My Secret Sister's Crochet Cozie!

Yay!  My Secret Sister, Mutant Supermodel, got her package!!! That means I can finally talk about what I made for her. ^_^

Let's start back here. . .
For the last few years I've been on a quest to make the perfect crochet cozy. Finding the perfect balance between pockets, folds, places for big hooks, places for small hooks, closures and flaps.

My first one was great for a start,

But see that top flap to keep the hooks from falling out? Yeah, that was sewed on AFTER the whole thing was sewn together. . . cause I forgot that I'd need it.  And eventually my supplies out grew it and so I passed it on to my mom when I taught her how to crochet.

Back to the drawing for a new idea. . .

Turns out even if it fold in half the long way, you still need something to keep the hooks from falling out when you open it. Also, I should have used some interfacing inside for a little more structure.  The pockets were fine but it was too flimsy.   So once again, back to the drawing board.

Then came the secret sister swap. After spending a day poking around my Sister's blog, trying to find out what she liked, did, and needed, I had figured out she liked to crochet. Ok, that's a start, but then I got to thinking, hey!  Crochet cozie! Making packs and cozies of that sort or one thing I'm decent at. But did she already have one like that?  More searching showed m as best I could tell, she only had a pencil case she was using.  And so I got right to work.

But my last design had too many issues. So this time, for my Secret Sister, I went with more of a book fold again, this time in quarters.

I think picking the fabric was the hardest part!  I hummed and hawed over purples and yellows, and oranges, and pinks, and finally settled on a lovely purple paisley with lots of extra little colors in it and a fun tan with coffee beans.

Next came the planning. . .

and marking, and stitching. . .

And I'm a bit silly. Instead of using a like thread to hide the stitches,  I like using a contrasting or complimenting thread for top stitching for a little pop.

This time I also added some strong interfacing in the middle fold to give it a more structured book like binding. (Missed getting pictures of it though)

But put it all together and ta-da!

I threw in a few extras for a little something something and to show it's potential. AND I hid one of my photo pendants inside the little pocket!

Then I just attached this really cute bright red key chain tape measure, put it in a box with a light floral scarf, a blue necklace that screamed buy me as I was leaving Value Village a couple weeks ago, a wound ball of my favorite Vanna's Choice purple yarn, and my favorite flavor of tea from cup of tea. (You can't go wrong with A Raspberry in Paris from Cup of Tea!  It's so yummy smelling and tasting and being a rooibos it's naturally sweet and (or at least not at all bitter) and even my step dad liked it so I figure it's a winner (Because he's not even a tea drinker!). All this piled on top of a magazine of Crochet Afghan patterns. Full of lots of really funky designs.

And there you have it.  All boxed up. And word is she liked! I'm really happy too.  I had started to worry I hadn't sent enough or good enough gifts. This being my first secret sister swap and all. But all is well.

Funny thing though, just as I was finishing up the cozy and getting ready to pack everything up, I popped on her blog to see what she was up to and found a window shopping list. At least I knew from that I did well in my choice of items as the last two items on her list included things like scarves, necklaces, and crochet stuff.  ;)

 

Linked up!