Tuesday 23 October 2012

Zippy Bags Galore! (Not.)

I want to make some zippy bags.

They just give me a quick rush, and you get to see poetry in motion as the fabrics that you love together can live together, without waiting for the next decade to pass so that they can be turned into an actual quilt. Because that's how long it takes, around these here parts.

And I've always wanted to neaten up my zipper ends, so Flossie Teacakes, Come On Down!

I was going to make a whole stack of these babies, we all know things speed up when you get into the rhythm.

Ha ha. This here is what I now call my Mountain' o' Dreams (you'll see why in a minute), a stack of pre-measured, pre-matched-with-zippers, pre-ready-to-ROLL, fabric.


And in case you wondered about roomy workshops and airy studios, here's my desk in action. We call it cozy.


I made my zippy bag, according to the directions, and I do like me those zipper ends!

Then I got to sewing it all up. See how nicely I used that Height Thingamabob so I could more easily glide over the tricky zipper bit?  Ha ha again!



A broken needle.
I took a moment to recover from my loss.

Replaced the needle.

Got the cameras rolling for Sew The Zipper Bag Together - Take 2! Woo-hoo!


Can you believe it? I couldn't.
Broken needle number 2.

But I persevered in the face of adversity. I showed that sewing machine who's boss. (In case you were wondering, I turned the hand-crank manually as I stitched over the zipper.)

Check out the pretty bag!


 Check out the pretty, pretty zipper end!


Thank you, Flossie Teacakes!

PS I have every intention making a whole stack of these from my Mountain'. But first, I have to figure out a solution to the Zipper Conundrum. If you have any answers, just let me know!

Linking up at Live a Colorful Life and Petals to Picots 

4 comments:

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

Your bags look beautiful! I tend to buy zips too big and then cut them down to be the right size so that the plastic or metal zipper stoppers are omitted as if you hit one of those then your needle will break. I'm wondering with your broken needle whether this could be the reason, as I've never broken a needle sewing over zipper teeth before. x

Live a Colorful Life said...

the first time I did zipper ends, I broke a needle at each end. Blasted metal zippers! I bow to Flossie Teacakes and her comment. Your pouch looks fabulous, by the way. And thanks for linking up!!

Mama Pea said...

Very nice zipper end! I do the same thing Flossie Teacakes does. I buy zippers too long and cut them off. I bet you are hitting that metal stopper and that's breaking your needle. If you just sew over the teeth, that doesn't tend to happen! Great job on these!

MalinisQuilts said...

You bag looks beautiful. I break needles a lot on my new computerized sewing machine every time I free-motion quilt. If I pick-up the pace the needle breaks :-(. After 6 hours of quilting broke 3 needles :-(.

Got to do something about it.