A place for everything . . .

Until recently, all my pattern drafting tools (metre rule, grids, curves etc.) were propped up against the side of a desk. This worked splendidly, until I wanted to pick one up. Then inevitably all the others would fall over, several would topple behind the desk, and Rude Words would be uttered.

Then somewhere (naturally I can't remember where) I saw a picture of a hanging organiser with shaped pockets, and realised that this was the perfect solution. I didn't want to hang something on the door, as in the picture, but I do have a tall storage cabinet with large, unused, sides.

The base of the organiser was some unidentified, thick, ivory fabric from my stash, and I decided to drape it over the top of the cabinet, like a runner. There was no point in putting pockets on the far side, as they wouldn't be easily accessible; my ironing board is usually in the way. This meant that all the weight would be on one side, so to stop the whole thing from sliding off I added an extra piece of fabric across the back.

The organiser on back to front, to show the fitted top

I also made two rows of pockets on the underside of the unused end, and put lead curtain weights into them.

The pockets and the weights

Then it was on to the pockets, which I made from my Victorian Ladies fabric. I laid out all the things I wanted to put in the organiser, and played around with them until I got a suitable arrangement. This worked out with all the rectangular objects close together at the bottom, and the curves templates further up.

Planning the layout

The first pocket was the largest one, for my big grid.

First pocket

Because the other rectangular pockets were going to be really close together, I decided it would be best to match the pattern up. Good in theory, but it soon became obvious that this would waste quite a lot of fabric, and that the matching would take forever. So, I cut a single large rectangle for all the remaining pockets, then cut it to shape, and sewed vertical lines through it to make the various pockets.

The piece for the next four pockets, pinned in place

Three separate pockets

The pockets for the curves were much simpler. They were just cut to shape, overlocked round the edges, hemmed along the top, and then the sides turned under and sewn in place.

Curve pockets

This left some space along the top, so I considered what else would be useful to have easily to hand. First of I added a pleated pocket for my spare glasses, vital for those times when my proper sewing glasses have gone walkabout. Then, because my ironing board is nearby, I added a wide loop of fabric to hold the plastic cup used for filling the iron. I filled the remaining gap with a spare pocket - just in case.

Glasses, water cup and 'spare' pocket

I even managed to make some use of the part of the organiser on the far side of the cabinet. On a recent shopping trip I had found some jumbo hooks and eyes, and sewed two of the hooks onto the fabric. These have now become storage for my basic block pattern pieces, held together with a paper clip.

Hooks for pattern pieces

So here is the completed organiser. I'm really pleased with it. I'm making New Look 6093 again, and have made a few tweaks to my pattern. Drawing up the changes was so easy; everything was immediately to hand, nothing fell behind the cabinet, and there wasn't even the merest whisper of a single rude word!

. . . and everything in its place