Friday, December 6, 2013
How To's of the Welt Pocket Zipper Pouch
11:10 AM
When I set out to make this zip pouch for my son that had pockets on the outside..
I didn't really know how I was going to do it, b/c I like the quilted look on a zip pouch, but a square of fabric sewn over the quilting wouldn't look very good.
and cut out two 11" squares each of the trains, bikes, batting and muslin. Then I layered the trains, batting and muslin and quilted some straight lines, and repeated for the other side of the pouch.
Then, I cut about a 6" by 14"-ish piece of bike fabric for the pocket construction. I measured and drew out where I wanted the pocket to be on the pouch. Then, with the bike fabric and trains right side together, leaving about an inch and a half or two inches of the bike fabric above where the pocket slit would be I drew the pocket opening line.
Then I sewed about a quarter inch around the line that I drew..
Then I snipped a "Y" so it would turn easily and then flipped the pocket through to the back side.
Also, instead of having the pocket lining be free in mine, I folded the bottom edge of the bike fabric up and brought it to about 1/2" above the top edge of the topstitching around the opening. Then, I measured out a square and topstitched all the way around it so it's fully attached to the wall of the pouch.
I put a pocket in the other side, too, and then did the zip and the lining based on this noodlehead tutorial that I used for the other zip pouches I made.
And then Voila! It was done!! Except, my son had mentioned that he wanted a cool zipper pull on his, too, and I didn't know what to do for that, so I fussy cut a train, and sewed a circle leaving about a finger width open, and stuffed a little bit of fiberfill into it, and then sewed it closed.
When I sewed it closed, I sewed around the circle about three times. (I didn't put too much fiberfill, otherwise it would have been hard to sew closed.) And then cut it out with pinking shears, and attached it with some green ric-rac. It kind of looks like a little echino ravioli. :)
Oh and for the zip tab cover, I fussy cut a bike by cutting a rectangle of fabric, and folding it right sides together, then turning down the top edges, pressing, and then sewing up both sides.
Then I trimmed the corners, turned it right side out, slid it over the end of the zipper and stitched around the all of the edges in a rectangle.
It was so much fun to sew up. Even though I muddled my way through the pockets and should have watched the video first. :) I LOVE these fabrics. I should have gotten those trains out and used them a long time ago!
And that is the making of the zip pouch with welt pockets. (Now I know the proper name!) :) If you made it to the end, thanks for popping in to have a look-see. :)
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Linking up with: TGIFF, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finish it Up Friday, Creative Connection, Anything Goes, Friday Favs,
I didn't really know how I was going to do it, b/c I like the quilted look on a zip pouch, but a square of fabric sewn over the quilting wouldn't look very good.
Then I thought that maybe I could embed the pockets. I didn't even know the name of those kind of pockets but remembered making a jacket with them in high school. So to make the pockets "embedded" I decided to make the pouch a square so they would be deeper than if the pouch was a small rectangle. I picked out this echino train fabric that I had been hoarding forever, (just looking at it makes me happy) and the leftover pieces of these Lucy's Crab Shack bikes (also invokes happiness at first glance)that were the backing of my husband's Triangle Massacre quilt..
and cut out two 11" squares each of the trains, bikes, batting and muslin. Then I layered the trains, batting and muslin and quilted some straight lines, and repeated for the other side of the pouch.
Then, I cut about a 6" by 14"-ish piece of bike fabric for the pocket construction. I measured and drew out where I wanted the pocket to be on the pouch. Then, with the bike fabric and trains right side together, leaving about an inch and a half or two inches of the bike fabric above where the pocket slit would be I drew the pocket opening line.
Then I sewed about a quarter inch around the line that I drew..
and cut it open on the line. I like to start it with my seam ripper b/c I can be a little clumsy with the scissors in small spaces. ;)
Then I snipped a "Y" so it would turn easily and then flipped the pocket through to the back side.
This is where I had a hiccup. See how the bike fabric at the ends of the slit in the above pic are kind of bunchy? Something wasn't quite right. But I tried to smooth them out and make them look a little mitered on the front when I topstitched around the mouth of the pocket at the very edge of the bike fabric.
