Instructions for Making a Needlepoint Eyeglass Case
Once thought to be "old fashioned," needlepoint is making a comeback with today's youth through stylish new designs in items like glasses cases, cards, beanies, and hacky sacks as seen in the work of modern artist Laura Hughes. Creating your own eyeglass case with needlepoint is simple even for the beginner who has never done needlepoint before. You can purchase a pre-designed canvas to work from, print your own design, or make one up as you stitch.
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Things You'll Need
- Interlock needle point canvas (6 and 1/2 inches by 7 inches)
- Yarn
- Needle
- Pattern
- Velvet
- Scissors
- Craft glue
Instructions
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Check to make sure the gauge of the yarn matches the hole size in the canvas to prevent snagging or gaps. Yarn comes in a variety of thicknesses, and canvas comes with a variety of hole sizes. If the yarn is too large for the holes, it will snag; if the yarn is too small for the holes it will leave gaps in the pattern. If you aren't sure what gauge of yarn to use, try a few scrap pieces of yarn in various gauges to test the fit. Needlepoint your design on the canvas by creating variation of pattern through stitch location and yarn color choices. Start with the smallest part of the design first. Tie a waste knot on the end of the yarn. Insert the other side of the yarn into the needle, leaving about a two inch long tail.
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Insert the needle into the canvas at the start of the pattern. Pull the thread through the canvas until the waste knot rests on the top of the canvas. Insert the needle through the canvas from below at least 5 holes to the right of where the waste knot is located. Pull the needle and thread up through the canvas, and insert it into the hole that is located diagonally up to the right of that hole. Pull the thread through. Insert the needle into the hole that is immediately to the left of the first hole you pulled the thread up through. Pull the thread through the canvas, and insert the needle into the hole that is diagonally up to the right. This is the basic diagonal continental stitch.
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Make sure you are weaving the waste knot tail into the first five stitches on the underside or backside of the canvas. Clip off the waste knot once those stitches have been complete.
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Continue working row by row from right to left in this manner. When you get to the end of the row, rotate your canvas 180 degrees and proceed with the next row. Make sure not to skip any spaces between rows, or you will have gaps.
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5
Needlepoint the entire canvas in this manner. Flip the canvas over when design is completed. Cut the velvet piece to fit the backside of the canvas using the scissors. Apply craft glue to the backside of the velvet, and press it against the backside of the canvas. Allow to dry for the amount of time specified on craft glue label.
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6
Fold the canvas in half with the velvet on the inside so the canvas is now 3 and 1/4 inches wide and 7 inches tall. Complete the glasses case by completing a whip stitch around the outside edge. Begin at the bottom part of the case, and tie a knot in the end of the yarn. Insert the needle into the outermost complete hole at the point where the canvas is bent from the inside out. Pull the needle and thread through this hole. Wrap the yarn down and around the edge of the canvas. Pinch the two parts of the canvas together and insert the needle and thread through both pieces of canvas. Pull the needle and thread through both pieces of canvas at once. Wrap the thread around the edge of the canvas and insert the needle into both pieces of canvas from the underside to form the next stitch.
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Repeat this wrapping whip stitch around the outside edge to create a closed seam along the bottom and side of the eyeglass case. Puncturing the velvet and sewing it into the seam is also recommended as it is then sandwiched between the layers and secured.
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Continue down one edge of the canvas at the top, until you get to the top of the side. You do not want to sew the case shut, so whip stitch the edge of just one piece of canvas at a time. When you get to the end of the top, weave the needle underneath a few stitches on the inside then clip the yarn. Whip stitch the other piece of canvas at the top of the case in the same fashion.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit cross-stitch image by Lytse from Fotolia.com
