My first project. A cable tidy

[Sew What?]

I have lots of cables around that I usually keep tidy by using the cardboard bit of a loo roll. After someone mentioned that making a dust cover first might be a bit too ambitious, I searched for simple projects and this seemed perfect, so I bought the material, fusable interface and some Velcro.

The result







I know I’ve made a few mistakes such as leaving the shorter length open to turn it inside out (I was too busy thinking how great I was doing) so I had to finish the sewing all on the outside.

Also the corners on the other end are like this, rounded not pointed



How can I avoid this in the future?

I plan on making a few of these for practice and they’ll come in handy 

[Lilian]

It looks like your tension is not balanced. Is the brown thread the top or bobbin thread?   

Oh do you mean the curved corner of the fabric?  That could be because the corners need trimming off near to but not on the stitch line before turning out, it leaves room for the fabric to move into the corner making it sharper

[Bodgeitandscarper]

A very quick search gave this youtube of how to clip corners

[Ploshkin]

If you want pointed corners you need to cut the seam allowance, diagonally across the corner, right up to the corner stitch ( but without cutting the thread).  That gets rid of the excess fabric inside the corner when you turn it right side out.  You have to be careful not to poke too hard when you turn it out - we've all done that.
If you want rounded corners you need to snip out several V shaped notches around the curve then you get a smooth curve when you turn it right side out.

Before you turn something right side out, as you have done here, it helps to trim away some of the seam allowance to reduce the bulk on the inside.  You cut one side of the seam allowance narrower than the other so that you don't get a ridge showing through on the outside when it's pressed.  ( I would usually cut one side 1/4"  and the other side 3/8".)

[Sew What?]

It looks like your tension is not balanced. Is the brown thread the top or bobbin thread?   

Oh do you mean the curved corner of the fabric?  That could be because the corners need trimming off near to but not on the stitch line before turning out, it leaves room for the fabric to move into the corner making it sharper

The curved corner. Yes, I forgot to make a few cuts near the corner!

[HenriettaMaria]

Stitching the open edge closed once you turn an item like this can only be done in two ways:

* hand-catch it invisibly
* edge/top stitch it

For utility sewing like this I would edge stitch it but for fine/garment sewing I would do it by hand.  However, if I am doing utility sewing I tend to make a feature of it and edge stitch all round the item or do two parallel rows of stitching (think jeans pockets).

If you're clipping corners, the degree to which you abut the stitching is goverened by how much the fabric unravels and/or how loose the weave is.  If you intend to clip very closely, or the fabric is subject to fraying, reduce the stitch length for the last half-inch before and the first half-inch after pivoting at the corner.  A dot of Fray Check is handy too, but beware it can mark so use sparingly.

[Sew What?]

Stitching the open edge closed once you turn an item like this can only be done in two ways:

* hand-catch it invisibly
* edge/top stitch it

For utility sewing like this I would edge stitch it but for fine/garment sewing I would do it by hand.  However, if I am doing utility sewing I tend to make a feature of it and edge stitch all round the item or do two parallel rows of stitching (think jeans pockets).

If you're clipping corners, the degree to which you abut the stitching is goverened by how much the fabric unravels and/or how loose the weave is.  If you intend to clip very closely, or the fabric is subject to fraying, reduce the stitch length for the last half-inch before and the first half-inch after pivoting at the corner.  A dot of Fray Check is handy too, but beware it can mark so use sparingly.

I’m definitely in the utility camp so finishing in the way you mentioned is more my thing. Ran out of thread so off out to but some for another bash later

[Kwaaked]

A chopstick will also help you poke ends out pretty easily. 

[Sew What?]

A chopstick will also help you poke ends out pretty easily.

Loads of them around my house as wifey is from far away lands. Thanks for the tip