Knitting Needle Case *~Tutorial~*

Please ask for my permission first before posting any of my pictures on your website! I thank you in advance for this.

I have (like any another knitter) TONS of needles and they are now officially at the point where they got out of hand and needed a home. James got me some 16" circular needles for my birthday and that's what sorda put this project in gear. It fits ALL (well, almost all) my needles and I'm in love with it. Plus, it's super easy to make and you can crank one out in an afternoon.

*Note: This is just a basic pattern to follow. I searched (and searched and searched) for exactly what I was looking for and took bits and pieces from a few that I've found. I'm not going to put one of those "copyright" things on this because 1. I'm not the one who designed the knitting needle case (in general, this one I designed) and 2. well, I just wanted to do this tutorial to help others. I've tried to make the instructions as clear as possible so that even the most beginner of beginner stitchers could make this. If you have any questions, or if something is unclear, please contact me multicrafty(at)gmail(dot)com. Now, onto the case!

*~Materials~*

*~2 pieces of fabric (1 from your outer fabric and 1 from you inner fabric) measuring 17"x20".

(The following are going to be "group" fabrics to make easier explanation in the directions)
*~Group A~*
1 piece out of your outer fabric measuring 17" by 1.5"
1 piece out of your inner fabric measuring 17" by 5.5"

*~Group B~*
1 piece out of your outer fabric measuring 17" by 1.5"
1 piece out of your inner fabric measuring 17" by 9"


*~Group C~*
1 piece out of your outer fabric measuring 17" by 1.5"
1 piece out of your inner fabric measuring 17" by 12"

*~Ribbon (I had a 42" piece of ribbon and it was enough for the project, in fact it was a little more than what I needed)
*~Embellishments (you could do applique, buttons, flowers, whatever you want on the front)
*~Tailors chalk, fabric pen, or something else that you use to mark fabric

*Directions*
(I used a 1/2" seam allowance for the whole project. Top stitching after it was all done was about 1/8")

Taking your Group A fabric, pin the 17"x1.5" to the 17"x5.5" piece with right sides together and stitch. Repeat for Group B and Group C. (*Note: If you don't want to do this you could use bias tape)

After you are all done stitching, take to your ironing board and just press outer fabric up.

Now, with wrong side of fabric facing up, take the outer fabric and fold it down and press into place. (I did take a picture of this part but seem to have accidentally deleted it when I was transfering my pictures from my camera to the computer. If you have any questions, please ask!)

Take it back to your sewing machine and "stitch in the ditch". Trying to get as close to the outer fabric as possible. I use my needle as a guide and lower it down just so it's almost touching the fabric and adjust the fabric from there to get it right where I need it. (You will also repeat this step for Group B fabric as well as Group C.

When you are complete with this step it should look something like this.

Take Group C fabric and Group B fabric and pin the to the inner fabric that measures 17"x20" making sure to line everything up at the bottom. I used LOTS of pins for this part because I didn't want this guy to move. I even added more pins after this picture was taken.

Starting and the bottom, measure 2" in from the right and make a mark using your tailors chalk (or whatever else you use to mark fabric) and then from that mark measure 1.5". All pockets are 1.5" apart, the final pocket on the left will be just shy of 2" (or just over 2" I can't remember but it all works out in the end). Make marks at the 1.5" as you go along.

Once you have all your marks made, take to your sewing machine and from one of the middle marks, stitch all the way up, back tacking at each pocket for extra stability and stopping at the top pocket. You want to start in the middle and work your way out that way nothing comes undone or shifts on you.

Repeat for all the marks making sure to back tack at each pocket.

Preparing Group A fabric and if you'd like to have a place for your stitch markers, take a piece of ribbon measure about 6"-7". I didn't cut mine until the very end because I was afraid that I would stitch the ends to it by accident.

Stitch where you have your pins and back tack or go over it a few times for extra security. After that take the fabric and pin it to the inner fabric with the other pockets.

From here, I didn't measure my pockets exactly, I just made these pockets the width of 2 pockets from the previous pockets (does that make sense?). Once again you want to start in the middle to make sure everything stays secure and doesn't shift on you and this time instead of starting at the bottom, you want to actually start at the top of Group A and line it up with your previous stitch marks. Just as shown in the picture below.

Once you are finished, just take outer fabric (that measure 17"x20") and place right sides together and take your ribbon, fold it in half and place it on one side about in the middle and stitch around (just as you would if you were making a pillow) leaving about a 5" opening at the top (also, I back tacked where my pockets were and also a few times where my ribbon was). Trust me, you don't want to leave it at the bottom and then try to get 5 layers of fabric all tucked in neatly. Clip the corners and turn right side out. Press everything so it's nice and neat and the top stitch all around.

After that, just load it up with your knitting stuff and your good to go.

If you have any questions, or if any of the steps were unclear, please let me know. Thanks so much! Also, if you make this project, I'd love to see how yours turned out, just email me at multicrafty(at)gmail(dot)com or post in the comment section.

Edited to add: All pictures are clickable so if you need a better view of how I did something, just click on the picture.