(singing) "Sponge Bob Square Pants!" LOL!
That song was going through my head the entire time I was making this pineapple-themed pencil case for someone special. You see, Miss Holly over at Maker Valley - who makes no secret about her love of this sweet tropical fruit - surprised me with some happy mail the other day and ... well, I simply had to reciprocate. :)
This case is based on my Round Pencil Case pattern that I've made a million times now because it's my go-to make when I want to give something cute, useful, that I can customize for the recipient, and is quick to make. ;) It requires a handful of fabric and batting scraps, and a zipper. That's it.
This version is a bit different from the original, which has binding to cover the zipper, because I was having a zipper dilemma with this one - no green zipper at all in my stash (?!) and I wasn't happy with how the neutral ones looked with the green fabric. I had a yellow zip, but not the right colour. And I didn't want to leave the house for just a $2 notion when I had a drawer full, and - more to the point - when it was -30C outside.
So I wondered what would happen if I omitted the binding. To compensate, I used this fabulous metal zipper with a cute little tab. (I usually use plastic zippers and then cut them to size, but this worked well - just had to remove some teeth with needlenose pliers to make it the right length.) I like how the bronze metal adds to the pineapple vibe.
But then I had another problem - without a green accent of some kind, this was just another yellow pencil case.
What to do? Green finger tabs, of course! The pattern does include this detail, but I thought maybe it wasn't going to be enough green. Turns out it's the exact right amount of green - any more and it would have been too much.
I used a bunch of Moda yellows from different collections and they play so nicely together. I even threw in some strikeoffs from First Romance that didn't make the final cut. To call them "rare" is an understatement! LOL! And then I added the label and tiniest kiss of green with a ribbon tab to finish it all off. :) xo k