Crafty Tool Belt

Tracey over at Itching 2 B Stitching made a craft apron last week and I thought, "I need one of these!" No more wandering all over looking for my fabric scissors, or the seam ripper, or a spare bobbin. It can all be right at my fingertips all the time. So I sat down to figure out what a craft apron for me would need. First it needed some great fabric. This is some of Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom line that I got from Sew, Mama, Sew! I paired it with some chocolate coloured 100% cotton and a little cream bias tape. I wish I had some matching rick rack or lace, but no luck.


I could see one possible problem with a craft apron. It seemed probable that with many or large pockets I would just end up stuffing them full so when I stuck my hand in to grab my handy seam ripper I'd pull out some scrap fabric wrapped in thread unwinding from that ever so handy spare bobbin. That would annoy me as much as not being able to find my scissors so I thought it would be a good idea not to have huge pockets that could be crammed full. I could also imagine having my scissors quickly poking a hole through the corner of one of the pockets. Lining a pocket with leather could keep this from happening or the other option was to make a place to hang my scissors much in the same vein as a tool belt having a loop for a hammer. So this was the beginnings of my crafty tool belt.

I also decided to place the pockets as far on the sides of the apron as possible so that when sitting at the sewing machine I would still have access to the needed tools in my pockets. The scissors loop was also sewn to the edge of the apron so I wouldn't be stabbing myself in the thigh every time I sat down to sew. The pleats were also added so that when sitting it would splay out rather than flip up and possibly dump stuff out of the pockets.


I really do try to think this stuff through, though sometimes I do make mistakes. I'm not left-handed and yet somehow the loop ended up on the left side. Oh well, nobody is perfect. Now I wish my scissors matched my crafty tool belt. It's just a first run, more are needed. Must have one to match every outfit.