Banish the fear of Zippers

If you have a fear of Zippers or just have not yet had the chance to sew something that requires a zipper,then this is a project to cut your teeth on!

Last week while sewing up all these sweet little vinyl pouches I took photos along the way,just in case any of you would like to make some of your own.

So here we go...

Supplies needed:

Normally I use Heat-N-Bond vinyl for this type of project however,my local Joann's does not carry that brand anymore.  So I purchased this brand instead.

1 Piece of vinyl fuse (any brand) 7 1/2" x 5"
1 scrap of fabric 7 1/2" x 5"
1 7" or longer zipper (if you have experience with zippers you can use a six inch,but it will be a tight fit)

scissors
pinking shears
pins
bone folder (if you have one) I just finger pressed instead
zipper foot
iron
chopstick

This is my scrap of fabric,zipper and vinyl piece.

The first thing we will be doing is attaching the vinyl to our piece of scrap fabric.  I always start in one corner of the piece of paper backed vinyl and peel back the vinyl away from the paper.

After peeling the vinyl off of the paper carefully position it tacky/sticky side down,on the right side of your fabric.

Next place the glossy or slick side of the paper backing on the right side of your fabric.  On top of the vinyl.

 Note*in the photo above the paper with the grid is the Heat-N-Bond brand paper backing,while the plain one at the top is the Pellon brand) The nice thing about the grid on the back of the paper is that it makes it easy to know which side to place down.  Also it is very easy to measure and then cut on the lines as well.

 The next step is to fuse the vinyl to the fabric.  To do this place your iron onto the paper and press,holding the iron in each spot for 8 seconds,just like you are fusing an interfacing.

Turn your fabric over and press on the wrong side for 4 seconds.

Now we are ready start attaching the zipper to the fabric.  Lay your zipper right side up on your work surface,then lay your fabric wrong side up on top of the zipper. Making sure to center the fabric between the zipper ends.  (Mine is very close because I used a 6 inch zipper) Pin the fabric to the zipper to keep it in place.

Take your zipper foot and attach it to your machine.  Mine looks like this,different brands all look a bit different but yours should look similar to this.

Using a 1/4 inch seam sew the zipper to the fabric.  This is really very easy if you have a longer zipper,because there will be plenty of space between the ends and you will not have to try and maneuver around the zipper pull.

Lay your fabric with zipper attached back down on your work surface,with fabric right side down.

Flip the fabric down so it is now right side up.  Use your bone folder,or fingers to press along the top edge of the fabric.  Do Not press with your iron or you will Melt the vinyl!

Take the bottom of the fabric and fold it up even with the top edge of the zipper,pin and sew a 1/4 inch seam just like before.

Unzip the zipper 3/4 of the way and turn right side out.

Sit back and pat yourself on the back,you just inserted a zipper!

 Remove the zipper foot from your machine.  Before replacing with your regular foot you will need to place some tape (I use painters tape,but you can use masking or scotch tape too) on to the bottom of the foot.  This will make the foot glide over the vinyl instead of sticking to it.

Open up your zipper so that you can topstitch along both sides of it.

Topstitch an 1/8 inch from the edge of the zipper on both sides.

Turn wrong side out,and make sure that the zipper is only zipped about a quarter of the way from the end.  Meaning that the zipper is actually 3/4 of the way open.  Here you need to decide where the zipper placement will be on the pouch.  You can leave it centered like this and your zipper will be in the center of the pouch.

Or you can fold the pouch so that the zipper is closer to the top of the pouch.  Totally your choice.

Again using a 1/4 inch seam sew each end of the pouch closed.  Making sure to backstitch at the start and end.  Also make sure to sew back and forth over the zipper several times,so that this part of the seam is strong and will stand up to being zipped open and closed.

Take your pinking shears and cut both ends of the zipper off.

Now turn your pouch right side out.

Take your chopstick and gently push out the corners.

How easy was that?  Not nearly as bad as you thought right!  Enjoy your new little water resistant pouch.

I would love to see yours and hear about your first or one hundred and first zipper sewing experience!

Stitching Zips

On my last trip to the thrift store,zippers were tops on my list,the first store was a bust.  The second store had the jackpot tho!

Believe it or not there are there are 23 zippers in the photo above!  At 45 cents a piece they were a steal.

The center zippy pouch was the first one,after making it I decided that they would be much better if they were lined on the inside.  So for the rest of them,I folded the fabric wrong sides together before stitching the zippers to the fabric  If you would like to make some of these for yourself or the kiddos,you can find the Tutorial Here on the Zip It blog.

