Redesigned Pencil Case

Before I left for school, I decided to update my pencil case.  Last time I did it was a year ago, when I exchanged the old, worn-out duct tape with new duct tape and kept the same design.  This year, however, I wanted to change it, as I rarely used the big pocket on the right side, and I also recently acquired some highlighters that I wanted to store in the pencil case.

After a year of use

Instead of only using white duct tape, I added some color by including green duct tape in my new design.  In terms of redesigning the case, I planned beforehand that there would be another row of pencil slots (like on the left side) on the right side to replace the pocket.

Duck Brand has changed its packaging...

As I was taking off the old duct tape, I noticed that the tape was leaving some residue.  I had never encountered that before, but the black duct tape underneath is a few years old and is not as smooth as new duct tape is.

Not a fan of tape residue on anything

The process for making the pencil slots was the same as before, which includes folding two long duct tape strips in half so the sticky sides are not showing anymore.

Green strips for the first side

Prepared strips of duct tape hanging off the table, ready for use

First side finished!

This time, I only made seven pencil slots on one side, as opposed to nine, in order to have room to fit a writing utensil in between slots.

Starting on the other side, I positioned the writing utensils so when the pencil case is folded, they were not on top of the pen on the other side.  It created somewhat of a staggered appearance.

Highlighters used as a guideline for making the slots

Second side finished!

I did not change anything on the inside of the pencil case; I left it as it is.  The current arrangement worked well for me, and continues to.

After finishing, I closed the pencil case to see if everything lined up, and it looked beautiful!  I can now store up to 14 writing instruments, though I probably will not need that many.

Kind of looks like a zipper, eh?

Holiday Presents Duct Tape Style!

Holiday time has arrived, and I have had to give presents away to friends. For one gift, I purchased a roll of duct tape (moustache printed with bonus length!).  I think duct tape is quite a useful present and can be used in a variety of situations.

The holidays are also a time of supreme eating of chocolates and sweets, so I added an assortment of Lindor truffles into the back of the roll of duct tape.  Duct tape now comes without plastic covering the entire roll, probably to save plastic and consequently, the environment, so there was a perfect place for the chocolates.

I wrapped the present up with tissue paper and put it in a holiday bag.  Personally, I would love to get a present like this!

Updated Pencil Case

My pencil case was starting to fall apart, so I decided to fix it up, tearing it apart until just the base was left.  I patched up any ripped areas and discarded the pouch and places to put the pens.  I purchased white duct tape and changed the color scheme from orange and black to white and black.

White pocket

To create the strips of duct tape that holds each pen in, I use the previous strips as a model and copied the spacing in between each spot for the pens.

I attached each strip onto the pencil case.

The inside of the case, where I store my pencils, eraser, scissors, and lead, stayed the same as before.

With pens inserted!

I really like the new color scheme of black and white; it looks very clean and modern to me.

Salamander Duct Tape Sticker

I decided to make a duct tape sticker because my friend wanted to have a salamander on her folder.  I can not draw very well, so I decided to create a sticker for her in the shape of a salamander.  She had also mentioned liking red salamanders, and I had some red duct tape left over from the summer.

Duct tape stickers are generally easy to make, and in addition to duct tape, I needed some clear package tape to use as the backing from which the sticker is peeled off.  It is hard to see in the picture below, but I taped two pieces of package tape horizontally on a regular sheet of paper, with one below the other and the two pieces overlapping in the middle.

To create the sticker, I cut a piece of duct tape that fit on the package tape surface I created.

On the back of the piece of paper, I sketched the outline of a salamander.  I made sure the entire salamander was drawn on top of the piece of duct tape that was on the other side.

I cut out the salamander.

The only problem with the sticker was that it was difficult to separate from the backing I made.  The next time I make one, I will be sure to include a lip from which I can peel off the sticker.  It took me at least five minutes to separate the duct tape from the package tape.  It might also be easier to use wax paper as the backing instead of package tape.

On the folder

To finish, I drew an eye on the salamander using a permanent marker.  The sticker looks pretty cool, and I might decorate my own folders with duct tape stickers!

Airwhaler: Miscellaneous Items

Airwhaler enjoys making a lot of little projects that only take a few hours, such as dishcloths and potholders.  The entrelac dishcloth, whose pattern is found on Ravelry, was made with a Tunisian crochet hook.  The dishcloth is a decent size, having a diagonal that is almost the length of the diameter of a kitchen stool.

