Wednesday 16 February 2011

Zippers conquered! (Well, sort of...)

I think we all know what that means?  Oh yes, I conquered the pouches.  Finally!  This is my first entry for February for the Craft Book Challenge over at Liesl Made.


I made three more.  The initial purple one just isn't good enough for a present so I'll keep that myself.  This time I interfaced the linen which made sewing it much easier as it was far sturdier.  I had fun choosing the fabrics from my lovely stacks of layer cakes and charm squares.  The choice of zippers in my local Hobbycraft isn't great, and it's pretty much the only place I can get to, unless I brave Nottingham City Centre on a Saturday (not for the feint-hearted).  The lovely Sandra has given me the address of a fabulous Etsy shop which sells a great variety of zippers at a low cost, but I think I need to build up my zipper confidence before I invest!!
Here's a peak inside at the linings:

And a close up of the zippers.  I had loads of brilliant advice from both Sandra and Malea, but unfortunately I'd already sewn the zipper part before I read their comments/emails.  I will try your ideas next time girls!  Pop over to visit Sandra's blog for lots of lovely pouches and Malea's blog to see her pouches made from the same pattern I used.  Much better than my attempts I must say!


This time I sewed the side seam bigger than the 1/4 inch recommended.  I made sure to capture the majority of the zipper tape to the side of the metal fixing/plastic stopper inside the seam.  The zippers still don't quite lie flat at the ends, but they are better than the purple one which you can see here.  Oh, and by the way, the craft book used was I {heart} Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale.  A book full of gorgeous projects and wonderful photography, but not such great instructions and real lack of diagrams and progress photos.

I think I might make these again, and I'll certainly try other projects from the book, but I think I'm going to need a bit more sewing practice first as the projects seem to be a case of work-it-out for yourself. 

On a non-crafty note.  I had a fish pedicure at the weekend, you know the little Garra Ruffa fish that nibble your dead skin?  Sounds gross but it was heaven.  I've just booked another!


20 comments:

Denise said...

Your bags look nice. I think you did a fine job. I have that book on reserve at the local library. As soon as it is turned in, I can go pick it up.

--Denise at Sly Needle

Sandra :) said...

YAY YOU DID IT!!! I knew you could - and your bags are gorgeous - the ends look perfect! I guess this means I better get my a$$ in gear and get out my buttonholer!!!

Laurel {Make and Takes} said...

These are great! I'd love for you to submit this to the M&T Spotlight ... We're featuring fabric crafts this week. http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight

~Beth D. said...

great job. i love your fabric choices!

Ms Muffin said...

Congratulations!!!

I have not done any zippers yet. But your pouches look so cute!
:-)

Marianne said...

Your pouches are really cute and I think you did a great job on those zippers.
Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, they look so cute! That pouch is on my list of projects to complete in this challenge!

Allie said...

Those are wonderful - they look great to me! Your fish pedicure sounds awesome.

Angie Padilla said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog, Wendy. I've just popped in to say "hi" and have to say I love your pouches!

randi said...

once i got a zipper into a pouch, i became addicted to making them. such a cute little project and so easy to do.

yours are just adorable!

Anji* said...

Your pouches look lovely, great fabric choices :)

Nancy Lee said...

Congratulations! These are lovely. The fish nibbling? I don't know if I could relax through something like that, but I am glad you enjoyed it!

Deanna said...

Very, very cute!! I haven't yet mastered zippers, but I'm getting there! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

These are just adorable. Zippers give me loads of trouble... that is wonderful that you feel confident with them. Congrats.

chris said...

Your pouches are fabulous! Zippers take a little practice, but the effort is well worth it.

Unknown said...

LOve the pouches! I had one small question for you. How do you resixe the link party images?

Sachiko said...

They are very cute. The colors are very cheerful and fun! Thank you for linking to my party!

Jamie @ DIY Home Sweet Home said...

Those are so cute. Thank you for sharing. I'm your newest follower. I'm having my 1st link party tomorrow (Monday) it would be great if you would stop by and add your project. http://diyhshp.blogspot.com

nicolette {momnivores dilemma} said...

Zippers still scare me. Glad to see you conquered them. Those pouches look great!

Thanks for linking to Creative Juice! Hope to see you back this Thursday.

<3
nicolette

malia said...

these are fab! malia
www.yesterdayontuesday.com