Lego Mini-Figure Holder
October 15 was my older brother's birthday. Initially I was going to sew him something, but I didn't know what. So I asked my brother, and he gave me a very creative idea - a lego minifigure holder! He said that he wished he could have one of those minifigure holders they sell at lego stores, so I got an idea to sew one, the design being similar to the crayon holder I sewed for my little brother. And... ta da! I put together my own tutorial for the first time by measuring the pieces, seam allowances, and all that. I'm very proud of this because it's creative, unique, and especially, my brother liked it a lot!
The lego minifigures look like they're in little beds and blankets. >.< As a bonus, I included an attached zipper pouch at the top. My brother put little accessories like swords and helmets in there. Also, he even organized the figures into categories. I am really happy about this thing I sewed, as you can see. Anyways, the exterior of the lego minifigure holder looks like this: It is folded into half and closed by a sewn velcro latch. Because the finished result looked a little plain, I also blanket-stitched around the whole thing. :)
The zipper pouch at the top, opened, looks like this:
Okay, now I'll get on with the tutorial. I really spent a lot of time adding and subtracting measurements while making this and had to refix stuff over. I especially hate math so the fact that I made up this tutorial is a big accomplishment for me! :D
Lego Minifigure Holder (Holds 15 minifigures as well as accessories)
What you need:
-Two 3/4" x 3/4" pieces of velcro
-Three 8 1/2" x 2 1/4" pocket strips, heavy jean fabric
-Three 8 1/2 x 2 1/4" pocket strips, red cotton fabric
-One 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" outer jean piece and one interfacing piece the same size
-One 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" lining piece (Mine is dark red, criss-crossed), and another interfacing piece the same size
-One 2 3/4" x 3 3/4" cotton fabric piece (Mine is red, checked) for the latch. Also cut out one interfacing piece the same size.
For the zipper pouch at the top of the lego minifigure holder you need:
-One 7.5" nylon zipper
-One 1 3/4" x 9 1/2" jean piece and a red cotton fabric piece the same size
-One 2 1/4" x 9 1/2" jean piece and a red cotton fabric piece the same size
-One 4 1/2" x 9 1/2" red cotton piece
Instructions
1. FOR THE LATCH, lay the cotton piece on top of the interfacing and iron it in half, lenghwise. Unfold. One the top right side of the piece, sew on one of the velcro pieces about 1/2 inch from the top.
2. Fold the piece lengthwise in half again, right sides facing. Sew the side and top using a 1/4 seam allowance. Trim excess and clip corners, turn right side out, press, and topstitch.
3. FOR THE POCKET STRIPS, lay the cotton piece and jean piece right sides together. sew the top and bottom of the long strip using 1/4 inch seam allowance.
4. Trim, turn right side out and press. Repeat for the other two pocket strips. (Three pocket strips in total)
5. FOR THE ZIPPER POUCH, lay one red cotton 1 3/4" x 9 1/2" piece on your worksurface and place a matching jean piece on top, right side up. Align the zipper face down with the top edge and pin.
6. Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance. Trim, fold back, and press.
7. Repeat for the other red cotton 2 1/4" x 9 1/2" piece and matching jean piece. Then, topstitch close to the edges of the zipper.
8. Lay the 9 1/2" x 4 1/2" red cotton piece together with the piece shown in the picture above. Lay them right sides together. Make sure that you have your zipper half way open. Sew the top and bottom using 1/4" seam allowance, and the sides using 1/2" seam allowance. Trim and turn right side out using the opening in the zipper.
9. Lay the outer fabric piece and lining piece with their interfacings. Sew the remaining velcro piece onto the right side of the outer fabric piece laid with interfacing. I eyeballed this part, eye-measuring where I had to sew the velcro in order to make it match with the latch in the finished product.
10. TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, lay the first pocket strip 1" from the bottom of the lining fabric laid with interfacing. Then, place the second pocket strip 3/4" from the first strip. Place the third pocket strip 1" from the second strip. Finally, lay the zipper pouch aligning with the top edges. Pin these pieces in place. Lay the latch piece aligning raw edges with the bottom, right side up. Stay stitch. (The photo below shows the latch folded back. It should be in, as shown in the next photo)
11. To create little pockets in the pocket strips, topstitch close to the bottom. Then, starting from the middle, topstitch four lines each 1 1/2" apart. It's not shown in the photo below, but topstitch close to the bottom of the zipper pouch.
12. NOW FOR THE BIG PART, lay the piece shown in the picture above with the outer piece laid with interfacing. Place them right sides together. Sew all around, using a 1/2" seam allowance, and leave a three inch opening at the side. Trim and clip corners.
13. Finally, turn right side out and press. Slip stitch the opening closed. With red thread, blanket stitch around the borders of the whole thing. Voila! There's your finished lego minifigure holder to hold mini accessories and little figures.