Triple Pouch

The last pouch I took a fancy to make from Aneela Hoey's Stitched Sewing Organiser book is the Triple Pouch.  I like multi-pocketed pouches and wanted just to see if I could do it.  I was a little hesitant though, as the instructions were lengthy and I'm not the biggest fan of diagrams in patterns, rather than photos.

I took on board advice from a few IG friends to pay very close attention to every word of the pattern and not to think it out for myself, just follow the instructions, and actually that did help and the pouch came together with a little less drama than I imagined.

There are a number of interesting construction steps in the making of this pouch, but I did get there - even if I had to re-do a few steps because I didn't read every word, then realised I should have.

Some of the folding and tacking was intriguing, but trust the pattern and it works (no surprises there).

This pouch has three large sections

and can you just see the little slip pocket in more of that navy fabric alongside the inner pouch?  There are two of those as well, handy for a little packet of machine needles or sticky fingertip thimble pads.

Full disclosure, the larger outer pouches of my make are not equal in size (and yes, it bothers me a little) because while the pattern can be followed well, I did find some bits awkward to manipulate though the machine.  At one point, many layers and very close to the pressure foot meant I didn't quite achieve the pattern's recommended half inch seam allowance.  So achieving it on one pouch side, but not on the other, means that one of my outer pouches is wider than the other.  Add that to some of the other dodgy bits that my photos disguise well and ... oh well, never mind!

The fabric I chose to use for this pouch is Katy Jones's Priory Square for Art Gallery Fabrics.  It has been in my stash for a very long time and it feels great to finally use it in a project.  Also, like all the AGF fabrics it has that beautiful smooth feel to it.

I'm off now to fill up the pouch!

Vinyl Pouches

Back in November, when there was sew-a-long for Aneela Hoey's Stitched Sewing Organisers book, I tried out a couple of her pouch patterns but got no further.  There were a couple of the other organisers in the book I fancied trying, so a few weeks ago I decided it was time to have a go at them.  As you can see above I tried the Two-in-one Pouch and the See It All Pouch.

My poor Two-in-one Pouch has a rather religious vinyl middle - hol(e)y - as I had problems stitching the vinyl and it all went wonky had to be redone.  By the time the centre run of stitching is done, lots of other parts have already been stitched (like the zipper enclosures) and since the pouch is just for me, I was too lazy to want to start afresh with an unspoilt piece of vinyl.  Next time I will remember that stitching the vinyl with paper or tissue paper over the top of it works so much better ;-)  Actually, I wish I'd just thought at the time to add a folded strip of fabric down the centre to cover the holes I made.  Hindsight is surely a wonderful thing.

There was also a mishap with the positioning of my kam snap fastening and the two don't quite meet level.  It adds a bit of a tilt to the closure but I'll live with it.  Though it is still a mystery as to how it happened.  I've checked and double checked the pattern and my measuring but am still none the wiser as to why it should be 'off'.  I'm feeling very out of practice sewing little things and making so very many mistakes!!

Anyhow, the pouch will serve its purpose nicely as the holder of many things, no doubt, in spite of its shortcomings.  I kind of think that yummy coral fabric makes up for its little foibles!

When I tried the See-it-all pouch I had learnt my lesson and remembered to have paper between the sewing machine and the vinyl for easier stitching.  I had some pain getting a nice smooth turn on the biased binding strips that were used to cover the zips (yes, the straight bits).  All sorts of horrible puckering was going on, but many suggestions from IG friends and many, many trials later I got a better, though still not perfect, turn on the binding.  Oddly enough, I didn't have any such drama on the curved part of the binding - go figure!

So there you have it - two more pouches tried and finished.  The last one on my list is the Triple Pouch. There are very lengthy instructions for it and it looks a little scary but I'd still like to see if I can do it. Maybe I should start thinking about fabric options ...

Quick Make Drawstrings

Aneela Hoey's Stitched Sewing Organisers book has a pattern for a drawstring bag and I fancied trying it out.  It didn't take too long to make but I made a bit of a mess of my hexagon tab ends for the drawstrings.  Being impatient to finish I switched them out for some squares ones, which I didn't manage a particularly neat job of either, but hey ho!

This pattern is a bit more involved than other drawstring bags I've made but I would make it again.  It has a darted bottom which gives it a really nice shape and the overall size of the bag is a good medium sized gift bag, I'd say.

No sooner had I set my bag down than a little pair of grabby hands ran off with it!  CT had so much fun pulling the drawstrings and hiding her little things inside that, of course, I had to stitch her up one of her very own.  Perfect tiny treasures bag!

Stitched Sewing Organisers

Sometimes, even when I know I won't have time for it, I fancy jumping on a bandwagon, don't you?

You may have seen the Sew Along for Aneela Hoey's Stitched Sewing Organisers book hosted on IG by @tuppencehapennyquilts.  Well, with the book sitting on my shelf I was itching to join in for the first week and tackle the Handy Fold-Up Pouches.

It felt good to be following the crowd as I picked some fabric and set to stitching.

The unusual, but genius, construction of these little pouches gave me a flashback to making pouches at one of Just Jude's classes years ago.  I think it was these cute tissue pockets that used the same clever method.

I made two of the larger ones and two of the tiny ones.  These first two are made with a sweet fat quarter I picked up in Kirkby Lonsdale this summer and a giant polka dot from my stash.

These two were gifted to a friend and made from really pretty fabrics, Chatsworth, I think.  My pics don't do justice to the beautiful buttery yellow colour of the tiny one.  It's too orangey here.

 Four pretty little pouches for knick knacks!

I always knew that I wouldn't join in with all of the Sew Along weeks and after a rule clarification at the end of the first week saying that all of the makes entered into the Sew Along itself must be exactly as per the materials and instructions in Aneela's lovely book, I'm not sure any more of my makes will qualify.  That's ok, it's just that I want to use whatever interfacings I have around (and will take the risk that it might not turn out as well as if I'd used Aneela's recommended brand and type) and maybe even quilt something here and there where the original instructions don't.

So, here's my version of the Fold-Up Sewing Folio.  Instead of the fusible wadding in the pattern, which I don't have, I have quilted wadding to the red cover fabric to help stabilise it. For me, this deviation worked well.  It's quite an involved pattern, and I must confess there were times I wished that there were photos of the steps included, but actually with careful reading and steady progress it all came together very nicely.

I used some Bonnie & Camille scraps for the contrasts inside against the Essex linen to make all the pockets, trims and pincushion.  Since the lining wasn't actually attached to the cover fabric anywhere except all around the edges, I found it a little bit baggy.  So I quilted over the fold lines which the pattern does include to delineate the three sections of the pouch.  Quilting them through the lining and cover section has really helped, especially now that there are a few little tools and accessories in the centre section pockets.

My outer fabric is another Bonnie & Camille print (surprise, surprise). It makes me happy!  All in all this was a fun Friday evening (or two) make.

Not sure how many more of the projects I'll manage, especially given my current WIPs list.  Though I would really like to try the triple pouch, so never say never!!


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