{Holiday Gifting} Silverware Sack

A good friend of mine approached me a year or two ago and said he had a pickle he was 

hoping I could help him get out of with the help of some handmade crafty goodness.

He said that he usually eats lunch at his desk, which most of us office slaves do. The dilemma is that he uses the same silverware everyday, and keeps the set in his desk drawer after he has eaten lunch and washed the silverware. Buttttt his said his desk drawer is kind of gross and full of pencil shavings (who uses pencils that have shavings? Engineers I guess?) and other crud that get all over his perfectly clean silverware. 


Thus came the trial, error, and eventual success that is the Silverware Sack. I wanted to call it the "Silverware Sacko", but my Husband wasn't sure how many of you would get The League reference. 

I actually went through 2 different versions of this Silverware Sack before I got the final model on the third try. I am not really a pattern writer, so it is often difficult for me to figure out the very best way to construct a project.

Here is my first try. For this one I used home decor weight fabric, which I thought would be plenty sturdy. If you take a look at the pictures below, you can see that the end product was a little flimsy. My buddy tested it out and said that he didn't like the feel of it, that it was far too flimsy. Also, I realized that it probably wouldn't survive the wash because the inside hem on the top was unfinished and would probably unravel after a few washes.


 




My second try was almost the polar opposite of the first one. The finished product actually ended up being too thick. I used Linen as the outer fabric, I interfaced that with a medium weight fusible interfacing, and then I lined the whole thing with quilting weight cotton. BOY was it thick. My super sturdy machine actually had quite a bit of trouble stitching through the last few steps too, as you can see in the pics below, because the feed dogs weren't properly feeding the fabrics through. I actually REALLY LOVED the color combination though. It might be my new favorite. I think that the linen color is almost a mustardy-chartreuse and the lining color was a really pretty winey-plum. Loved it. 










The third try was definitely the winner. I didn't use interfacing this time, but I still kept the lining fabric and used a heavier weight cotton on the exterior. I also cut 1 inch off the length because I thought that model 2 was just a little too long. At the end of the day, the Silverware Sack will probably take me 45 minutes to complete from picking and cutting fabric to putting the finishing touches on it. 

I am DEFINITELY making a bunch of these as Christmas presents for friends and family that 
work, and maybe even some coworkers if they are lucky! 

HOLLER!