It turned out okay, but (this is when I googled the proper name for the pocket and found out they are called welt pockets) it would have really REALLY helped me if I had found this tutorial first! So much simpler and the opening would be so much neater I think. So if you ever go to put welt pockets on a pouch, watch this first. It will really help!
Also, instead of having the pocket lining be free in mine, I folded the bottom edge of the bike fabric up and brought it to about 1/2" above the top edge of the topstitching around the opening. Then, I measured out a square and topstitched all the way around it so it's fully attached to the wall of the pouch.
I put a pocket in the other side, too, and then did the zip and the lining based on this noodlehead tutorial that I used for the other zip pouches I made.
And then Voila! It was done!! Except, my son had mentioned that he wanted a cool zipper pull on his, too, and I didn't know what to do for that, so I fussy cut a train, and sewed a circle leaving about a finger width open, and stuffed a little bit of fiberfill into it, and then sewed it closed.
When I sewed it closed, I sewed around the circle about three times. (I didn't put too much fiberfill, otherwise it would have been hard to sew closed.) And then cut it out with pinking shears, and attached it with some green ric-rac. It kind of looks like a little echino ravioli. :)
Oh and for the zip tab cover, I fussy cut a bike by cutting a rectangle of fabric, and folding it right sides together, then turning down the top edges, pressing, and then sewing up both sides.
Then I trimmed the corners, turned it right side out, slid it over the end of the zipper and stitched around the all of the edges in a rectangle.
It was so much fun to sew up. Even though I muddled my way through the pockets and should have watched the video first. :) I LOVE these fabrics. I should have gotten those trains out and used them a long time ago!
And that is the making of the zip pouch with welt pockets. (Now I know the proper name!) :) If you made it to the end, thanks for popping in to have a look-see. :)
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Linking up with: TGIFF, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finish it Up Friday, Creative Connection, Anything Goes, Friday Favs,
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Quilted Zip Pouch with Welt Pockets
4:19 PM
Hi!! (hand waving)
Hope you have recovered from Thanksgiving weekend and the adjustment of getting back to a normal schedule after four days off, and are having a great week! I ended up at the Dr. on Tues., and am finally feeling better and getting rid of this resp. thing I had over Thanksgiving. It's been brutal!
I have finally felt like sewing again so I tackled this zip pouch. It has a back story..
The other day, mr. sonny asked me to make him a zip pouch, but he wanted pockets on the sides of his. ?? He even drew me a picture with diagrams. Complete with arrows making sure the right sides of the fabric and lining are facing the right direction, and making sure I know where the zipper goes. :)
He first said he wanted it to be a pyramid, but with pockets on the sides.. (like the one from the last post) That sounded a bit too complicated for me, so I got busy yesterday, and figured out a way to put pockets on the sides .. of a square pouch. He said it could be rectangle if it couldn't be a pyramid, but I thought a square one would make the side pockets be able to be deeper. Plus, it will hold more Legos or whatever he puts in there. It's not snug like an iPad case, but it's also big enough to hold an iPad mini with a few other things so might make a good travel bag.
It was super fun to make! Someone commented on a FB pic asking how I made it so tomorrow I will post pics, etc of how it all came together. I found a couple of really helpful tutorials so stay tuned tomorrow, and thanks for dropping by! :D Fingers crossed that he will love it!
xoxo
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving!!
11:11 AM
My hub is working today.. people still fly on Thanksgiving.. :/ and I've been sick all week with bronchitis or some other horrible respiratory thing, for which I now have three prescriptions for, so we are at home today.. but planning a fun evening of watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and popping some popcorn tonight with the seven year old mister in my life. :D
But in the meantime, I have been sewing some quick holiday things over the last couple of weeks.
A quilted pyramid zip pouch from some Taking Names triangle blocks that I received in a block testing swap.. it was..challenging.. and I kind of messed up the zipper at the top. And I wish I had used stiffer batting.
Not really neat enough to gift, so keeping it.. and it turns out it is the perfect size to keep the tiny vacuum attachment set for my sewing machine, that is also perfect to use on the computer!! Everything gets so dusty here in the valley. Ugh! I had no idea such a thing existed, and it was really inexpensive too!
