Thursday, February 9, 2012

First Try At A Zip

Well, I gathered up my courage over the weekend and dove in.  Yes, I tried to put in a zip.  For most things, I can see how they fit together or how piece A would be added to piece B, but the zipper just baffled my brain.

Using a fabulous pattern by Kat, I tried to make a little pouch for myself as a trial run.


I love these little froggies, but couldn't figure out how I would use them in a quilt.  This seemed like a great chance to give them a happy home.  Now, I over estimated the possible size of the "feature" fabric, so there is a little strip of the cheery under the froggies that is lost.  Next time I will adjust my measurements a bit so the froggies are framed a little better.

The zip.  Humm.  It works.  It fits.  The little tabs look cute.  It's puckered on one side, but I think I know how to fix that moving ahead.  Normally I would not have used a blue zip with these fabrics, but with the poor selection of haberdashery shops around here that was my best choice.  Never fear, though, my Zipit zips just arrived!

 
Inside I lined it with a gold/yellow Aviary print that picked up the flowers next to the frogs.  I used the same fabric for the little zip tabs too.  There is room in here for a pocket.  I'll work on that as well.


The pouch is about 9 inches square, so you can easily fit in a rotary cutter or embroidery hoop.  I boxed the bottom so it stands up on its own.  At least it did when it was new.  It has been living in my bag the past few days and the interfacing is loosing its crispness.  I think next time I will try a batting to give it a bit more structure.

Ah, live and learn.  My first pouch.  My first zip.  I learned a WHOLE lot and have a bit of confidence to give it a try (tonight?) for my Mouthy Stitches partner.  Fingers crossed!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

oooh yay for you and good luck with the next one! :)
My personal favourite to use for pouches is iron on fleece/pellon. Although it doesn't make them as firm and stiff as interfacing, I just like the feel etc... better and then it has a little light padding.
Just thought I'd mention it in case you have some :)
xx

Susan said...

Looks great from here! good luck with your next effort!

Unknown said...

Looking good! I really need to get some zip practice in too!

Annabella said...

Yea - woot woot!

Toni said...

That is an excellent pouch, Cindy! I would never have guessed it was your first!

beaquilter said...

good job that turned out really cute

Canadian Abroad said...

Fab job! I use fusible fleece (when I have it in my stash) or regular wadding as I like the feel better than interfacing. Doesn't Kar write incredibly clear instructions!!

Linda Coleman said...

you did a great job Cindy. I actually like the blue zip.

Judith, Belfast said...

Fabulous first zippy pouch C! There'll be no stopping you now! Jxo

Katy Cameron said...

Looks good! I use fusible fleece in mine for better longevity, as I found standard fusible interfacing tended to leave bags looking crinkly. I also have just started using the woven fusible interfacing for some things - SO much better than the other stuff you get (polyester? who knows?!) I have a tute somewhere on Jenna's blog on how to do an internal zipped pocket (the overall tute is for a zippered cosmetic pouch), in case you need one, but they're pretty simple :o)

Rhonda the Rambler said...

I have to agree that fusible fleece rocks!! I love your frogs!!

Kelli said...

What a great first pouch! No one would ever know it's your first! I haven't tried those little zip tab thingies yet, but they look so nice and neat, I will have to next time. Great job!

Sarah said...

Thats only your first?! You're good...

Kelly said...

Looking awfully good for a first try! Mine was horrific :)

Diane-crewe said...

well done...se...THINKING about tit was MUCH worse than doing it xx

suzan almond said...

Wonderful job for a first time - those little tabs are great and as for the frogs - delightful !

Shanna said...

LOVE it!! What cute froggy fabric, too!

mammafairy said...

Looking good. I too have used a fusible wadding. It is relatively inexpensive, as it is double, so I shall get at least 3 pouches out of 1/4m At £12.50/m that feel very reasonable to me! about £1.00 per pouch on wadding. It is fusible both sides as well, so I bought some muslin for the side I didn't want to fuse, this made life simpler.

Good luck on that one!

Di said...

Are you sure you haven't done a zippy before? It looks good from here. I like your choice of fabrics too. Di xo

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

It looks great!! Here's to many more zips!

Laura said...

Good on you! I find zips a pain in the teeth still! Must master them!

Nicky said...

You ex-zip virgin you! Practice makes perfect so churn out a few more and you will be zipping everything in sight without even noticing.

Your first effort looks fab to me! Ribbit!

Lynne said...

Over the last couple of years I have hand-sewn flour zips into knitting to finish children's jackets; but the last time I sews a zip by machine onto fabric was when I made my own cloths about thirty-five years ago!

Karen said...

looks great C! I always use fusible fleece for pouches which give them structure, but are squishy at the same time. If you haven't got any let me know & I'll scoot you down some

Elisa Black said...

Glad your zips finally arrived! your first pouch looks great-- and now you have a little something for yourself :0) Looking forward to seeing what you make for your partner.

Sarah @ FairyFace Designs said...

Great job for your first attempt! That pattern is fab :-) And I love your froggies (and yes, I am catching up on my blog reading tonight :-))

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Label Cloud

241 tote all heart appeal antique applique apron art quilt aurifil award baby quilt back background bag basket batik bee Bee Blessed Big Stitch Swap bird's nest birdie stitches birthday blankets of love block blog blogaversary blogger bundle bloglovin' BOM book brit bee brooch bundle bunting business card holder camping cathedral window chain piecing chaos charm pack charm squares charm swap chickens Christmas class clothes color commission community community quilt contest craft craft fair cross cross stitch Cúchulainn cushion design wall diaper Do.Good Stitches donation double wedding ring drawing dress eclipse election electronica embroicery embroidery eraser stamp exhibit fab fabric fabric tape facebook FAL farmers journal fat eight fat quarter fat quarterly feature festival of quilts film finish finish along flag flickr flying geese FMQ FNSI frame Free Motion Friday free motion quilting friends fugly Galway Galway Now gift giveaway goal goals goodie goodie swap granny mania granny squares graph guest blog guild hand puppet hand quilting hand sewing happy hat help hexagons hey girl hospital hot pad HST I Spy ICA improv innovation award inspiration interview invitation ipad ipad cover IPS IQFOI Irish chain Japanese key fob kind stitches knit knitting knitting and stitching kona lattice illusions laugh launch learning lecture Liberty linky list little star loops love on the blocks LQS Day magazine market medallion mennonite miniquilt mixer cover mod logs Mod Pop QAL modern blocks Modern Irish Bee modern irish quilters modern quilt guild modern quilt guild bee modern stitching Modern Stitching Bee monster mouthy stitches mug rug mural name name game name tag napkin needle book new york beauty newsletter Nieve notebook cover overlocker panel paper piecing patchwork pattern Pay it forward Peace Valley peanut butter perle cotton pezzy pizazz photograph PIF pillow pillowcase dress pin cushion pinwheel PJ placemat podcast polka dot pom pom portholes post pouch precut puffy pouch puppy purse QAL quilt quilt exhibit quilt frame quilt top quilter in the gap quilting Rainbow Charm Swap research retreat retroflower review sale sampler scarf science scrap scraps screen printing seams selvage sew and bee happy Sew Bee Blissful sewing machine sewing room shop significant sizzix sketch skirt solid spools stall stand star stargazing start your own stitched in color string stuffed super tote surprise swap swoon tablerunner teaching text thumb tack tiles top tote toy travel tree skirt tumbler tutorial twinkle twinkle twitter video vote walk wallet website win WIP wonky house yarn youtube zip

Total Number of Page Views