helps.

crochet hook holder

I found this tutorial while browsing pinterest and just knew that I HAD to make it.  I was constantly losing my crochet hooks, or yarn needles.  So I bought the fabric, and started making it, but I could only find 3 of my many many crochet hooks and had to wait til they all showed up before I knew how many pockets to sew and what sizes they needed to be.  A month and a half later, I finally found them all, so I needed to finish the project.  On a side note I have extreme project a.d.d. If I can't finish it in one or two settings (which is difficult an 8 month old) I tend to forget about it for awhile.

Getting ready to mark the pockets

Measured out

The back with button sewn on

All finished

Fish Extender

What the heck is a fish extender?
When a high school friend sent me a message asking if I could make one, that was my first question.  She described it to me as best she could and then I went off on a Google search hoping to get some answers before I gave her a definite answer as to if I could make one.
As it turns out, a fish extender is a fancy name for a pocket organizer.  When you go on a Disney cruise, there is a fish on the wall right outside your door.  It is used by the cruise staff like a mailbox for your room.  They hang things like your excursion tickets on it for you.  The fish extender does just what it says, and extends the fish. (Click here for a better description)

I found a written out pattern (without pictures) in a forum, but I couldn't find it again to give credit :( And since there aren't a lot of patterns for people to go on, I'll post what I did.  The pictures are from my practice run with leftover fabric I had lying around, just to see how it turned out, and I'm actually pretty proud.

What you'll need:
1/2 yard of fabric.  (I had 1/4 yard of two different kinds)
2 packages of wide double fold bias tape
1 yard of iron on interfacing (I used Pellon)
Dowel rod

First, you need to cut out the back of your fish extender.  The one I made was 8in wide by 32 in long.

Next, you'll be cutting out the pockets.  Each pocket is 11in. wide by 5.5 inches tall (make 4 of these).

Cut out your interfacing to match the size of the back and all 4 pockets, and iron it to the wrong side of the fabric according to the directions. 

Now you are going to sew bias tape to the TOP of the pockets.
Pleat and pin each pocket so that they are 8 inches wide. (I just eye-balled this)
(For a more detailed look into pleating the pockets, click here )
Baste only the bottom of each pocket, then sew bias tape to bottom.

Sew first pocket along bottom and sides to the back, then continue with other pockets.  (Again, I eye-balled the spacing, just make sure you leave room at the top to fold the back over to insert the dowel rod)

This picture shows the bottom pocket sewed on.

Once you have all pockets attached, sew bias tape up both sides of the fish extender.  Then fold over the top and sew the pouch for your dowel rod, and you're finished!

First Post

So I have two other blogs that I neglect, and hopefully this doesn't turn into one of those o_O.  Here is where I'm going to post all the crafty things I do, which is mostly crochet, but also some sewing and really whatever else strikes me.  Right now I have a small child trying to type along with me (the f1 key is beyond repair already), so I will have to wait til after bedtime before I can get my pictures together for my first true craft post.