The reason I found out about the tiny vacuum attachment set is b/c I broke a needle the other day on my machine, and part of it went down inside. Ugh!
I also made another zip pouch like the sock monkey one, but this one out of a different Kickin' Stash block made of Mary Engelbreit fabrics. It turned out much neater than the pyramid one. I used a polyester zipper for the monkey pouch, and a metal for the pyramid, but for this one I used a sport zipper, and I really like it the best.
These are quick, small gifts to make and so fun! I don't know what took me so long to try making them.
(have been playing with free photo editing software, PhotoScape.. it's great.. and FREE!)
And, several months ago, my friend Rebecca at Making Rebecca Lynne sent me her infinity scarf pattern to try out. Well, a shameful amount of time has passed, but I finally tried it out and I love it!! It has three sizes, including one that can be pulled up as a hood or used for a nursing cover, etc. It's beginner friendly, and you can purchase it on her Etsy shop here.
The pattern can be made of four coordinating FQ's of any fabric weight really, but I used just one fabric for the ones I made, and used heavier wintery fabric.
#1:
#2:
I will definitely be using the pattern again! I highly recommend it for a quick and easy, chic and practical gift. :D
I also finished my nephew's patchwork punctuation quilt top this week and got it basted.
But when I started trying to quilt it, my machine started skipping stitches and catching a little, and nothing I did would fix it so it's getting a service right now and will be gone for TWO weeks! Ack! So little Betsy came out of hiding.
But now I'm not sure I will even get my nephew's quilt done by Christmas. Fingers crossed, but here it sits. :(
Thanks for visiting! Happy Thanksgiving, and Congrats to Tami C. for winning the FQS gc in the Blog Hop Party giveaway!
xoxo
But in the meantime, I have been sewing some quick holiday things over the last couple of weeks.
A quilted pyramid zip pouch from some Taking Names triangle blocks that I received in a block testing swap.. it was..challenging.. and I kind of messed up the zipper at the top. And I wish I had used stiffer batting.
Not really neat enough to gift, so keeping it.. and it turns out it is the perfect size to keep the tiny vacuum attachment set for my sewing machine, that is also perfect to use on the computer!! Everything gets so dusty here in the valley. Ugh! I had no idea such a thing existed, and it was really inexpensive too!
The reason I found out about the tiny vacuum attachment set is b/c I broke a needle the other day on my machine, and part of it went down inside. Ugh!
I also made another zip pouch like the sock monkey one, but this one out of a different Kickin' Stash block made of Mary Engelbreit fabrics. It turned out much neater than the pyramid one. I used a polyester zipper for the monkey pouch, and a metal for the pyramid, but for this one I used a sport zipper, and I really like it the best.
These are quick, small gifts to make and so fun! I don't know what took me so long to try making them.
(have been playing with free photo editing software, PhotoScape.. it's great.. and FREE!)
And, several months ago, my friend Rebecca at Making Rebecca Lynne sent me her infinity scarf pattern to try out. Well, a shameful amount of time has passed, but I finally tried it out and I love it!! It has three sizes, including one that can be pulled up as a hood or used for a nursing cover, etc. It's beginner friendly, and you can purchase it on her Etsy shop here.
The pattern can be made of four coordinating FQ's of any fabric weight really, but I used just one fabric for the ones I made, and used heavier wintery fabric.
#1:
#2:
I will definitely be using the pattern again! I highly recommend it for a quick and easy, chic and practical gift. :D
I also finished my nephew's patchwork punctuation quilt top this week and got it basted.
But when I started trying to quilt it, my machine started skipping stitches and catching a little, and nothing I did would fix it so it's getting a service right now and will be gone for TWO weeks! Ack! So little Betsy came out of hiding.
But now I'm not sure I will even get my nephew's quilt done by Christmas. Fingers crossed, but here it sits. :(
Thanks for visiting! Happy Thanksgiving, and Congrats to Tami C. for winning the FQS gc in the Blog Hop Party giveaway!
xoxo
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Blog Hop Party with Giveaways!
6:00 AM
It's that time of year again for the Blog Hop Party with Giveaways over at the Quilting Gallery. :)
It's always fun to participate and make new blog friends, giveaway something, and enter lots of giveaways. I've made some of my best blog friends through these giveaway parties. So fun!
