Pleated Monogram Cases & Wristlet

Whenever I stitch out a sample of a newly purchased in-the-hoop embroidery design, I try to use fabrics from my stash and thread colors that go with my own purse and accessories. That way, even if the sample doesn't turn out perfectly, I have a new case or wristlet for myself.

This is my sample stitch out of the wider version of the Pleated Monogram Eyeglass Case design by Embroidery Garden.

I really like the way the fabric pleated on the front section. I didn't quite center the accent strip correctly between the placement lines, but that's the only misstep I've noticed.

I liked the way my sunglasses fit inside the case, but I also found that they slipped out if I did not use the snap closure.

Shortly after making this case, I upgraded my cell phone from a Blackberry Bold to a Samsung Galaxy S3. I had been carrying my 'Berry in a custom-sized pocket stitched into the lining of my purse, but alas, the Galaxy was just too wide and too tall to fit into that pocket.

I auditioned a few of the other zipper cases that I've made as samples over the past few years, trying to find a protective cover for my phone. My favorite case by far for the Galaxy is this Pleated Monogram Case. It fits perfectly and I don't even have to close the snap.

Early this year I was asked to make a case to fit a slightly smaller phone. The narrow version of the embroidery design was too small so I ended up editing the wider design in my embroidery software.

In order to keep the monogram and center strip size and placement intact, I hid those steps in the design and re-sized only the final two steps that sew the the case together. Then I re-centered the re-sized steps. The resulting design was just about .5 inch shorter and a smidgeon narrower, but was just the right size.

Here are a couple of my sample stitch-outs, made to test the altered embroidery designs - and to test how some of my fabrics worked with them.

This case in red doggie paisley fabric was made using the narrow eyeglass embroidery design, but I shortened the height by .5 inch. The closure is a red hair elastic that loops around a white button.

Instead of a monogram, I substituted this cute little terrier embroidery design from Embroidery Boutique that I've had for a while.

This case was too narrow for my phone, but it was a perfect fit for my sunglasses!

The next sample stitch-out was made with a cute Westie fabric I bought late last summer from Joann.com. The colors are a bit off - the red is closer to a rusty brick while the blue is more teal.

I'm not too happy with the way the Westie pattern looks pleated this way, so if I use this fabric again, I'll turn them so they're running vertically, instead of horizontally across the front.

The good news is that this size was a perfect fit for my phone! The wide eyeglass case embroidery design was edited so that the height is about .5 inch shorter and width about .25 inch narrower.

I decided not to add any type of closure at the top, because the fit is quite snug - and I rarely use the snap on the brown version when I use it for my phone.

Here are all three cases, lined up to compare the sizes:

Last August, I made this Pleated Monogram Wristlet Purse (another design from Embroidery Garden) for one of my nieces as a birthday gift. The fabrics, zipper and thread colors were selected to coordinate with an insulated lunch bag I made for her the previous year.

Here's a peek inside at the lining:

I was very happy with the way it turned out and must find a reason to make more!






edited:
Dec-16-2018 Replace SewAmazin Flickr photos with Google photos; edit old links