Although there was not time Friday evening to work on raising barns 3 & 4,I did get to them on Saturday afternoon/evening.

You had to know that sooner or later there would be a green barn,right? ;)  The quilt on the side of this one is called Mosaic 24,and is from my quilt Block Tool purchased from Joann's during a clearance sale.  It is handy,because it has cutting instructions for several different sizes of quilt blocks.

All of my barns so far.

Since I was playing with zippers yesterday,this Triple Zip Pouch that has been on my list for a while was just the obvious next project.  Besides,I need a new pouch for spring/summer!

These prints were picked up last year when we were in Taos for our Anniversary weekend.  I have been hoarding them and petting them,waiting for the right project to use them in :)  In case you did not know I Love southwestern prints,and Kokopelli is my favorite!

No need to carry a pouch for my sunglasses now,they will fit in the center zip!

Also managed to sew the rows together for my row quilt this weekend,now to get it quilted.

Weekend sewing

First up is this little owlie bag that started out as a quilt block
which you can check out here
Last night I decided that it was going to be a bag,so set about
making that happen.
The inside is a dark brown herb fabric,I know that herbs and owl's
have nothing in common,but that was the only dark brown fabric
in my stash.  There is also a pocket inside,that will hold a cell
phone or keys or whatever.
This would make a great bag for taking a smaller craft/sewing
project with you on the go :)

Next up,something that has been on my "want to make"list for
a while now.
Love how both this and the one below turned out :)
Although I still have plenty of room for improvement in the
zipper department!
That being said,I am improving.

Notice the zipper pulls on these little cuties?
Well I have had these metal bobbins hanging around since I purchased
my Janome a few years ago.  Since it uses plastic bobbins I no longer
use these.  However,I did not want to throw them away.  I just kept
thinking that they could be useful again.
Sew when making the above bag it hit me!
Don't those sprockets on the fabric look like bobbins?  Or maybe they
are bobbins!
Anyway there are still 3 of these little bags awaiting my return to the sewing room.
Hope you all had a great weekend & have a even better week ahead :)

Sewing & babies

Sorry it has taken me so long to get a post up.  The reason is
that I am going to be sharing a booth at a local craft fair on the
4th of July,with a lady who works where I do. 
Recently she ask me if I would be interested and I jumped at the
chance!
Needless to say my sewing machine has been smoking lately LOL!
The bags/totes above are a some of the finished projects.  The
fabric on the pockets is also the lining fabric.

Recently, Karen at Sew Much 2 Luv posted a tute on how to
make these super cute lil bags!  It was so easy peasy (just like she said)
to make these.  Thanks so much Karen,I no longer fear the zipper :)
My niece,sis, & a couple friends are going to love these!
The ladybug one at the bottom is for a friend at work who
just happens to love ladybugs.

Ha,bet you were not thinking of fawns when you read my title!
The other evening Mr.P and I went for a walk.  We hadn't even
walked a 1/4 of a mile when we came across these two little
guys!  They were hiding right in plain sight.
I hurried back home for my camera,hoping that they wouldn't
move.

As you can see they didn't!  They were on opposite sides and
ends of the log.  This one looks like he is trying to hide,the first one,
not so much.
I Love where we live :)

Zipper crafts

Mr. P works at a manufacturing place where they make all different
kinds of things.  One of which is Christmas Tree stands (the ones
that are on trees that you buy from Christmas Tree lots).
So every once in awhile he brings me home a "Heart block" like
the ones above.
These three sit on my desk, and I have been thinking about how to
add a little pizazz to them.
Here is what I came up with!

This is the first one that I worked on.
Green is my favorite color so I modge podged some scrap book
paper in different shades of green on the block.
Then I added a green zipper with hot glue.

This is all three finished "Heart" blocks.

On this one I used a floral scrap book paper on two sides and
a textured pink paper on the other two.  Then added a purple zipper
with a purple pull to it.  On the top I used part of the zipper to make a
small rosette and added a button as the bud.

After modge podgeing  on the gold paper I added the words,
I  (heart) you this much near the bottom.
A red zipper is hot glued from the top of the block to the top
of the heart.
On the very top of the block is a red zipper flower, with a white
button and a smaller red button glued in the center of the white
button.
They are all back in their place on my desk, but now they really
look SWEET :)
linking to DIY Showoff project parade here http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2011/03/silhouette-heat-transfer-sewable-fabric.html