The Martha Stewart Show

Artist's Organizer

The Martha Stewart Show

Martha shows you an inventive way to store all the supplies your little artist needs in a beautiful and functional artist's organizer.

Artist's Organizer

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This lovely artist's organizer is the perfect way to easily store all of your children's art supplies for use at home or on the go.

Tools and Materials
Oilcloth and felt (enough for measurements outlined below)
Sewing machine with regular needle and heavy-duty (No. 16) needle
Machine-sewing thread in coordinating color
Two 18-inch-long lengths of ribbon in a coordinating color
Pins
Small binder clips
Tailor chalk or disappearing fabric pen
Ruler or measuring tape
Scissors
Sketchbook
Various artist's tools

Artist's Organizer How-To
1. Select a sketchbook for your artist's organizer; measure the sketchbook. Add an inch to the height. Double the width, and add 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches for the fold, depending on how wide you want the finished organizer to be. These measurements create the foundation.

2. Cut felt to the foundation measurements.

3. Create a book and tool pocket: The measurements for the book pocket are found by adding an inch to the width of the sketchbook, and subtracting 1 1/2 inches from the height. The tool pocket is the same width as the book pocket, with a height of 4 1/2 inches.

4. Cut both pockets out of felt.

5. Position the book pocket 1/4 inch in from one (short) side and 1/4 inch from the bottom (long side) of the foundation felt. Pin. Repeat with the tool pocket on the other side of the foundation. Sew the pockets to the foundation felt, topstitching with a 1/4-inch seam allowance around 3 sides. Note: You can have the sketchbook pocket on the right or the left, depending on your preference.

6. Using tailor chalk, draw vertical lines onto the tool pocket to mark divisions for art supplies. Sew a straight stitch along the lines that you drew.

7. Cut a piece of oilcloth in the foundation dimensions. Place the felt with the pockets onto the wrong side of the oilcloth piece. Insert a half inch or so of a length of ribbon between the oilcloth and the felt in the middle of each short side, using binder clips to hold together (this prevents pin marks in the oilcloth).

8. Change the needle in the machine to a size 16 needle (recommended for sewing oilcloth). Sew the oilcloth and felt foundation pieces together, topstitching with a quarter-inch seam allowance, all around the edges.

9. Insert sketchbook and artist tools into pockets.

Resources
Martha used the Singer Curvy Sewing Machine, which is available at retail and dealer stores nationwide. Oilcloth is available at oilcloth.com. Felt can be found at magiccabin.com. Special thanks to JoAnn Fabric and Crafts Stores for giving a gift card to everyone in our studio audience. For more great sewing crafts, visit marthastewart.com/sewing.

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The Martha Stewart Show

Artist's Organizer

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