Third Time's the Charm

It took three attempts but there's a reason for the saying "Third Time's the Charm" I guess. There is also a reason for the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." This is the zipper pouch I made for my Mom for her birthday. We both share a birthday (and it's tomorrow!) so we exchanged gifts tonight.

It's not quite perfect but it's pretty close. My Mom loves it so I am happy. :)


Here is a shot showing the lining on the inside.

Here is the zipper from the top which I am very happy with. Those little tailored bits of fabric at the ends of the zipper really make it. I was working with this tutorial which is a very good tutorial but for some reason I was not understanding these little fabric tabs at the ends of the zipper. Once I figured it out of course it was crystal clear. The next photo is of my second attempt at this pouch.


See? The fabric tabs at the end are messy and chopped off.

I was so concerned about the zipper ends that I forgot to embellish the pouch with ribbon and I forgot to top stitch along either side of the zipper. But it's still functional and I will use it to keep sewing supplies in. Now, here comes the worst... my first attempt:

I made such a mess of the zipper ends that I had to sew these little tabs on the top corners to cover them up. It was very discouraging. I kind of panicked a bit. But I took a break and calmed down and then I was able to try again. (I almost gave up though, I will admit.)

Here is a shot from the top. The little tabs on the top are utterly ridiculous but it is functional and I will use it to keep my binding clips in. It was a learning experience and now that I have figured it out I will make more of these quite happily. In my own defence I was not using the same size zipper as the tutorial so I was winging it a bit on the measurements. And basically, your panels have to be an inch larger than the zipper when the ends are sewn on on so you can skirt by the zipper ends and not catch them in the seam when you are sewing the pouch together. That is my big piece of advice on this.

I also made a "tree of life" pendant necklace for my Mom. This was also my first attempt at this craft. I do not recommend trying something for the first time when you are on a deadline but anyway, it worked out.


I learnt this from this tutorial. I bought the wrong wire for the tree. I bought half round instead of round so that did make it a bit more difficult but it also made the tree more gnarly which was cool. It's much easier with round wire though.


So, I learned quite a lot this weekend! Mom was happy with her gifts. I made another necklace for her as well but I'll write about that in another post.

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday.