Zipper-dee do-dah

It’s taken some time, but I think that I’m getting the hang of zippers. I’m finished my latest bag and the zippers not only look okay, but they’re facing the right side and they work!

I was attracted to this pattern which I found in recent issue #60 of the magazine Magic Patch. Mostly I wanted to try the binding around the bag frame. I liked the look of it and I thought it was an easy way of finishing off the rough edges. Not. Not easy at all, as least, not at this point of my bag-making. I attached the binding and then had to machine-sew it down with a zig zag stitch because I didn’t want to spend the next two weeks hand-sewing it. The zig zag stitch didn’t really look all that good – and I missed in several places that I had to go back and hand-sew anyway – but it’s done.

I also tacked the lining down in several places. By hand. In all four bottom places, and also at both top corners in the in the top centre of the inside pocket because I didn’t want it to feel flimsy when using the pocket. And it doesn’t.

I’m getting better with my pockets. I have an outside patch combined with a zipper pocket; a pleat pocket on the side and a divided inside patch pocket in two different shades of pink.

I began with the basic design from the Magic Patch bag instructions and then improvised. A lot. I made it a little smaller because I goofed on the cutting. If I did it again, I’d make it a lot smaller: make it about two-thirds the height. I’m not really big on BIG bags. I like them small and compact. I also forgot the ties at the top when it came time to attach them, so that looks a bit odd. All of the pockets were my idea. The handles were my idea. I couldn’t figure out exactly how they installed the top zipper, so I put it together myself after looking at a lot of different tutorials.

In the end, it mostly worked. It was a pain in the butt having to flip the top zipper strips OUT so that the corners were nice and square when I sewed the binding on, and one end is very slightly narrower than the other end. But does anyone other than the creator notice these things? It’ll look better next time I do it.

The really BIG problem with this purse is that I sewed a pin into the fabric.Stitched through the plastic head. Lesson learned: don’t pin to the backside of the fabric you’re stitching, because it’s too easy to forget that they’re there. I sewed right over top of it. And how do you fix that? I have to either cut the plastic or cut the stitches, and I don’t really want to do the later.

So, I think this is my last practice bag for now. I need to make some Christmas presents, and they’ll be what they will be.My next project is to FMQ my Plan B quilt.That’s going to be fun.

Until next time,