Monday, February 4, 2013

MAKE A TRIPLE ZIP POUCH or IT'S THE CAT'S FAULT

Picture this:  It’s 5:30 Sunday morning.  It’s been snowing for days.  I'm in bed asleep, snuggled down under my warm comforter, secure in the knowledge that I can sleep in because I know I am not going any place today.

And picture this:  A high chest of drawers next to the bed and a 17 lb. cat who loves to sleep on top of said chest. Remember, it's 5:30 a.m.  Said cat takes a flying leap off the chest, and crashes onto the bed startling me awake.  Then she uses my body as a balancing beam as she travels across the bed, and hops onto the floor, landing with a thunderous thump.  Now that she’s sure I’m wide awake, she stands in the doorway and lets out earsplitting meow’s. 

I ignore her, grit my teeth, and snuggle down under the covers a little deeper as I wonder about my sanity at owning a cat.  Then I give up.  I am awake.  I might as well get up and sew.
 
And this is what I did.  You may have seen the Triple Zip Pouch on other blogs, i.e. Peas In A Pod or Alamosa Quilter.   I wanted to make one too, so I rolled out of bed, fed the cat, made coffee, and went into my sewing room to tackle that project.  Above is the end result. 
This shows you the lining I used, which is really just the same fabric that I used on the bottom of the pouch.  I had visions of making this cute little pouch for all my friends and maybe even get an early start on Christmas gifts. Not! Let me tell you what happened, but first I must preface this with the fact that any troubles were certainly no fault of the pattern maker.  The problems are all my own. (Actually, it was the cat's fault!)

First of all I had it in my mind that it would be a much larger pouch than it turned out to be.  I know the size of fabrics was posted, but my mind could not grasp that.  In fact there were several things my mind didn’t seem able to grasp. (Due to said cat.)

I thought I’d have problems with the zippers, but that was not the case.  I followed the instructions and got that part put together without problems.  It was when I came to the finishing stage that I had trouble.  March Girl Designs even put together an alternate way to finish the bag, but I still could not get the pouch to look right. Stephanie and Lynn didn’t have any problems.  After re-reading the instructions several times and doing a lot of un-sewing, I finally got it, but the bag is still not perfect.  Note the rounded corner at the right top.  And I don’t know what I did wrong with the lining, but it sure isn’t as smooth as it should be.  I now know why I just do flat. (I still think it's the cat's fault.)

It is a cute bag and I would recommend anyone try it.  Most people have better skills than I do and probably don't have a cat waking them at the crack of dawn.  So check out A Quilter's Table for the tutorial.

Check out Retired To Quilt to see her bag and what she did with the zippers.  A really cute idea. Then check out Solar Threads for more interesting ideas on what to do with the zippers.

Until next time,

Stay Calm! Stay Kind! Stay Positive! (oh, boy, did I ever need to remember this)
Caroll

6 comments:

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

Definitely the cat's fault!! We have a cute little 8 lb eight month old kitten that was born with the evil cat gene. I have a bookcase headboard and she just loves to get on top and then jump down onto my stomach (which is an improvement from jumping on my face!) I could somewhat understand if I wasn't the only one sleeping in a king size bed!

Your bag looks cute and will work perfectly well to hold a few things in for yourself. I know my limits and while I have enjoyed looking at everyone else's triple zipper bags I will not be trying to make any myself.

tink's mom said...

Funny, I blame the dog. Mine finds that licking my eyelids to wake me is a very efficient way to get my attention in the AM. She is a bulldog so this is a very sloppy way to start the day so I respond very quickly.

Regarding the trip zip, Yours is adorable. I've made 6 or 7 so far. Only the first at the size of the tutorial. From then on I used the tutorial as a starting point and made changes such as much larger, wide mouth zipper and the outside with a front and seperate back. that made the lining go in so much easier for me. Don't give up, your friends do want one.

Jo C. said...

The cat thing happens to me every morning. He decides when its time to get up!

Mama Pea said...

What a funny post. That dang cat! LOL. That's why we have outdoor cats! haha! Your pouch looks just awesome. I love the fabric you used for the outside and the lining, and your accent fabrics look great, too. I see the little curve at the top that bothers you, but it's not bad at all. And I agree with the other commenter....I'm considering making bigger ones....just adapt the pattern. Don't give up. I'll see if I can come up with some tips/ideas to help you. ;-) Now, go pet your cat. LOL

Denice Barker said...

I'd teach said cat how to use the can opener.

Nancy Page said...

Thank you for all the links. This is a great pouch, very useful, and very pretty and fun! Thank you for sharing.

Have a super great sewing and stitching day!

lkjlkj

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