Last year, I created a desk organizer crafts out of cardboard. Unfortunately, those crafts did not last long. I used glue gun & glue stick in assembling the parts. Speaking from experience, they do not last long enough to savor the function of the craft.

The Traveler’s Sewing Kit is a product of everything that I have learned from crafting and a mashup of objects I have seen in my life. I made everything suited to my needs- someone who does sewing, bookbinding, and cross-stitching.
I drew what my sewing kit would look like. Once I took account of the items that I need to place inside and their dimensions, I added the general dimensions of the kit.


As displayed in my drawing, I had a lot of erasures in the dimensions because I did not take note of the thickness of the cardboard. I became strict with myself and went back into cutting another piece if the previously cut piece did not fit in with the product. Moreover, I covered the sides of the cardboard with used papers so I can paint it later on.
Instead of the usual glue stick & glue gun, I used wood glue- a glue with a longer curing time than the former but definitely lasts longer.
In the old sewing kit that I bought, they were no dividers. Every time I open it, everything is a mess no matter how hard I arrange it every time because I always carry it everywhere so the contents inside are splattered.
In the Traveler’s Sewing Kit, I created three drawers:
● The lowermost drawer and also the biggest is for my unused DMC threads.

● The left uppermost drawer is where the tomato and measuring tape is located. Both are separated by a divider.

● The right uppermost drawer is where the single piece used threads are located.
Overall, keeping everything segregated with each other saves time because I do not have to arrange it every time.
I took special attention to the handle of the kit because I plan to take this every now and then outside of my home. Also, this handle is easy to grab when you are in a hurry or will be carrying it for a long time.

The handles of the drawers are another feature that I pondered a lot on. Instead of the usual circular handles, I opted for this design. From my experience with various furniture handles, this type works best for me. Its easier to push and pull.

In the book Steal Like An Artist, author Austin Klein wrote, “In my experience, it’s in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who are.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
In creating Traveller’s Sewing Kit, I discovered how I am uncomfortable in starting again. There were times where the pieces that I cut had incorrect dimensions. Therefore, I had to cut another one. In these times, I had this thinking of just leaving it be even if the dimensions are lacking. I discovered that I was just uncomfortable with starting all over again. Once I identified this thinking that I had, I decided that I had to teach myself to be comfortable in starting again. Rebuild rather than settle.
All throughout this project, I am grateful that I got some dimensions incorrectly because I get to teach myself a lesson. I suddenly had greater respect for Thomas Edison. He was not afraid of starting all over again once an experiment failed. Because you do not fail, you learn. He did it. He invented the light bulb!
As I observed people, I discovered in people while they are picking out drawers/kits that they will use, they usually only took account of the objects that they will be placed inside, and most of the time, they left out something important: the user.
The Traveller’s Sewing Kit is perfect for me because it suited my behavior and my needs. This craft would be designed differently if the user is a kid or a senior citizen. I pointed this out because if you look everywhere starting in your home and observe how your family members interact with an item, you would discover a bug in one or two objects.
Real-life example:
Recently, I observed that my grandmother is struggled in opening and closing her clothes kit. It takes a great amount of energy for her to close and open this type of lock.

Thus, she mostly leaves it open. Now, this is a bug. When my family members bought this for her, the only thought of the items that will be placed inside and not how my grandmother interacts with it. There I discovered that this type of lock is not senior citizen-friendly.