Crochet Hook Holder...Thing: A Belated Christmas Gift

This post is a long time in the making. Actually, not really, I've just procrastinated for way too long. Sorry Fuss!

Back before Christmas, a good friend of mine, Heather (Fuss), started up crocheting. Since I've been crocheting for most of my life, I of course felt the need to enable this new hobby and right away wanted to make something special as a Christmas gift. And what better than a crochet hook holder filled with all sorts of goodies?!


Of course, my procrastination genes popped up, and I didn't get it done in time for Christmas. One day in January, while chatting away in gmail, she mentioned that she'd bought herself a set of hooks and was planning to make herself a holder for them.

Cue panic.

Luckily it didn't take too long to finish up the gift, and off it went across Canada to her doorstep (or rather, postbox down the street). Her reaction was delightful and chronicled in her brand spanking new creative blog, FussWorks (go check it out! The pictures of her bunnies and dogs modeling things are adorable and their put-upon expressions hilarious).

The crochet hook holder was pretty easy to make. My quick and dirty schematics are shown above, and the hardest parts were 1) figuring out how long to make it, and 2) sewing all those straight parallel lines dividing the hook pockets. I sort of wung the first part, deciding that longer was better, because everyone winds up with way too many needles. For the second part, Sheila of the Marble Stash group suggested using a strip of painters tape and sewing next to it before shifting it over to sew the next line.

There's a lot of pockets. I cut a piece of fabric the length and height that I wanted for the hooks, and bound the top edge with a piece of straight-grain tape (is that what it's called? Non-bias bias tape made from the shell fabric) before basting the pocket piece to the inside fabric. I found the bound edge really helpful for keeping the hooks nestled tightly in the pockets. For the pockets themselves, I sort of just wung the spacing, going from widest to narrowest across the length. I figured this would give lots of space for different sized needles.

The pockets were probably the most fun part. I wanted to bring the pretty batik fabric I was using for the shell fabric inside the holder, and this was a great way to do it. I also wanted to line the pockets so that there would be no frayed edges.

The patch pockets with the flaps were easy to figure out, but the zippered pocket was a little big more work. If anyone is interested in a tutorial for making a zippered patch pocket, just let me know. I'd be glad to put one together. The lined inside is a nice touch.

Once all the pockets were attached to the inside fabric piece, I simply put it and the shell fabric right sides together, sandwiching the ribbon ties inside, and stitched around, leaving an opening to flip the whole thing right side out. A bit of top stitching around the edge, and c'est fini!

I'm super proud of how it turned out considering I was making it up as I went. It's a good thing I really like my buddy, because otherwise I would've kept it! Enjoy your crochet holder, Fuss. Happy crocheting!