Pencils take a stand!
In my last post, I told you about the Big Bang Theory swap I participated in recently. In most swaps I’ve done, you exchange more than one item, using a points system so that the swaps will be fairly equitable.
For the “big” BBT item, I sent this hand-sewn pencil holder, featuring the theme song lyrics on one side, and a couple of classic Sheldonisms on the other. The whole thing folds down…
And then closes and zips up, so it can be carried without spilling its contents.
The outer design features the main characters’ apartment door, a frequent scene of interaction between the geeky roommates and their attractive neighbor.
On the back side of the pencil case, there are embroidered cartoons of the characters.
I like how it turned out, and it made me feel virtuous because it is made primarily from recycled materials.
- The fabrics are all former curtain samples.
- The cardboard liner of the pencil repository used to be a couple of Pocky boxes.
- The eraser pouch was made from a plastic divider cut from a discarded curtain-liner sample book.
- The zipper was plucked from a gigantic barrel of extremely-long zippers, at my local recycled craft items store. (I heard they were discarded zippers from a local graduation-gown factory!)
- The door knob and the eraser pouch closure are vintage buttons.
- Even some of the embroidery thread wasn’t new, but instead was a lady’s personal stash that I purchased at an estate sale. (I purchased her sewing thread stash as well.)
This project was a challenge for me. I made the pattern up as I went along — no, it’s more accurate to say that there never WAS any kind of pattern! So my seam ripper got a lot of use as I kept starting over and reworking different aspects of the project. To me, the slightly-wonky parts only add to its hand crafted appeal. I really hope my swap partner feels the same way about it!
The design of the pencil holder is based upon a box of colored pencils that my dad had, back in the 1960’s. Back then, there were no computers and he actually used colored pencils in his daily work. I was so fascinated by the box, that he eventually gave it to me.
Dad must have been ahead of his time; no one had yet suggested that anyone should “bring your daughters to work”, but my dad did that occasionally (after hours, anyway). My sister and I would marvel at the unfamiliarity of the place — its unusual Xerox-and-erasers smell… its stange, tubular lights that would buzz and blink to life… its enormous work tables with squishy, sand-filled paperweights… and its octopus-legged, wheeled chairs that we would gleefully ride down the darkened hallways as my father gently propelled us forward.
I don’t know where you can buy one; I think you’d need to make it yourself… (I don’t sell them; just a hobby crafter.) Maybe someone else out there knows where you can find something similar?
where can you buy one of these pencil cases because i love it, thats if you can buy them?????? 😀