Big News!

I installed a zipper last night. And it wasn't hard at all.

I spotted this little zipper bag on African Kelli's blog and loved the size and shape of it. Christmas is fast approaching and ideas have been swirling around in my head for a special charity project. Last year, my friend and I put together gift bags full of miniature toiletries for residents of a local nursing home. We talked about doing it again and these bags would be the perfect size and shape to hold the toiletries and would be much more personal than a plastic gift bag. It would also make a great community project for the quilt guild.

Construction of this bag was really very easy. I used a glue stick to "baste" the zipper in place, eliminating the need for pins, and the zipper went in like a breeze. It wasn't my idea, I read that tip somewhere long ago. One thing I'd do differently next time is to zig zag the interior raw edges instead of pinking them. It was difficult to cut through all the layers of fabric with my pinking shears and I think machine zig zagging will produce a neater-looking finished edge. I learned something very strange about myself while making this bag. I hold my breath when I sew. Not all the time. Just when I'm working on something that I'm a little unsure of. Thank goodness this was a quick project! Do you hold your breath when you sew?

The tutorial for this project was generously shared here. I've added it to my sidebar under "Tutorials I've Found and Love".