Sunglass Holder

OK, I'll admit it, I have a few weaknesses.  One is anything with caramel in it, another is pretty blouses, and another is cheap sunglasses.  I've never even considered purchasing designer label sunglasses because I just know I'd break them or lose them or something.

So, I've always gone for the $10-$20 rack.  Awhile ago though I realized that I had bought so many cheap pairs of sunglasses, that I probably could've bought this beautiful pair from Emilio Pucci:

    

or this lovely Balenciaga pair:

 and even purchased a nice hard case to keep them safe...

and not had this problem:

Right now all of my sunglasses sit on top of my water cooler.  And every once in awhile one pair goes flying into the cat food dish below while the water is glug glug glugging out.

Although I've made an effort to curb my sunglass addiction, I thought I'd also find a better place to store them.  So today, I'll show you how to make a sunglass holder:

Here are the materials I used:

Steps:
1) Depending on how many sunglasses you need to hold you might use different measurements, but I began by having a piece of wooden doweling cut 20.5" (51cm) long.

Then I cut my fabric, and backing, so that it measured 20.5" (52cm) X 10.5"(26.5cm).  In the end you want your fabric to measure slightly narrower than your doweling rod.  If you cut it the same length now, your seam allowances will take care of the rest for you.

Quick note: It's not necessary to have a contrasting lining (backing).  I just did that out of habit.  No one will see the back of this, so use whatever you have handy.

2)Cut two pieces of elastic approximately 15"(38cm) long.  Attach to the front of your fabric approximately 2.5"(6.5cm) from each edge in two rows.  If you're using a patterned fabric find something in the pattern to use as your guide to keep the elastic relatively straight.

There should be a little bit of give to the elastic.  It doesn't need to be stretched or lie completely flat.  You'll want it to pucker when it's sewn down.

3)With pins, mark off all of the other spots along the elastic that you'll sew down to create little 'pockets' for the sunglass arm to slip into.  To do this, I just divided the elastic in half and pinned it, divided those two pieces in half and pinned, etc.

They're hard to see, but if you look closely you'll see all of the pins.

4)Now just do a quick stitch across the elastic everywhere you have a pin.

5)Now you can sew your front and back together along the top, bottom, and sides.  Stack your fabric right sides together and pin, making sure to leave a 1"(3cm) gap at the top to create a pocket for the wooden dowel and enough space along one side to turn everything inside out.  Use a 5/8" seam allowance.

6)Make sure to cut your corners diagonally so that you get a nice clean corner when it's turned out.

7)Turn your fabric out and slip stitch the hole in the side seam.

8)Stitch across the top, 1" (2.5cm) from the edge and insert your wooden dowel.

9) Almost done, you just need something to hang it with.  I used hemp twine and did a basic twisted square knot to jazz it up a bit.  You can just use ribbon or cord without the macrame stitches and it'll still look just as cute.

Tah dah!

And what do you know...there's even room for more sunglasses!!!!

I skipped the macrame steps but if you want me to show you how to do that just leave a comment below and if there's enough interest I'll do a separate post on easy macrame knots.  Or, just leave a comment anyway and let me know what you think.  Is this something that would be useful in your house?  Maybe you could find other uses for it?  Share your ideas below.

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