Sewing Project: Zippered bags #1-3

I should apologize for the quality of the photos, up to this point most of these were taken with my phone (HTC Evo rules my heart) in order to message my accomplishments/absolute failures.  Going forward I'm going to do my best to get progress shots as well as clearer photos in general with an actual camera.

Zippers!  They don't scare me as much as buttons, but I was apprehensive.  I still am not entirely sure I'm using the zipper foot correctly.  It was good practice to switch out the feet (super easy) and really examine the accessories that came with my machine.  I do need to come up with a better name then "Maria".

Zipper bag #1


Pretty fabric!  I think it was like $8/yard so I only got one.



Missing the zipper entirely is not good for structure.



In the end it is pretty small, too.  More like an oversized change purse.

 Notes on the project:  I screwed up my first zipper bag, somehow having the the lining on the outside on half, which actually would have been cute if that had been my intention.  Also, I missed the zipper at a couple of points which I didn't notice until I was finished.  Boo for holes.  The patterned fabric I really liked and don't have much of so I was bummed this didn't turn out.  The corduroy I love like always.  Cost:  ~$4 and close to two hours.

Verdict:  Zipper sneak attack results in unusable bag.

Zipper bag #2

Notes on the project:  This fabric was seriously cheap.  Purchased at Walmart for $1, the ironing took awhile to get the creases out, but it was good to practice with since if I screwed it up it wasn't much of a loss.  

Success!  Lining on the inside this time and no holes.  The stitching on either side of the zipper teeth isn't totally even, but it is hard to tell unless you look super close.  The earlier lining issue was due to some unclear (at least to me) directions in the "Zippered Kit Bag" pattern in The New Handmade, but I was able to correct myself here.  Tip for beginners like me:  I've been making notes in all the sewing books- instructions to myself, bits of clarity that I know will help the next time I try it.  I make notes all over cookbooks too which drives my husband crazy.  Cost: less then $2 and about an hour.

Verdict:  Zipper-Rebecca cease fire signed.

Zipper bag #3

Notes on the project:  Love this fabric, didn't realize until I got it home that it was Amy Butler, but I should have guessed.  The combo with the pink zipper and yellow lining made me very happy.  I did this while walking my sister through the pattern "Picasso Pencil Bag" in The New Handmade which is a bit bigger then the kit bag and uses a 9 inch zipper, plus has this oblong shape to it where it is wider at the bottom.  It was Anna's very first machine sewing project and we might have aimed a little high.  I need a photo of hers to post too.  Email me one, Anna!

My zipper is a little uneven again, the seam a little closer to the teeth on one side then the other, but the real problem was down at the bottom corners.  The directions on how to shape them were not clear  and I kind of winged it to less then stellar results.  They kind of look like elf-shoe corners when they are supposed to be softly rounded.  If I feel up to it I might turn it wrong side out again and see what I can do, but don't have the motivation right now.   This is the problem doing projects just to learn and not because I want them- if they don't turn out, I'm under no pressure to fix them or do them again.  That said I feel like I could probably make a zipper bag like this without a pattern now and know that zippers, while difficult, are not my enemy.  Cost: ~$4 and two hours.

Verdict:  peace reached with zippers, for now.  Corners are the new communists.