Wednesday 26 October 2011

Zippy highs and lows

I've been beavering away this week on craft fair and shop stock.  There's lots of cushions but I'll save those for a future post and today will concentrate on a bit of zippyness! 

I thought zippy pouches would be a good craft fair make because they shouldn't take too long and could be reasonably cheap.  However, I needed to conquer my zip phobia first...cue googling "Easy zippy/zip/zipper/zippered pouch tutorials" - try saying that after a glass of wine!.  Having read a few I sat down to give it a go.


This first one uses a 5" zip and scraps from a cushion I was making.  It's not bad, but just ...O....K.  I used a furnishing fabric for the body, which was fine, but the same fabric was too unwieldy for the zip ends which I couldn't get through the machine properly...lesson learnt.


So then I tried a second larger version, using linen and a few scraps, with a PVC inside and a favourite hot pink zip.

First mistake on this one was forgetting to undo the zip before sewing all the pieces together....and then realising that there was NO way I was going to be able to either undo the zip from the reverse, or turn the purse the right way round..."darn it...unpicker, where are you?"

After that little hiccup, it went quite smoothly.  I added boxed corners to make the perfect (ahem) little make-up bag.  Yeay!  I proudly show it to friend Sarah.

She liked it too, I don't know whether she was just being polite or whether she didn't spot it either...but it was only later that I noticed the daft mistake, did you?!


Yep, my flowers are upside down. 

Doh.

Third attempt, zippy make-up bag for mum-in-law's birthday.  The zip ends aren't so neat on this one (I left them too long I think) but at least the butterfly is the right way up!





I'll persevere...at least my zip phobia is almost cured!

x

14 comments:

  1. you have been busy with zippers! these all look great and I hadn't noticed that the flowers were upside down. I love working with zips now that I conquered my fear!

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  2. I think they all look great and I honestly thought the flowers were supposed to be that way up!! You're definitely on the way to conquering zips!

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  3. Oh looking better that OK - I got 35 zips today - what on earth was I thinking!?

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  4. Good for you! They are very cute :-) And LOL @ hadley. What are you on woman???

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  5. I definitely have zipper phobia! The fabric you used is so pretty - especially for the last pouch. I didn't think they flowers looked bad! :)

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  6. Zippy pouches can be fun or a nightmare and despite having made loads in my time I never quite no what I'll get lol. I'm always forgetting to undo my zips before sewing and have to fish around through the layers to find the zip to pull the zip open. Not always easy but you can do it without having to resort to unpicking.

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  7. Heh, well done, and hey, didn't notice with the flowers at all!

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  8. They look gorgeous C! I wouldn't worry about the upside down flower - I didn't notice til you mentioned it. I find zips on smaller items harder work than on cushions etc. But keep going! Your makes are definitely worth it. Jxo

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  9. Grrr, I hate trying something new - it's almost inevitable it'll go wrong! On the plus side, things can only get better :) I always have trouble with my top corners of the purse - they never seem to turn out as much as I expect them to, and I never know whether thats just me being too much of a perfectionist!

    I love your vibrant colours in the first patchwork purse too :)

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  10. Hey Ceri, I'm impressed... you've persevered longer than I did. I know, I should try again. Lovely pouches, especially like your superbright zips! where did you get them?

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  11. Well done with the zips - you will soon find it easy! Thanks got my fabric today! Lots of lovely Liberty!

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  12. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!
    Love the last one with the orange pattern.
    All so lovely
    xx

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  13. These look really good :O) Zips are not so scary so keep on with your hard work :)

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  14. Such pretty bags! I don't think it really matters that the flowers are upside down on the first one... you could just call it perspective. Some designs are happy both ways, and I think this one pulls it off. :)

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