Friday, April 27, 2012

Sewing Kit: Zakka Style


The Week Four assignment for the Zakka Sew A Long was this sewing kit. While I read every assurance that it was pretty simple - it looked really, really hard and I put it off all week.


Can I wander beside the topic a bit and say how brilliant I think  having a sew a long for Zakka Styleis. When you think about it, the number one reason people don't by craft books is, "I never end up using them" so by giving us a reason to take a shot at the projects - in a timely fashion - we can all justify any and all sequels. I love it. 

I need this sort of motivation to not put off projects like this.
  Thank you to everyone involved!


I decided to follow the lead of Katy at Monkey Do and not use leather cord for the ties. I agree, leather doesn't tie all that well. Plus I didn't have any. Her Double Fold Binding Ties tutorial was excellent and I didn't have any problems beyond burning my fingers... like crazy. Any tips on avoiding burns when making these folds?


My only hiccup was the pocket binding. I did not get what the instructions wanted me to do. I tried, following closely as possible, twice, picking it out each time and then I just said to heck with it and did my own binding-esque thing that looked pretty identical.  Maybe sewing at two in the morning makes things harder than it needs to be. You think?


Here it is all tied up. I love that the pin cushion fits in the pocket, or if your pockets are already filled just inside. It's a great pattern!


Thanks for visiting. 

In case you missed it, I posted one of my favorite EASY dinners last night (very off my usual blogging schedule). If you want to read more about Baked Tomato Pasta, CLICK HERE.

7 comments:

BettyAnn Maki said...

Nicole, you are getting so good.
You did a very nice job on this project.
Take care. love mom

Anonymous said...

Not burning your fingers: on the second set of folds, do only one of the two folds at a pass. And keep the iron cool enough that you can safely over-iron, i.e., you don't have to hurry along down the length to keep from scorching the bit you've got the iron setting on now. You can always turn the iron temp up later, after you've got the folds semi in place, to set the folds properly.

Depending on fabric stiffness and width, that may not be quite enough to let you fold as you go without burning yourself. In which case you might have to lightly pin the fold in place before you iron it, then iron up to and around each pin before snagging the pin out. Not my fave way of doing things, because the pins distort the fold and often drag the fabric a bit out of line while I'm removing the pins, but eh.

Heidi Staples said...

Beautiful job! I love that fabric!

Anonymous said...

Oh, you used that Kate Spain fabric I love! It's gorgeous! I'm pretty sure I did the binding wrong, too. But there are only so mistakes a girl can admit to at once, right???
:)

Carmen said...

This looks really complicated to make but it looks so good. I like the fabric ties.

And I LOVE that your Mum reads your blog.

Anonymous said...

Nicole I LOVE it! The colors are so fresh. So glad you're sewing along!

MacInfinity said...

Love it, great job honey, it turned out awesome.