Ruler Apron

Do you remember reading Katy No Pocket by H. A. Ray as a child?  It's a story about a kangaroo with no pockets.  After much strife over her lack of ability to carry children, she meets a carpenter who gives her an apron full of pockets.

Here she is at the end of the story.  She's happy because now she's able to carry around lots of little friends.

I've thought of Katy all day today as I made a new tool for my sun room.   I'm really excited because it turned out just as I hoped.  I like that I can keep all these things near me, but not cluttering the table top as I work.

It's made from some leftover canvas and attaches to my folding table with 4 velcro tabs.  I use several rulers and there's a place for all of them. 
On the left at the bottom, there are two 6 x 24 rulers and above is a pouch for squares in 6 and 6.5.  Then, the right side has a 12.5 square at the bottom, with a 9.5 above.  Finally, there are two smaller pouches : one for the missing 4.5 square ruler and a larger rotary cutter, and last tiny pocket holds a small pair of scissors and a small rotary cutter.  I also tossed in two Add-a-Seam rulers for paper piecing, since they fit too.

If you try something like this, I'd suggest first pinning the pockets in place to make sure there's room to lift each ruler out.   I decided to make the upper row of pockets 3.5 inches from the top edge, since the apron is slightly under the table top.  This allows easier access to those top pockets.  Also, I cut each pocket 2.5 inches wider than the ruler.  Then, as I turned in the raw edges, I still had plenty of width so the ruler isn't too tight.

Here's my test case with all the pockets pinned.  Even though I didn't need to move anything, I'm really glad to test it out first.

To celebrate my successful project, I began a pumpkin table runner today.  It will be a festive touch for our Thanksgiving celebration and a nice gift for my sister-in-law, who makes it look easy to feed so many guests from her kitchen.  You wouldn't believe how many people end up crammed in her small kitchen as she cooks.  She just smiles and reaches around us rather than fussing at us to get out of her way.  We should all be as gracious as Patti!

It's been threatening to rain today and it's been much colder too.  I've enjoyed watching the leaves blow as I've worked.  No painting for today either.  Yesterday was a crazy time of dragging pieces in and out as the weather changed.  So I'll return to my cutting table when we have sunnier weather.  I'm looking forward to getting that project finished, so my little space will be even more useful.  One step at a time!

I meant to show you my bobbin case on the sewing desk yesterday.  Here it is lifted up from the table surface.  As I confessed, I just didn't see the need to paint all those extra little shelves since I don't use this piece.  It won't lift up with one hand and even with two, it becomes a wrestling match to get it out of its resting place.  Great idea, but not so useful in practice.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars