Quasi-Tutorial: Personal Project Portfolio

Make a versatile Personal Project Portfolio...

As promised, this week I am walking through the steps required to make my personal project portfolio.

Warning: extremely long post... ;-)

In case you missed the beginning of this discussion, this first post revealed the tutorials which inspired this project and this post showcased the finished item (and described the supplies required to make).

Note that while I provide dimensions here, this project easily accommodates whatever size you want. (I always hope that readers are brave enough to customize these tutorials to their own needs.)

Easy to customize...

My initial estimates had determined that a finished (closed) size of 11" wide x 13.5" high would meet my needs to store file folders and such. It was then be a matter of adding depth depending on what solution I found for the file pockets.

Once I purchased the mesh zippered folders from Dollarama, I filled them with stuff, stacked them, measured them and ultimately decided a 2" thickness would suffice.

Project Variation Alert! If you're using this portfolio for purposes that require smaller spaces for your doodads, you could sew a horizontal line across the middle of these zippered folders — stopping before you reach the zipper of course — to end up with a two-pocket style container.

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What that translates into is that I needed to start with two pieces of fabric measuring 24" wide x 13.5" high.

Joining three pieces of fabric to arrive at one "side"...

My main fabric selection (Jumbo Bouncing Ox) wasn't wide enough to yield two pieces at 24" each; therefore, I had to join three pieces together to get the required width. The two large pieces were about 10.25" x 13.5" each and the middle strip was 4.5" x 13.5".

All three were then sewn together with a 1/4" seam allowance and interfaced with fusible fleece.

Interfaced with fusible fleece...

I chose to quilt the main areas (the yellow fabric) of both panels, but that's certainly not a requirement. I did the interior with a meandering squiggle and the exterior with straight vertical lines.

Quilting done...

Rounding off the corners was the next task. For those of you who automatically reach for a plate or a bowl or even a CD for this purpose, note that you may not always want that much taken off. Better to choose a glass.

Or... this piece of gold toned cardboard came out of a box of Christmas chocolates. I measured and cut curves corresponding to 2cm and 3cm at two of the corners. (If you're wondering why I stepped into the metric world for this, those two measurements represent serviceable curves on either side of 1".)

My DIY curve tool...

In this case, I used the 3cm edge to round off the corners of the quilted panels.

Next, I measured for and prepped the front and back interior vinyl pockets. (As I mentioned before, the vinyl itself was reclaimed from a bedding bag, and both pieces actually had pockets on them.) With what I had, a depth of 8" was possible; i.e., each piece of vinyl was 8" x 13.5".

Measuring for and marking placement of vinyl pockets...

Some of my bias binding was used to finish off the open edge of each vinyl pocket. (To make your own continuous bias binding, follow this tutorial and you'll get more than enough for this project if you start out with a fat quarter.)

Can you see the square pocket in the middle of the vinyl?

I did some re-checking for size as I marked the position of the vinyl pockets. Plenty of room for just pieces of paper, but you can see that something longer like a file folder would also fit.

Always a good idea to confirm fit along the way...

I also rounded off the corners of the vinyl at this point and sewed the binding along the front edge.

Then I basted the two fabric panels together (back to back, front sides out), leaving the middle top and bottom 3" or so open (i.e., where most of the gray fabric is).

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Binding the zippered folders "book style" required punching holes in the "spine" of the portfolio. The first step is therefore to determine and mark the locations of these holes to install eyelets.

Finding the right location for the book binding technique...

Nothing difficult here. I drew a line down the middle and then drew two more lines to the left and right, a 1/2" away. The two outermost lines — as indicated by the orange pins above — will serve as sewing lines to demarcate the spine of the portfolio; the other three lines will be used to space out the eyelets for each of the three folders.

Adding a strip of Peltex...

I decided on the fly to add some more heft to the spine by sliding a piece of Peltex — just under 2" wide by 12.5" long — between the two sewn lines. (I literally did it this way, which ended up being extremely tricky and difficult to insert. I would suggest sewing one of the lines, inserting the strip of Peltex and then sewing the other line against it.)

Eyelets installed...

In terms of spacing out the eyelets, I figured that each folder needed to be secured with two sets of binding, each consisting of two eyelets spaced 3" apart. To ensure that they wouldn't be too close together (horizontally speaking), I staggered the placement of the middle sets.

[Don't overthink this part because it really doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it evenly. In my case, the first eyelet on the middle line was located 1.5" from the top edge. The first eyelet on each of the lines to the left and right was located 2" down from the top edge. Then I spun the whole thing around and measured the same way again from the bottom.]

Large eyelets for loop closure installed...

The two eyelets for the closure should also be added at this point. Find the middle along the left side and mark two locations 2" apart, about 3/4" from the edge.

Remember that eyelets have a right and wrong side in terms of appearance. You'll obviously want the nicer looking half on the outside of your project.

The actual process of "book binding" the folders to the fabric panel will be done last, after attaching the bias binding around the perimeter of the portfolio and securing the vinyl pockets along the way.

Attach binding against interior...

My bias binding was double folded and 2" wide when opened up; it's a standard 1/2" size that works well for this project. In terms of attaching it, however, there are several ways that it can be done, so do whatever works for you.

The method I used here starts with clipping the open binding all the way around, right side down against the interior. Then I sew along the first fold line, which is about 1/2" away from the edge.

Leave a couple of inches of binding loose at the beginning when you start to sew, because you want to be able to pick up and join the two ends when you're done.

One way of joining ends of bias binding...

Since it's cut on the bias, the binding will invariably stretch. Which means that even though it may have been neatly pinned or clipped at the start, you'll have to reposition it as you sew.

How do you join the ends? Again, there are various ways.

When I got to within the last few inches, I cut the ends on the diagonal, making sure to leave enough fabric to overlap. Then I folded back a small seam on the layer of binding that will wind up on top (in the above picture, it's the part that's hidden on the bottom), overlapped it with the other end of the binding and then continued to sew right back to the starting point.

Turn and clip bias binding...

So in essence, the actual ends of my bias binding are not seamed together. But once you flip the binding over to the other side and clip it into place, the appearance is a tidy join.

Finish sewing the binding from the exterior side...

Finish sewing by stitching close to the edge of the binding from the exterior side. (With the vinyl now against the sewing machine, it may stick; keep a steady pace and help it along if necessary, or put down some fabric or tissue paper.)

Edges bound!

Now it's time to break out the cord and book bind the folders.

 

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Binding the folders to the spine of the portfolio involves three steps: 1) cutting small openings in the bottom of the folder at appropriate spots, 2) threading cord through the openings and the eyelets, and 3) tying off securely.

Place the bottom edge of a folder against one of the rows of eyelets. Make sure it's centered left and right (top and bottom of the portfolio).

Align folder against the eyelets...

Preferably using a set of detailing scissors, make a tiny snip at each eyelet location. Don't cut too much! If the hole is not large enough for the cord to pass through, you can always make it bigger, but if you overdo it, you won't be able to make it smaller.

Snip a tiny hole in the bottom of the folder at the required locations...

Thread the cord through each set of eyelets so that the ends are inside the folder. I found that I needed to "freshen" the end of the cord by snipping it each time as it tended to fray once pushed through the hole, but YMMV depending on what type of cord you use.

Tie a tight knot inside the folder...

Tie off the ends tightly inside the folder and you can now say you've done some book binding! (Of course, the true advantage of this method is that you can easily redo or change it up.)

Completing the project...

Finish by threading the closure eyelets with an appropriate length of cord or ribbon and sewing a button on the front.

So, was it simple? Easier than you expected? Are you going to make one?

'Til next...