Sewing Organizer – Tutorial for an Armchair Sewing Caddy

We all love sewing. And everybody loves chilling out on the sofa. So why not combine the two!

This month’s project is a sewing organizer that will fit over the arm of your sofa or armchair. It’s perfect for holding scissors, threads and haberdashery essentials. If you like crafting in front of the TV, this is the perfect sewing tutorial project.

Preparations

You will need:

• 4 fat quarters
• 2m of bias binding
• 22″ by 12″ piece of wadding/batting
• a large handful of toy stuffing

Cutting:

Download and print the sewing organizer pattern. Take your 3 main numbered pattern pieces and join at the points indicated with arrows to form the organizer base. Once you have cut the main body fabric then you can cut out the pocket pieces (on both side of the base) see dotted lines. Then cut out your pin cushion fabrics.

For my organizer that you can see in the photos, I used blue linen-look fabric for the top of the base and blue floral for the back. Then I used ochre flowers for the pocket tops and ochre linen look fabric for the pocket lining. Finally for the pin cushion I used the ochre linen-look fabric on the top and the blue floral for the back.

Helpful Tips:

If you want to give your organizer more stability, then I suggest adding wadding to the base (I used Warm and Natural wadding) .

I used Gutermann Col.112 thread for the blue fabric and bias binding and Gutermann Col. 488 thread for the ochre fabrics.

Seam Allowance

All seams are ¼”.

Instructions

Step 1 – Mat

Place the base backing fabric with wrong side facing up and then place your wadding on top followed by the top fabric with right-side up. Pin together as a sandwich and sew decorative lines to secure all the pieces together. I sewed four lines 1” apart either side of the centre point.

Step 2 – Pockets

Place 2 of your pocket pieces (1 outer and 1 lining) together with right-sides facing and sew along the top seam, this is going to be the opening of your pocket. Open out, iron flat and then top stitch along the pocket edge. Repeat for the second pocket.

Step 3 – Pocket Sections

Position your pockets at either end of your base and pin in place. Using a soluble marker pen mark the dividing lines for your pocket sections. You can decide how many sections you need for the items you want to store. I made one pocket with four sections (3 lines of stitches) and the other with two (1 line of stitching). Sew along your lines securing your pockets in place.

Step 4 – Pin Cushion

Place your fabric pieces with right-sides together and sew along both long sides. Leave the side seams open. Turn right side out, press and fill with stuffing.

Step 5 – Attaching the Pin Cushion

Find the centre of your base and lay your pin cushion in place and secure in position with pins at both open ends. Try not to over stuff the pin cushion as you don’t want it to pull the sides of your mat in. When you are happy with the position sew in place at both ends close to the edge of the mat. Trim off any excess fabric so that it lines up with your base.

Step 6 – Bias Binding

Take your bias binding and carefully sew in place around the outer edge. I don’t tend to pin my bias binding in place, but you can if you prefer. I just make sure my sewing machine is set to a slow speed so that I can carefully position the tape in place as I go along.

Your sewing organizer is now complete and ready to fill with all your sewing tools.

Note: I originally created this sewing organizer as a project for the Monthly Fabric Club. This club is for enthusiastic stitchers who love receiving new fabric each month… together with a unique sewing project. Why not check it out?