Seeing as this was the first project of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to challenge myself with the sewing.  I quickly learned that I bit off more than I could chew.  At least I can safely say that this semester’s run in with Murphy’s Law is over.

I began by setting out all of the materials on the table including the fabric pieces, foam, and my sunglasses.

Then, I measured my sunglasses and determined that they would fit in a case made from a 7x7in piece of fabric.  In hindsight, I should have allowed an extra inch or two so that the glasses would have more space.  I decided on a triangular shape for the top part of the fabric that would end up becoming the flap for the case.  I marked out the fabric using the chalk and then cut up the fabric.

After cutting out the fabric, I folded the piece and began the first sewing step.  After the first full piece of fabric had been sewn, I realized that I had left too much fabric for the seam tolerance.  I cut out another piece of fabric and then sewed it again with less seam tolerance.

Finally, I stuffed the foam inside, sealed the last seam, and added on a snap clip (Not before accidentally putting the snap clips on in the wrong order and having to redo that step).

If I learned anything from this project (and I really learned a lot), its that you should spend a whole lot of time lining things up and measuring.  In addition, I also realize the value of leaving extra tolerance when trying to make an object fit in another (as you can’t make your creation bigger after you’ve made it).

How much did this cost?

Black fabric – $2

Foam piece – $2

Gray Thread – $1

Snap clips – $3

Tools:

Scissors – $5

Needles – $1

Pins – $1

Chalk – $5

Labor – $5/hr * 8 hours (yikes, that took a long time)(Also, the value of my labor in sewing is not very high right now as my experience is now probably a total of 9 hours)

Total: = $60

The biggest expense here is by far the labor (mainly because it took so much time).