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To get the full pattern for this shark pencil case, you will need to go to the Studio 7t7 website and sign up for her email newsletter. It is free with signing up. I am not associated with her. I simply found the pattern when researching gifts to sew for my grandchildren this coming year. She also has a YouTube video showing how she makes this pencil case, which I will link to below.
What I am going to share is how I avoided taking the zipper completely apart, as well as how I decided to do the eyes. I will also give you details on my fabric choices and tweaks I may try on the pattern in the future.
About the zipper: I went with white to give the impression of teeth. I had a 12 inch nylon zipper that gave me enough length to sew on one end of it, while still keeping the zipper intact until the ends were fully sewn into and secured between layers. I will show this in a couple of photos. However, I plan to do a video tutorial on this step, which will be available for a reasonable price. If you want to know when that is available, make sure you are signed up for my email newsletter.
You can see that one of the more important things here was to keep checking that I had the pieces attached so that the zipper would be aligned to zip up when the shark was all put together. That’s not so easy to show in a still frame.
Comments on fabric choices:
- I used polar fleece scraps in place of the fusible interfacing Emma mentions in the pattern. I think she mentions in another video that she also sometimes used polar fleece scraps.
- My main fabric for the shark in the photos is a very thin waled corduroy from a pair of pants that was passed on to me. With this weight/thickness, the tails and fins were pretty challenging to turn and get good points and curves on. I found that clipping the seam allowance to be more narrow and being patient with poking them out with a dull crochet hook made them possible. I was counting on the top stitching to reinforce the seams after cutting the seam allowances so close. Just enlarging the pattern a bit would make it easier to turn better with a similar weight fabric.
- The lining is a normal cotton-poly blend.
- Since I hope to make a shark with a black leopard print denim, I may try make the pattern a bit bigger. The other option I have thought of is to sew the tails and fins wrong sides together and finish the edges so that they don’t unravel. It might end up with some fringe. I’m also thinking of using polar fleece for the outer fabric, which doesn’t need much done to edges. If I do that, I will just use a regular light to medium weight interfacing, which for me is usually scraps of old sheets.
More on the zipper: Below is a photo of the zipper between the lining and main fabric layers, still attached to the original end.
Since I used my last 12 inch white zipper and I have more birthdays to sew for next month, I began shopping for zippers. I had recently been to our local fabric store and seen very empty zipper shelves. Shopping on Amazon opened up a whole new world of zippers to me! I was concerned about off-brands and unknowns, but after reading reviews I purchased both white zippers and color zippers in bulk. I also got a bundle of zipper by the yard for other projects that I like a heavier zipper for.
The regular zippers were easy to test right away, because they have the zipper pull already on them. They look and feel just like the zippers I’ve been paying 2-3 times as much for in the fabric store. The zipper by the yard is wider and the teeth are bigger. In the reviews, people mention using them for bags and such, which is my plan. I was surprised the zipper by the yard came with scissors and measuring tape. Very convenient.
Before sewing the ends of my zipper in the side seams between the layers of lining and main fabric, I made sure to move the zipper pull to within the range of the shark’s mouth. I didn’t trim the ends of the zipper until I had sewn over them.
You can see in the above photo that the line from the end of the body to the tail is somewhat abrupt. It is possible that some of that is due to the thickness of the fabric. For my next shark, I plan to lengthen the outer body a bit to make the connection to the tail more streamlined. However, I will leave the lining the same length, so that pencils don’t get stuck down in the shark.
Another thing I did that was not part of the original instructions was reinforce over the ends of the zippers with a few back and forths of zig-zag stitching. I expect this to be a pressure point as children use the case. In a follow-up video, Emma said a lot of people had trouble getting the zipper to meld with the sides. I didn’t have any trouble with that on this first shark.
For the shark’s eyes: I decided to go with embroidery. I was picturing buttons getting caught on things and ripped off. Also, I didn’t think they had enough personality. A few of my grandsons are young enough that buttons are a risk.
I found the YouTube video below and that is how I made the eyes, sans needing to work through a stuffed animal head. Much easier to embroider on the flat fabric. I used thicker strands of black. The white was less than half the thickness of the black. Just how many strands this works out to be will depend on which type of floss you are using. I had some scraps of an unlabeled thicker floss. I like how it gives a bit of 3-D to the eyes.
NOTE: I embroidered the eyes after I had sewn the top main fabric pieces together and sewn the fleece interfacing on (to help support the stitching), but BEFORE I sewed the rest of the shark together. In the second photo of this post, you can see the underside of the shark’s face and the threads of the embroidered eyes.
Here is the original video showing how Emma sews the shark pencil case:
To handle or not to handle: Another thing I am thinking of is adding a carry handle or casing for a strap to the shark. For a carry handle, I would make a long belt-loop like piece and sew it on the main fabric bottom of the shark before I sew the shark together. For a casing for a strap, I would make something similar, but sew the long edges down, leaving the ends open to thread a strap through. This makes sense especially if I make a larger shark.
I have at least five more sharks to make. I’ll probably keep you posted on how it goes!
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