Tag Archives: zipperpouch

Nov9

Snow, sew, and stash

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Winter has arrived!

We’ve had a fair amount of snow in the last few days and as usual it feels like it took everyone by surprise. The roads are icy and not everyone has their winter tires on yet!

I just had a couple of days off and made sure that one of those days was a Sewing Day which I totally embraced by wearing my Hello Kitty fleece onesie ALL DAY!

I sewed three zipper pouches and three drawstring bags (they don’t have strings yet) out of some really cool nylon or polyester fabric that my son brought home from work one day, ages ago. The fabric panels used to hang in a computer store and have some great colours in them.

I also made this Reader’s Wrap from a ribbed velour. It has two pockets and since taking this photo I have added a label embroidered using text on my sewing machine. It’s for my mum who is having a bit of a health crisis right now.

And the stash has been enhanced with the addition of some Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in autumnal colours. A friend just had a holiday south of the border and she asked me if there was anything I’d like from Hobby Lobby or Joann’s and I suggested this yarn. I’ve heard it mentioned a lot online. It feels pretty nice and I can make something 70s inspired or some fall decor maybe.

My Wool Warehouse order is on its way which is very exciting. When it arrives I’ll be able to put together this year’s Advent collection for myself.

Jun12

Sunday funday

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Sunday funday

Ah, a much needed day off today. The weather has been lovely and Mr Fixit and I went out this morning to enjoy a bit of the local scenery.

After our stroll along the lake through a small bird sanctuary we went for tea at our favourite tea shop.

After a couple of months of living with my natural hair colour, I’m ready for some fun again! I just need to decide what colour to use.

The Stash to Treasure batwing sweater is growing nicely. Since taking this photo this morning (try not to get confused by the granny blanket underneath it) I have added a few more purple rows and one panel is almost complete. Then I’ll just need to add the last purple section to the other panel and start the finishing process.

A few days ago I had a little play in my quilt cotton stash and identified some fabrics I’d like to use soon! These Indian-themed prints were bought a few years ago from Wool Warehouse in the UK. I made a couple of things for my sister back then because she loves India and I knew she’d like them. I realised I still had quite a lot left so I made these bags – there are two ‘open wide zipper pouches’ from the Noodlehead site, and an ‘origami drawstring bag’ from Minki Kim’s YT channel.

I always have an itch to play in my sewing room these days so I’ll have to earmark Tuesday or Wednesday as a sewing day this week. Maybe I’ll do the housework and other boring stuff on Tuesday and then I can play the next day!!

I have the germ of an idea for my next project…

May19

Small finishes

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I had a day off today and it’s been very enjoyable. It started slow with a pot of tea and my usual routine, checking emails, Ravelry, playing my word games.

My daily yoga was, as usual, led by Mady Morrison on YouTube. I chose a spicier session today to get myself stretched out and warmed up.

I had a good workout at the gym. An hour on the treadmill with some “hills” followed by leg machines and some back and chest work. That felt good. I’ve been eating less the last few weeks with the goal of feeling more comfortable in my jeans. I’m genetically a pear shape so when my tummy started to expand, exacerbated by menopause, it felt very uncomfortable. Time to shrink the spare tires!

The photo at the top is my finished cowl. I finished the third colour left over from the beanie and the cowl was 24 inches around, which is a perfect size, so the remaining two balls of yarn have been returned to the stash for now.

This little pouch is from a video tutorial by Tendersmile Handmade. The body is slightly gathered to fit the round base which is actually nice because any tucks and pleats in the fabric are intentional! This caravan fabric has been in the stash for ages and there’s still a large chunk left.

Dinner was a simple affair: what I like to call “refrigerator soup”! You get to use up lots of vegetables and even some leftovers (in this case, kidney bean dal and cooked rice) to make a meal. Add in some wholegrain bread and leafy greens and you’re set.

And tonight I’m vegging out on the couch.

