Be My Little Valentine

I was trying to think of Valentine's Day gifts for two pretty princesses when I came across all these super cute fabric crayon rolls. Love the idea, but they just weren't quite cutesy girly enough for what I had in mind. Then the wheels started turning... how cute would these be as lip gloss holders?! Anyone that knows anything about little girls knows that they have TONS of lip gloss/chapstick. So I decided to try my hand at making them. I think they turned out pretty well!



Want to learn how I did it? (Or just laugh at my methodical madness?? ok, that works too!) Then, follow the How To below! I don't claim for this to be perfect, or even the best way to do it. I just like figuring things out for myself, and this is how it worked for me. Now, I wanted mine to be small enough to be easily portable and fit in a cute little pretty princess' purse... but you could adjust it to fit any number of lip gloss/chapsticks that you want. Also, keep in mind the size of the object you want it to hold... this is how you will know how big to make your spaces.

First things first... measure and cut your fabric. This is exponentially easier on a measured rotary cutting mat with a rotary cutter. I cut one 5" by 7" piece of red polka dot for the front, one 5" by 7" red stripe for the inside, and one 6" by 7" piece of red polka dot for the pocket. I just used fabric I picked up at hobby lobby on my way home from work, and the reverse patterns were slightly visible, so I added a 5" by 7" piece of white broadcloth between the polka dot and stripe. I also cut a 6" by 7" piece of white broadcloth to be used with the pocket. This also added some heft... I love things that are thick and feel good in your hand.
Crayola-term recap: You'll end up with 3 pieces of patterned fabric, and 2 pieces of plain broadcloth. The piece for the outside and the piece for the pocket will be the same pattern.

Next, you want to take the pocket piece (for me, the 6" by 7" red polka dot) fold it in half hot-dog style (or lengthwise, for those of you who dont speak kid) and press along the fold. If you are adding the broadcloth, do the same to the 6" by 7" piece of it.



Insert the piece of white broadcloth into the fold of the polka dot... this should hide the broadcloth.



Next, you want to lay out your inside piece. For me this was the 5" by 7" red stripe. I laid mine out on my cutting mat... the grid made it super easy to place everything just right.



Then, take your pocket piece and lay it out on the bottom of the inside piece. Make sure you put the fold of your pocket piece at the top and the cut edge along the bottom cut edge of the inside piece. Pin this in place.



Now, starting at the bottom, sew seams up the pocket piece, one inch apart. These will make the pockets for the lip gloss! This is super easy if you use the ruler guide on your sewing machine... just put the edge and subsequent seams on the one inch mark and keep it there. You'll end up with straight, perfectly spaced seams! Don't forget to backstitch when starting and stopping!

Please excuse my manicure-less fingers and bloody thumb band-aid. Lesson: Always be careful with your rotary cutter, it's really sharp!

After you have sewn all your one inch spaced seams, lay out your inside piece. Lay out your ric-rac on the edges. Place your outside piece face down on top of the inside piece (or, right sides together.) I laid my broadcloth on top of this. Pin it.





Now to add the ribbon... I cut off about two and a half feet. Fold this in half. Pin the crease to the left edge of the outside piece, making sure to measure for the middle. Then, pull the ribbon in between the inside and outside pieces, so that most of your ribbon is hidden inside. All you should see is about 1/2 inch of the creased edge on the outside. BE CAREFUL when sewing not to catch your ribbon in your stitches! It's a good idea to pin the ribbon to the middle.






Now, sew along the outside, using a 1/4 inch seam. Hint: Start 2/3 of the way along the bottom edge, continuing around until you've sewn through the first third of the bottom edge. Be sure you leave the middle third of the bottom open to turn it right side out. When you've gotten it turned right side out, tuck in the open edges on the bottom and press.



Sew a top stitch over the open edge to close. I like to make sure this is done from vertical stitch line to vertical stitch line, it looks neater that way. Press one more time and trim loose threads and you're DONE! I cut hearts out of some extra cardstock I had and attached to the ribbon for tags. The end result was super cute and girly, and exactly what I had in mind.