If you're new here, it's nice to *meet* you and I hope you'll have a look around, and come back to visit in the future. :)
For this giveaway, (open internationally) I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate generously donated by the Fat Quarter Shop. I love their huge selection! The FQS is the first online fabric shop I ever happened upon. Maybe it's their fault that I started hoarding fabric. ha!
They also just came out with their Layer Cake Lemonade pattern. It is a free downloadable pattern available here. And you can read about it and see different versions of it on their blog here. And to celebrate, all of their Layer Cakes are 20% off until November 25th!
Would you like to win a $25 gift certificate to spend on some Layer Cake goodness? Or some other quilty things?
All you have to do is be a follower of this blog, and leave a comment letting me know how you follow and what's your favorite color. That is the only required entry. No hoops to jump through.
However, if you'd like additional (completely optional) entries, you can:
1. Like on facebook, and leave a comment letting me know.
2. Follow on twitter and leave comment letting me know.
3. Follow on instagram and leave comment letting me know.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Hopping!!! Good luck in the giveaways!
xoxo
It's always fun to participate and make new blog friends, giveaway something, and enter lots of giveaways. I've made some of my best blog friends through these giveaway parties. So fun!
If you're new here, it's nice to *meet* you and I hope you'll have a look around, and come back to visit in the future. :)
For this giveaway, (open internationally) I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate generously donated by the Fat Quarter Shop. I love their huge selection! The FQS is the first online fabric shop I ever happened upon. Maybe it's their fault that I started hoarding fabric. ha!
They also just came out with their Layer Cake Lemonade pattern. It is a free downloadable pattern available here. And you can read about it and see different versions of it on their blog here. And to celebrate, all of their Layer Cakes are 20% off until November 25th!
Would you like to win a $25 gift certificate to spend on some Layer Cake goodness? Or some other quilty things?
All you have to do is be a follower of this blog, and leave a comment letting me know how you follow and what's your favorite color. That is the only required entry. No hoops to jump through.
However, if you'd like additional (completely optional) entries, you can:
1. Like on facebook, and leave a comment letting me know.
2. Follow on twitter and leave comment letting me know.
3. Follow on instagram and leave comment letting me know.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Hopping!!! Good luck in the giveaways!
xoxo
Labels:blog stuff,Blog-Hop,giveaways | 274
comments...
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
My Quilting Ancestors
9:18 PM
I've been two-timing my blog and spending lots of time over on Ancestry.com lately. It's so fascinating to see how far you can trace the family roots back. I'm guessing quilting goes way back, too, since my grandmothers quilted, and were taught by their moms, who were taught by their moms, etc.
So far, I know this: I am American. ;) As in.. 'came over on the boat way before America was ever America-American'. The tree traces back to lots of places.. France, England, Scotland, Germany, etc.
But eventually ends up in Missouri where a few ancestors fought on opposing sides of the Civil War. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the men in your family fighting each other.
A couple of ancestors even fought in the American Revolution. I wonder how these ladies dealt with all of the hardships that came their way while at home during that time.
One of the most interesting things about the process, though, has been finding old family photos, some mine that I've dug up to post, and some from other people's trees. So strange to find old black and white pics of some of your relatives that you never knew on someone's tree that you don't even know.
my great great grandparents with their wagon team
So far, I know this: I am American. ;) As in.. 'came over on the boat way before America was ever America-American'. The tree traces back to lots of places.. France, England, Scotland, Germany, etc.
great grandmother
But eventually ends up in Missouri where a few ancestors fought on opposing sides of the Civil War. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the men in your family fighting each other.
great great grandmother
A couple of ancestors even fought in the American Revolution. I wonder how these ladies dealt with all of the hardships that came their way while at home during that time.
one of my 3rd great grandmothers
another 3rd great grandmother
I wonder how many nights they sat by a fire sewing. Or what the clothes that they made for their families looked like.
my grandpa is in this photo. i think there are 4 generations in this one. the one on the right in the cool hat is still living. she is 98 1/2
I wonder if any of them pieced any "fancy" quilts, or if they just sewed out of necessity.
great great grandmother
I wonder which one of these women that I am most like, or which characteristics I get from them..