May16

A cool spring

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This is me, the other evening. May has been a cool month compared to usual. Feels like we’ve had more rain, and the nights have been single digits Celsius. Even when the thermostat is turned up a bit, the furnace doesn’t fire much at this time of year, and I’ve been feeling the cold lately. I think my hormones are confused, because for a while there I was running hot.

I finished the bag I was crocheting. It became a drawstring bag with a sewn cotton lining. I’m pleased with the result. Not so happy with this pouch that I made last night.

You’d think that pattern companies with years of experience with creating and publishing patterns would compare favorably to YouTubers with sewing channels. Well, I made this from a Burda pattern and I have to say I wasn’t impressed.

The pattern is rated super easy. Sewing those triangle ends in was a pain, especially as the outer and inner layers are just pinned to each other so they shift. And there’s no interfacing so the bag doesn’t hold its structure. I prefer all my raw ends to be hidden inside the lining too – not so with this bag.

The “work cowl” which I started a couple of months ago is my companion project today while waiting for my friend at the dentist. It was living in my office filing cabinet but I was barely working on it at work.

It’s just half double crochet until the yarn is gone. The yarn is the O’go stuff that I made a beanie with months ago.

Yesterday it was raining most of the day. I enjoyed it. Wet Sundays with few commitments remind me of my twenties, living in the island where I grew up, when we worked Monday to Friday and had weekends off and would go round to one of the parents’ houses and have tea and cake and a natter. It rains a lot there!

Today started out very foggy but the cloud has mostly cleared and the sun is shining. It’s 18° but there is still a chill in the wind.

Next job is to make burger buns for dinner. Time to get out the flour and yeast.

Mar29

WIP: Freesia shawl and other witterings

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WIP: Freesia shawl and other witterings

The shawl is growing. I’m only adding a few rows at a time. It does need some attention, partly because of the slippery yarn but also so that I do my yarnovers and KFBs in the right place. But there’s still plenty of plain knitting and it’s pretty enough that it makes you want to put it down and admire it every so often.

Note the orange lifelines in there, just in case.

I’m also playing with a small design in cotton that I’ll show you if it turns out well. And I’ve crocheted a few scrubbies for the kitchen out of netting, though I only do one of those at a time because it’s hard on the hands. No photos as they go straight into the kitchen drawer when they’re done. But I’ve figured out a quick way to make them so I don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel each time.

This zippered bag started out with the remnant of blue vinyl. I had to work around a major flaw across the piece so that dictated the size. The blue goes perfectly with the sewing-themed cotton and I had a zipper in just the right shade too.

I had to wash it after I took photos as the Wonder Tape I used to insert the zipper showed on the outside of the bag (probably because I used my walking foot with the needle moved to the left rather than faff about with the zipper foot).

Originally I thought the zipper was going to go across and stick out at each side but after sewing it in I realised the error of my ways (not following a tutorial again) and ended up boxing the top as well as the bottom.

I used one of my empty thread spools to add a hanging decoration to the zipper pull.

And despite a couple of rethinking moments I’m happy with the result.

The new 58″ TV is turning out to be a good buy. The reorganization of the living room has created more open floor space and every morning I play the same 15 minute yoga video to ease me into the day. I’ve watched a series called Hope Street on Britbox and a couple of times now I’ve come home to find Mr Fixit or one of the boys watching something. A TV is a novelty around here; we haven’t had one for years.

I think we’re all caught up now. Hope you have a great week!

Mar8

Sewing frustrations

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Sewing frustrations

This zipper pouch caused a lot of frustration. I used two of the adding machine paper scrap strips. It was all fine and dandy until I realised I had forgotten to remove the paper and had to rip out my stitching AND peel back the fused Thermolam.

Also the top corners looked like crap and I had to figure out what I was doing wrong in that area. I probably should have just gone back and reviewed a tutorial on YouTube but you’d think I would know what I’m doing by now.

Anyway it’s good enough for my own use but I doubt I’d give it as a gift because it still has issues!

This small drawstring bag is for my boss. I used a scrap of vinyl and some quilting cotton from stash. It’s about 10″ tall and has some chocolate inside for her birthday.