On a stool

Potholders are also easy items to make.  For her friend's birthday, Airwhaler made her a potholder that is similar to the ones shown below.  The design of the potholder is called a granny mandala and can be found on Crochet with Raymond.

The center of each potholder is something called an African flower.  I quite like the African flower in the middle of the potholder; it complements the pattern surrounding it.

Potholder 1

For the back of the potholder, Airwhaler just made a simple circle.  She then crocheted a border around the two to attach them together.

Potholder 2

Making a Clasp on Bracelets

Some bracelets just need a clasp in order to take it on and off.  The duct tape bracelets that I make generally do not have a clasp because they are a bit difficult to make and are not easy to unclasp.  However, I have devised a way to make a clasp out of duct tape to replace any broken clasps or to add one to a duct tape bracelet.

To show how to make a clasp, I will use a bracelet called a two-chain bracelet as an example.  A two-chain bracelet is essentially two loops (or chains) connected together.  To make the two loops, I cut two pieces of duct tape that were the length of my wrist, and I rolled them up.

Rolled pieces of duct tape

To make the clasp, I took one of the rolls and folded it in half.  I made a circle with the roll by wrapping the same piece of duct tape around both ends.

One chain done

For the other roll, I wrapped one end with the same color duct tape I used to connect the two ends of the first chain.  On the other end, I needed a keeper, like the one I made for a watch.  However, I made it with a slightly different process.  I first cut a section of the duct tape and folded it over.

I then trimmed the piece of duct tape so the height matched the height of the piece of duct tape folded over.

I attached the strip to the other end of the rolled up duct tape.

To finish the bracelet, I looped the two chains together and then tied a piece of thin duct tape around the two strands of the second chain so that when the bracelet was unclasped, it did not fall apart.

Finished!

The clasp works really well and looks stylish, especially with the silver duct tape, which, at a very quick glance, looks like real silver.

On human

Yarn iPhone Case: Finishing

After making the iPhone case base, I made the walls of the case, which is the last part of the case.  For the case I made, I included holes for inserting the headphones at the top and the charger area on the bottom.  One can also include holes for the volume controls on the side and the sleep button on the top, but those buttons are easy to press through the yarn, so I did not include gaps in the wall for those buttons.

Making the walls of the case is essentially making a border around the rectangle.  I used single crochet stitches around the border until I reached the spot where I wanted to include a gap for the headphones or the charger.  Depending on what way one goes around the rectangle, one will encounter either the headphones area or the charger area first.  For me, I encountered the headphone area first, but I used the same methods for the space for the charger.

To make the gap for the headphones, I crocheted the border until I reached the area for the headphones.  Then, I made 3 chain stitches in place of the single crochet stitches.

Chain stitches

The length of 3 chain stitches was enough for the headphones, and I connected the chain stitches to the rectangle by making a single crochet stitch.

Single crochet stitch

When I reached the place to insert the charger of the iPhone, I repeated the same process as for making a gap in the border for the headphones.

One border around the rectangle was not enough to keep the case on the iPhone, so I went around the border again.  This time, because I wanted the border to curl slightly inward, I made sure I crocheted with the inside of the case facing towards me.  It does not matter which way the first border was crocheted.

One time around

After I made the second border, I went around again, but not with single crochet stitches.  I just made a second chain around the second border to make it tighter.  I used this chain to tighten the corners by skipping a few stitches around the corner area to create a box shape.

Finished!

Back of case

I put the case on the iPhone, and it fit perfectly!  It was not loose at all, but I would have preferred for it to be a little smaller so it could stretch over the iPhone and be even more secure on the phone.

With iPhone

Perfect size gap for the camera

The yarn iPhone case is light, protective, and can be personalized any which way one wants.  The case will definitely look better with different colors and crazy designs and patterns!

Yarn iPhone Case: Making the Base

Inspired by my iPhone screen cover, I decided to make an iPhone case.  The version that I have to make a case for is the iPhone 4S, so if one has an iPhone 5 or some later version if one is reading this in the future, the measurements and methods may need to be tweaked a little.  This first part should remain the same regardless of what version the iPhone is.  The first step is to knit a rectangle up until the bottom of the camera area.  It does not matter what pattern the rectangle is, as long as it is the same wideness of the iPhone.  For my case, I used a simple knitting pattern, and with the size of my needles (7) and yarn I used, I used 14 stitches per row.

