Heart-shaped Scissor Keeper: Tutorial

This cute scissor keeper could probably made from scraps left over from other projects, and the denim backing could even be cut from old jeans.

Whatever you use to make it with, the heart is a perfect shape for scissors - the pockets form a natural point and hold the scissors neatly in place.

It's really easy, even for a beginner.

it can hold a lot of pairs of scissors!

If you like the sketchy style of stitching I've used then choose a contrasting thread (black is good on most fabrics, and gives a natural outlining effect) and a slightly longer stitch length on your machine.  Aim for a little wobbliness in your stitches, and stitch each seam three times or more.  It looks like free machine embroidery, but it's a simpler way of achieving that fun and informal look, especially on long straightish seams.

However, if you don't like the whole sketchy feel of it and want a neater-looking finish, you can simply use a straight stitch and a matching thread.  The design makes use of raw edges, but could be adapted to folded edges - however, I would use fewer pockets in this case as you'd increase the layers of fabric being stitched at one time.  You could also use felt for a neat finish.

lots of layers

You'll need:

denim fabric for backing (my starry denim is from Wholeport, as is my floral fabric)
scraps of cotton or polycotton prints/plains (you'll be sewing through lots of layers, so don't use heavyweight fabrics here)
black sewing thread (or whatever colour you choose)
something to form hanging loops - tape, string, ribbon
wadding (optional)
buttons to finish (optional)

Here's how to make your scissor holder:

Start with an A4 piece of paper (if you are in the USA or Canada, use letter size paper - it's close enough in size to make no real difference) fold it vertically and mark half a heart shape. Cut the heart out and open out the paper to form your first template.  This is the inner heart - in my version it's the floral fabric.

folded A4 paper

Use this template to cut another heart template, around an inch wider all round (if your cutting skills are not so good, measure 1" out from the first heart shape as you go).  You could use newspaper for this template if there's nothing else to hand.

creating a larger heart

Cut 2 hearts from denim and another from wadding (I used 2oz) using the larger template.  Trim the wadding one so it's just a little smaller all round than the denim.

Check the size of your scissors against the A4 heart and decide how big you want your pockets to be and how many of them you want.

working out pocket sizes

Fold the heart to create templates for the triangle shaped pockets

creating more templates

Using the template from the A4 paper, cut one heart from cotton print, and as many triangles from the bottom of the heart as you need.

pockets ready to sew

Cut two each of each triangle. You can see mine are all backed in plain white cotton - it's up to you if you want to do the same.  It means you can save your best "scraps" for where they'll be seen!  I'm not sure if that's really sad, really scrimpy or just plain common sense!

Place the triangle shapes right sides together and stitch across the top edge.  Press and turn to right sides.  Trim the excess fabric off the top corners.

pockets stitched, turned to right side and pressed

Top stitch each pocket.

Sew the triangle pockets in place onto the fabric heart and the denim heart (but not the second denim heart at this stage)

lots of layers - sew carefully

Stitch a line centrally along the middle of the heart, dividing each pocket into two.

the central line creates useful sized pockets

Sandwich the wadding between the two denim hearts.  Push the two ends of some tape, ribbon or string into the two top edges of the heart to form hanging loops.  Sew around the raw edges, paying particular attention to the hanging loops, making sure they are secure.

Pop it into the washing machine to fray the raw edges of the fabrics, especially the denim.

And there you go - it's done!

I think it looks good on the wall next to the sewing machine - and it might just help make sure the right pair of scissors is always to hand!