I recently needed some gifts for friends and decided to make "thimble pips." They're small containers, usually to hold a thimble. I made these a bit larger so my fellow Japanese Embroidery friends can use them to hold some of the screws and washers from our stands.
I noticed Clover has kits with precut plastics in a few sizes, but I didn't have time to find them. I had some quilting template plastic that I cut into the circle sections needed. And I had some left over very heavy Pellon stiffener that I used used for the rest of the circle sections.
Circle Sections? This piece is made with three stiff "almond" shapes--You sew them together, leaving one side completely open. When you squeeze the ends, the pip (after an apple seed) opens and you can put small items inside.
To get your shape, you draw two overlapping circles. The yellow shape is the shape of the pip pieces.
I actually used six--three for the outside layer and three inside. So I laced my fabrics over each of the stiff shapes. Then I stitched them in pairs, with the right sides out. I used the softer Pellon on the outer side, and the thinner plastic for the lining piece. Then, last, I stitched two of the sides together with an overcast stitch to make the pip. They don't take long at all.
Remind you of the old rubber coin purses? Same principle.
Here's how they open.