When my rectangle got to the height where it started to reach the camera region, I stopped knitting 5 stitches from the end to create a hole for the camera.

Starting to make camera hole

With the 5 stitches left, I cast each of them off with a crochet hook.  I left the last loop with the crochet hook still in it to hold it in place.

Beginning to cast off another stitch

Stitch cast off

Crochet hook in place

With the crochet hook keeping the stitch from coming loose, I knit with the 9 stitches I did not already cast off.  I knit a few rows until the height was equal to the height of the iPhone 4S.  When I cast off, I made sure that the last stitch I cast off was the one closest to the space I made for the camera.

Do not cast off if your stitches look like this!

After I cast off, I replaced the knitting needle with a crochet hook.

Use a crochet hook from here until the end

I made a few chain stitches until the length of the chain matched the length of the five stitches I cast off.

Chain made

To connect the chain I made with the bottom of the hole for the camera, I used a double crochet stitch to create a rough right angle with the chain.

Double stitch

The double crochet stitch was not enough to reach the stitches below, so I made a single crochet stitch and connected it with the stitch the crochet hook was holding below.  With this, I removed the second crochet hook, and the base of the yarn iPhone case was done!

Camera space completed

If the camera hole is a little big for the iPhone, as it was for me, just make single crochet stitches lining the inside of the space until the space is just right.

To see how to finish the case, go to the next post.

Yarn iPhone Screen Cover

Have you ever put your iPhone in your purse, bag, or backpack and when you take it back out, the screen is all scratched up?  The plastic case covering the back does not prevent any scratches, but I have made a simple iPhone screen cover to fix this problem.  While it is a little bulky, it protects the screen and is easy to use; it slips on right over the case.

I knitted a yarn rectangle whose width was a little wider than the iPhone and whose length was a little taller than the iPhone.  I made each stitch really tight.

The dimensions I used were 5.5" x 3.25"

The rectangle is flat, which by itself, will not stay on an iPhone.  To make the walls and create some depth to it, I crocheted a border around the edge of the rectangle.  The border was easy to make along the edges of the rectangle; all I did was a single crochet stitch along it.  However, once I got to the corners, I needed to fold the fabric to add dimension.

Stop a little before the corner

I did not crochet all the way to the corner.  Instead, I stopped a few stitches before the end and made the next stitch a few stitches away from the beginning of the next edge.  I made this stitch tight.

Use your needle to make a right triangle with the corner

Once I was finished making a border around the edges, I needed to connect the corners with the border.  The corners were rather unsightly.

Corners are sticking out

I used the hook I still had from crocheting the border to connect the corners and the border with basic loops.  I stuck the needle through the top of the corner, made a loop, pulled the needle back, and pulled the loop through the first loop, leaving one loop left again.  I repeated this process again to make another half-stitch connecting the same corner to the border.

In the process of connecting the corners

One corner connected

There was still some extra yarn from the knitting process on the other half of the case, so I used that yarn to connect the corners and the border on that side.  I created a loop with the yarn and repeated the same process as before.  For the other corner to the left, I weaved the yarn through to the other side since the yarn was not connected to the yarn ball and was easy to weave.

Another corner connected

Three corners connected

To finish the last corner, I returned to the side where I had finished the first corner.  I cut the string to an appropriate length, weaved it over to the other side, and connect the corner to the border.

Last corner about to be attached

Four corners finished!

After I finished attaching all the corners, I weaved in the ends of the yarn that were left on the case and cut the remaining ends.  I tried the case on the iPhone but it was a little big, and the edges did not reach over the sides of the iPhone, not allowing it to stay on.  To fix this problem, I crocheted another border on top of the already existing border.  After doing this, the case fit perfectly on the iPhone.

I crocheted around the corner two more times

On the iPhone

To make the cover even better, I would suggest starting with an even smaller rectangle, as this current iPhone screen cover is a little loose.  Still, this cover does an awesome job of protecting the iPhone screen in a bag, backpack, or purse.  The cover itself is flexible and can be stored in any position, not taking up a lot space in a bag.