Rather than boxing the bottoms the usual way, I did that thing where you fold your fabric in half, right sides together, top edges matching, then push about an inch and a half of the bottom edge up inside then sew the side seams. It makes for a cool detail on the base without the extra step of sewing across the corners and chopping off the triangles to get that 3D bottom.

I just had three days off and my main activity was reading. Why? Well, this came in at the library.

You Outlander fans will understand!

I did get some exercise in too. We went out for a sunny walk on Sunday and on Monday I spent over an hour at the gym in the morning and I was back in the evening for yoga.

Work today so I shall have to put Jamie and Claire aside until this evening!

Aug17

August FOs

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I just realized I left you hanging, partway through my All That Jazz cowl and the sashiko project with the green fabric.

Well, both are finished. Here’s what I made from the pieces of denim and green cotton.

That was fun.

And just yesterday I bound off the knitted cowl made from Lion Brand Mandala.

It’s been washed and yanked about every which way to try and even up the stitches a bit. The maroon segued into the blue, so one strand traveled throughout, and then I added contrast with different parts of the same colourway.

I am very pleased with my corrugated ribbing – it’s only the second project I’ve made with that feature.

And today I spent a few hours in my sewing room, accompanied by various podcasts from Kate at The Last Homely House, sewing a bag for a yoga teacher.

Do you like the play on words? Namaste Llamaste! I couldn’t resist it when I saw the llama fabric and buttons at work.

And I can’t believe I used to be scared of sewing vinyl. It sews like a dream.

We’re having a cooler week, thankfully, but there’s still a lot of smoke in the air. A new fire started just south of us two days ago.

It’s a little worrying to see that view from your home. It quickly grew and spread and caused homes to be evacuated in the area. We’re ok here but I have friends who have had to relocate until the danger is past.

There’s an even bigger fire north of us as well that makes this one look like a campfire.

I feel like I have smoker’s lungs now and I’m pining for clean air.

I hope all is well for you guys reading this and that you’re able to enjoy your creativity.

Jun22

A bit of everything

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A bit of everything

There’s been knitting…

Since I took that photo, it’s grown quite a bit. This is Age of Brass and Steam which is a free pattern that I found via Ravelry. It’s very popular with thousands of projects linked. The yarn is Cascade Ultra Pima Paints, a lovely tonal cotton.

There’s been crocheting…

I won’t say too much about this because it’s a test for someone. But it came out CUTE!

And there’s been sewing…

A vinyl zipper pouch based on a Crafty Gemini tutorial (YouTube) called a pinch pouch.

And an actual garment which gave me grief and I had to redo the neck binding but I think it’s wearable now!

Gawd, it’s 34 degrees today with a forecast high for the weekend of 38. What the heck?!?!?!

We don’t have AC so the only way to be sitting here and not dripping is to have the big floor fan going. Downstairs, where my sewing room is, is somewhat cooler. I can see the big maple tree in my front yard blowing about in the wind and I can imagine it’d be like standing on front of a giant hairdryer right now.

And now I have to make dinner so the fan is getting moved to the kitchen!

Apr23

Flower Power bag

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Happy happy happy! A day off sandwiched between a bunch of workdays turned into a sewing day.

A friend sent me a link to the Blooms bag by Yoan Sewing Studio on YouTube and it’s so pretty. I was won over and abandoned the backpack plans and made this instead.

It has a long strap for wearing over the shoulder or across your body, and handles too. Rather than sew the straps, I used lime green belting. I also used upcycled jeans for the base.

There are two sets of D rings so it can have a foldover top, or not. I had to use a coordinating fabric for the back as the camper fabric would have looked upside down.

There’s a zipper pocket with a slip pocket behind, on the front, and inside there is a magnetic closure, slip pockets and another zipper pocket.

I love it!

Two other small projects were finished last weekend. More scrappy zipper pouches.

The pompom trim was a last minute fix to cover a spot that was lifting and exposing the batting!