who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

(singing) "Sponge Bob Square Pants!" LOL!

That song was going through my head the entire time I was making this pineapple-themed pencil case for someone special.  You see, Miss Holly over at Maker Valley - who makes no secret about her love of this sweet tropical fruit - surprised me with some happy mail the other day and ... well, I simply had to reciprocate. :) 

This case is based on my Round Pencil Case pattern that I've made a million times now because it's my go-to make when I want to give something cute, useful, that I can customize for the recipient, and is quick to make. ;)  It requires a handful of fabric and batting scraps, and a zipper.  That's it.

This version is a bit different from the original, which has binding to cover the zipper, because I was having a zipper dilemma with this one - no green zipper at all in my stash (?!) and I wasn't happy with how the neutral ones looked with the green fabric.  I had a yellow zip, but not the right colour.  And I didn't want to leave the house for just a $2 notion when I had a drawer full, and - more to the point - when it was -30C outside. 

So I wondered what would happen if I omitted the binding.  To compensate, I used this fabulous metal zipper with a cute little tab. (I usually use plastic zippers and then cut them to size, but this worked well - just had to remove some teeth with needlenose pliers to make it the right length.)  I like how the bronze metal adds to the pineapple vibe.

But then I had another problem - without a green accent of some kind, this was just another yellow pencil case.

What to do?  Green finger tabs, of course!  The pattern does include this detail, but I thought maybe it wasn't going to be enough green.  Turns out it's the exact right amount of green - any more and it would have been too much.

I used a bunch of Moda yellows from different collections and they play so nicely together. I even threw in some strikeoffs from First Romance that didn't make the final cut.  To call them "rare" is an understatement! LOL!  And then I added the label and tiniest kiss of green with a ribbon tab to finish it all off.  :) xo k

Comments

[Mari-Ann]

I just found your blog and just love it. You are so talented! I purchased the pattern to make this adorable pencil case. I was wondering where you find all your cute fabric labels.

[Mohin]

Thanks for sharing