Pouches From Scraps

 I have a couple of projects I should be working on, but I just can't stop making pouches from scraps.

I have mostly finished the the blue bag with the hearts.

I am undecided as to whether I should add the drawstring, or just leave it as a little storage basket.

Lately, I have seen pouches with diagonal zippers on Instagram and YouTube. So I decided to try one, or actually two. A video I watched was showing how to make a pouch with very little waste, by making two at a time.

Tada! Two pouches with diagonal zippers, exactly the same.

I cut the fabric as big as I could get from my chosen scraps. It was about 18 inches square when I was done. I added some frankenbatting from my batting scraps, and quilted the out fabric and the lining together.

I forgot to take a picture of the fabric when I cut it, but I cut them in half with a line 3" on either side of the centre.

Then I added binding to the zipper edge.

You use one side of the zipper tape, that goes the entire length of the zipper edge. I first learned this technique on Joan Hawley's Sweetpea Pods. This was the first zipper I tried.

This is the second zipper trial. In the end, I decided that the black looked better, so I went with black. After you sew the zipper tape to the binding, you add the zipper slide to the two ends of the zipper.

My first attempt at the zipper top stitching wasn't very good.

The second was much better. 

Practice really helps (along with using a better choice of feet.)

I sewed the other seams and overcast the edges to make a clean finish on the inside.

Emme thought she would like to say Hi. She thinks Mudd gets too much attention.

The weather is really weird today. It is currently an unseasonable 13 degrees. The winds are picking up and by bedtime it will be nearly 30 degrees colder. Just for fun, we are going to get high winds and maybe even thunder snow. Things should be rather slippery tomorrow. Good day to stay in and sew.

Hobbies

 It is odd that sometimes you see the same topic come up in different places and from different sources, all on the same week. In the past week, the topic I keep seeing is placing a fair value on handmade items. There was a YouTube video, where the price of a hand made queen sized quilt was broken down. Then I saw a blog post on whether pattern testers, who provide their own supplies, and their time, should be paid to test a pattern that the designer intends to sell. Then I saw a post about the undervaluing of traditional women's arts. 

After reading and watching all this, I was asked the other day how much I would charge for something. My response was "This is my hobby, I love to buy nice yarn and pretty fabric, and make things from it. I enjoy giving my things away, to people that I know will appreciate them. I don't want to make this a business, where I have deadlines and and someone else decides what I will use to make something."  

When I was in high school, I took some knitting commissions. I was terrible at putting a value on my work and was happy to take what ever they were willing to pay me, as long as they provided the supplies. Now I am not an improvised student and I can do what I like. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

So, what have I been doing lately? I knitted in the dentist's waiting room (while everyone else played on their phones). I also did some sewing, and some bag planning.

The "Shawl that never ends" finally got its ends sewn in and I got it blocked.

I tried it on and it is huge (that is a queen sized bed). I have sent it on its way to someone who thinks it is perfect.

I started a new shawl.

It has progressed a bit from when I took this picture.

I finished my first sock and started the second. 

I made a quick flannel blanket for a friends who are Ottawa Senators fans. It took longer to thread the serger that to hem the blanket.

I have also finished clue 1 and 2 of the Saturday Sampler bag for February.

A tiny bit more to finish on clue 3, that is for today.

Designing

 I've been asked to make a bag. I have an idea, based on a bag I've made before. However, the one I made before had a drop in lining, which meant a considerable amount of hand sewing, and I had a very hard time getting it flat. So, I went looking for another way to put in the lining. I found something I thought would work, so I decided to take some scrap fabric and a scrap zipper, and give it a try.

It worked! This is the zippered gusset for a bag, a stripe that will go all the way around the rectangular front and back pieces to create a box. This one is much smaller than the bag I plan to make but it proved that you can put the gusset into the exterior and the lining without ever having to hand sew. I also discovered that one doesn't want to use a one way print to make the gusset. 

The cats are going every which way. Good thing this isn't the actual fabric.

I also finished my January Saturday bag sew along on Instagram.

It would make a great gift bag, while using up scraps.

I started a new pair of adult socks, and I have been knitting on them, 10 rounds per day. It really goes fast, when you do that. Here is the sock on Sunday (just over a week after I started).

I should have it done by the weekend.

A friend lost her winter hat. I told her the best way to find it was to start knitting a new one. So, I did a stash dive, and she now has 2 hats. The lost is now found, and her new hat is finished.

This is the Palindrome hat, a free pattern on Ravelry.  The cables are reversible, so you can wear the cuff up or down.

https://ravel.me/palindrome-hat

The wool and the pompom were in my stash. I tied the pompom on with a button to hold it in place and make the pompom removable for washing. I found a cute button.

I was going to photograph the hat on a bear, but Mudd wasn't sure it was right.

Since he was the poster kitten for his rescue organization before he came to live with me, he thinks he knows something about photo styling. He was convinced the pompom wasn't quite right.

We still haven't seen much sunshine in 2024, so I am enjoying me floral display in the Conservatory (dining room). It is a joy to walk in and see the bright flowers.