For my little ukulele player...

Have you heard about the Waverize It! Facebook contest over at Jo-Ann Fabrics? I have been waiting to tell you all about it. Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts and Waverly Fabrics have joined together to celebrate National Sewing Month and Waverly's 90th Anniversary to bring this amazing contest! To help advertise for the contest Jo-Ann's sent me two yards of Waverly fabric to make something outside the box. Well I thought the perfect thing to make would be a case for Hazel's ukulele. Now I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, since I have not shared about her ukulele yet here. 

Back in June, we were at the Cape visiting my parents and my sister and nephew came up. My sister was dropping my nephew off for his six week visit. Well my sister has started to learn to play the ukulele and she had hers and her son's with her. Hazel loved playing her cousin's ukulele so much. Well my sister had happened to buy a ukulele before finding her son's and didn't know what to do with it, so she mailed it to Hazel. Talk about a wonderful surprise package!! Hazel was so excited!! All we had to carry it around and store it in was the box that it was sent in. Not all that pretty or exciting. I also didn't like to take it to too many places since I didn't trust the box to last forever. However Hazel had other plans. She wanted to bring it to both sets of grandparents and then she had an invitation to play at the library with some of the librarians.  The first week, the librarians forgot their ukuleles so Hazel played by herself. The next week, only one remembered hers, so she and Hazel played together. She happens to be the children's librarian so she tried to teach Hazel a bit. (Note: Since I did not ask permission of the librarians I am blocking out their faces.)

Then this past Monday, three of the librarians brought their ukuleles in. (We had only planned on two, but a third was working at a different time and brought it in since she knew we were on the schedule.)

Oh, and then there was one of Hazel's friends at Trader Joe's (yes, my daughter has friends at every store) who wanted to hear her play, so we stopped there one of the Mondays, but she wasn't there, so Hazel played for other friends there. Needless to say with all this public playing, I wanted Hazel to have something besides a cardboard box to carry it in. Oh, she has also been told she can play at church anytime as well for a service.  Now enters the Waverize It! Contest. (If you would like to hear Hazel play and sing, you can go here.)

Now I had been contacted to see if I would I would like to help promote this contest for National Sewing Month which is September. It is put on by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores and Waverly Fabrics. Waverly is celebrating its 90th anniversary.  I of course jumped at the chance. They sent me two yards of fabric.

They asked the bloggers to Waverize their lives by making something with this fabric for every day use. I thought a ukulele case would be perfect. Then I thought about what I would want. I wanted it to be padded on the inside to protect the instrument and to be stiff on the outside to protect from banging, etc. I decided to put between the lining and the exterior, quilt batting and plastic canvas. This way the case is fully washable. I also envisioned it having a zipper. I called my sister and talked to her about it and she said to make sure the zipper went around the head of the ukulele, so I did. 

My first idea was to use the box as a pattern, but I decided to be more sophisticated. I traced the ukulele and added a bit for seam allowance and give and used this for the base. I also wanted to give it a pocket so she could store something small like her picks. Then I made a little bag to put the picks in with some of the scraps. I attached a ribbon to it so we can attach it tothe case so she doesn't lose them. She doesn't really use her picks anymore, but my sister sent her some, so she has them. 

I put a pocket with Velcro closure on the front. I also added some iron-on flowers and star to jazz it up for my sparkly girl. 

Now if I had this to redo, I would sew it in a different order. I was not sure which to do first with the plastic canvas as part of the lining. I should have sewn the zipper in first. Oops!! It is a little messier than I had hoped, but it works.

And Hazel loves it!! I used a parachute clip to make the strap adjustable so it can grow with her. I put a flower pin on it to make it work a bit better for her now. 

With some of the remaining fabric, I made Hazel a tote bag so she can bring her music (if she ever officially learns how to play and read music) with her and a little zippered pouch to keep money or a key in. The pouch fits in the pocket on the case as well as on the tote.

Hazel asked what she could use the bag for and I suggested music or library books or to take her toys to Nonni's. Then she got really excited about it.

So that has been one of our main forms of entertainment this summer. Hazel LOVES playing her ukulele. And now she has a wonderful case to take it places. The music teacher at her new school already told her to bring it in when they have music class. Needless to say, Hazel is very excited.

Now it is your turn to head over and Waverize your life. To enter the Waverize It! Facebook Contest, just sew something unique with Waverly fabric and take a picture of it. Then head over to this Facebook page to enter. You can also check out the entries that have already been submitted there. The Grand Prize is 30 yards of your favorite Waverly fabric and a $250 Jo-Ann Gift Card. Then there are nine Second Place Winners who get 9 yards of their favorite Waverly fabric and a $150 Jo-Ann Gift Card. You can get more details here.