Sewing madly...

....and passionately.  That's what I love about sewing, the creativeness of it. You can make something absolutely and totally unique. Whether you're making clothes, hats or handbags.  You can use your wildest imagination to put certain colours and patterns together that no-one else would think of.   

I have been busy with 2 projects.  One is my ongoing passion for little bags, probably because I love sewing in miniature - yes call me mad, but I like the fiddly bits.  I just love the colour combination of these two sugarloaf pouches, hope you agree.  

My other project is these lovely clutch bags. I have added one or two interior pockets and one of my detachable handles because even though clutch bags are lovely, there are times when you need to sling them over your shoulder.

Zippers are scary!

Yes I'm still on the zipper help bandwagon, but hey, zippers and their insertion seems to be the one thing that people are scared to tackle  But there are some really good products out there which save time and angst!   One of them is double-sided tape (DST) and it's great when you are working on projects involving plastic overlaid onto fabric and you can't pin the zipper before sewing without making pin holes in your plastic - a big no- no!


Here's what I do.  Run a strip of DST along the edge of your fabric (regardless of whether it has a plastic overlay or not).  Remove the top paper and stick your zip to it as shown. No need for tacking (basting) or pins.  Really quick!

Then sew 1cm in from the edge using a zipper foot and hey-presto you're done and your zipper is aligned beautifully. PS: sewing in 1cm from edge is to ensure your needle avoids sewing through the DST as it can get a bit sticky. However don't panic if this does happen, you can clean the needle with eucalyptus oil afterwards.


TOP TIP: Recently I discovered you can buy a roll of DST from The Reject Shop for - wait for it - $2.00.  Normally a roll half the size costs me well over $10.00 from Lincraft or Spotlight.

I was a bit skeptical that it would work as well and used it on a project on the weekend.  It worked perfectly.

The finished product - a pencil case for little boys with a very sturdy zipper.

      








That's all for now - I have several exciting projects on the go - pictures are forthcoming.  
Happy zipping

the Flash...

Top Tip for Tangled Zips

Is your zip drawer tangled and overflowing like mine was?  Is it impossible to open your zip drawer because it is stuffed full and some of the zips have wedged themselves in the back of the drawer?  You're as mad as hell and you can't take it anymore?

Does your zip drawer look like mine did?

Don't panic!  You can heave a sigh of relief - I have the solution. Last week I had a flishy-flashy lightbulb-overhead-moment.








My solution:
I emptied the drawer out and sorted the zips into colours.

Zips that didn't have ends to enable hanging up, I made the ends from some leftover card........

....... and wrote their length on the tab end for easier identification, and used a single hole-puncher.

Then stapled the tab to the end

I then bought a $6 metal towel rail from the local hardware store, bribed the man of the house to dig out his drill (yes I could have done it myself but was busy stapling zips, wasn't I?). We fixed it to the underside of my shelving unit, found some hinged rings and threaded zips all colour-coded to the rail.  

So now they sit beautifully behaving themselves behind my sewing machine and I can see at a glance colours and sizes from small to large.

And no, my shelves do not have a serious bow in them, I  just got too close with the old Nikon!

After all that effort I needed some coffee, Pfeffernüsse and chocolate therapy.

The result? I'm a much happier camper regarding zips now, although I'm always on the prowl to further streamline my sewing room and sewing methods.

I'd love to your your ideas on streamlining your sewing practices.  
Drop me a line and/or please comment on my blog.

Happy New Year to all.  Have a happy & productive 2013. Keep inspired and keep sewing.