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The most popular in-the-hoop (ITH) case these days is definitely the hand sanitizer case. It has a small opening at the bottom for the cap of a bottle of hand sanitizer (or lotion or anything else that will fit!).
Designs by Little Bee makes two sizes of cases: Small and Tall. Small is perfect for Bath & Body Works Pocket Bac, and Tall is better for larger bottles like you find at Target or dollar stores.
There are all kinds of other cases, too. My next favorite is the “anything” case. I have one with headphones, to suggest that use, but there are also other shapes and spinoffs of our hand sanitizer designs.
These are so easy to make and there are as many variations on theme and style as you have mini embroidery designs or fonts! Here are the materials you’ll need to make these cases.
As with many of our other ITH projects, you’ll want to start with some marine vinyl, faux leather, leather, or some other non-fraying fabric. I get my solid colors of vinyl by shopping in the home decor section at JoAnn. There you’ll find marine vinyl, faux leathers and suede, and lots of other fun fabrics to experiment with. Don’t let the high price tag fool you. For one thing, you’re making tiny projects and don’t need yards and yards of material. Start with half a yard or smaller. Also, there is always a coupon available so use it! Don’t forget to check out the remnants section; some of my favorite finds at JoAnn have been a castoff that I got for a few bucks with no project in mind.
Mason jar and bee sanitizer cases were both stitched on plain white marine vinyl.
Other stores also carry a range of materials that are great for cases. I always check out the fabric section of WalMart when I stop in; I got this beautiful buttery hot pink fabric (they call it “faux leather”) that I’ve used on almost every project I offer. It’s used on the scalloped hand sanitizer case above on the right.
Scalloped business card case in WalMart pink, with mini bee design, Maximus font, and 12-gauge vinyl also from JoAnn.
Below, scallop all the things!
You’ll also want some fabric for the backing of each design. Backing is used to cover the “ugly” backside of the embroidery on the front. This is an optional choice. I like to use chalkboard fabric from JoAnn because it doesn’t fray, is sturdy/almost rigid, and thin, so it doesn’t bulk up the project too much so it’s impossible to cut. Here is the bat hand sanitizer case using the chalkboard fabric on the front for a change!
But all case projects don’t require snaps. I also make an eyelet version for my cases, so our 4×4 hoop friends can also enjoy the case mania.
Next, you’ll need all kinds of hardware. If you’re making a snap tab case, you’ll need snaps and a way to install them. If you’re using the eyelet, you’ll need an eyelet and a way to install it. For further details on these, I recommend my blogs on snap tab materials or eyelet materials.
For the keychains, a plain split ring like you can find in the fob/hardware section of any craft store is fine. 1″ or 1.5″ is a common size. Experiment with colored split rings and flat split rings for a unique look. For eyelet projects with two tabs and easy-open necessity, I love these large lobster clasp keyrings.