4th great grandmother
I find myself wishing I could interview them.
Digging through Ancestry.com has also gotten me interested again in these quilting books I bought before I even started quilting very much. I love them!
xoxo
**bonus pic of my grandpa and the school bus he drove for a while just b/c I think it's the cutest picture ever** ;)
Labels:family,random | 15
comments...
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Quilted Sock Monkey Zip Pouch
4:46 PM
Since making my son a sock monkey quilt when he was two, I've been in love with sock monkeys.
Am I too old to love sock monkeys? Oh well. I do. :) I still have some of the leftover fabric from his quilt, and when I tested some blocks for my friend Beth's Kickin' Stash pattern, I made this sock monkey block.
Fast forward almost two years, I think? (that's how long this little block has been waiting for its forever home) And I find out via Facebook that my cousin's daughter is an avid lover of sock monkeys. :) A girl after my own heart. ;) With her mom's permission, I give you proof:
Here she is with her soccer teammates watching the US soccer team play. Love the hat!
Her Halloween costume this year. So cute!
When I saw her costume, I knew that this block needed to go to her somehow. So I first thought of making a pillow, but the ball fringe incident may or may not have ruined that idea. ;) You don't want to know, and I won't be using ball fringe again any time soon. So I trimmed the fringe off, and decided I still had a big enough block to make a zip pouch. I'm soo glad the ball fringe pillow idea ended up being an epic fail b/c now I can't imagine this block as anything other than the zip pouch that it was clearly destined to be. :)
A quick study of this noodlehead tutorial, since this is the first zip pouch I've ever attempted, and away I went. I also wanted to try some FMQ (also a first) on it. I found a scrap of batting, and a square of muslin, and did simple loops after practicing on a scrap. It went.. okay. I was pretty happy with it, except for this spot in the middle that I missed. But you can't tell at all on the finished pouch.
I washed and dried the quilted block before going any further so it would be crinkly. Then I cut it in half.
And used each half as a template to cut the lining halves.
Then I needed a zipper.. and while out getting the zipper, I found a little felt sock monkey doodad to put on the zipper pull.
I hadn't ever used the zipper foot on my machine either! It all went smoothly, though, after some manual reading.. ;)
Then I decided to box the corners, another never-before-tried thing, and it worked! I am really happy with how the whole thing turned out!! It turned out to be the perfect size for pencils or make-up, etc.
And for the end of the zipper, I made a little tab to cover it out of the sock monkey banana fabric by fussy cutting this sweet banana bunch.
I think she will like the lining, too.. it all turned out way better than I expected it to. There may just be more zip pouch making in my future.
When I set out to make this I had no idea that her birthday was this weekend! So.. I found some little felt sock monkey stickers, and a couple of other goodies to put inside and here it is, all ready to go to its new home in Austin, TX. Happy Birthday to Kylie! :D (I'm sure she doesn't know my blog exists, so there's no way this will ruin her surprise.)
If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading the saga of the quilted sock monkey zip pouch. :)
Happy Wednesday!!
xoxo,
Links: What's it Wednesday, The DIY Dreamer, Wow Me Wednesday, Dandelion Wishes, Whip it Up Wednesday, We Did it Wednesday, Favorite Things Thursday, Really Random Thursday, Think Tank Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Show and Tell Thursday, Project Stash @ 7 Alive, Catch a Glimpse, Artsy Corner, Great Idea Thursday, Thursdays are your Days, Blog Stalking Thursday, Weekly Creative, Needle and Thread Thursday, Freedom Friday,
xoxo,
Links: What's it Wednesday, The DIY Dreamer, Wow Me Wednesday, Dandelion Wishes, Whip it Up Wednesday, We Did it Wednesday, Favorite Things Thursday, Really Random Thursday, Think Tank Thursday, Show Off Your Stuff, Show and Tell Thursday, Project Stash @ 7 Alive, Catch a Glimpse, Artsy Corner, Great Idea Thursday, Thursdays are your Days, Blog Stalking Thursday, Weekly Creative, Needle and Thread Thursday, Freedom Friday,
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