Turkey Tracks: Zipper Bag Nutty

Turkey Tracks:  March 14, 2017

Zipper Bag Nutty

It all started with two of these little pouches, made by Coastal Quilter Margaret Elaine Jinno for our auction fundraiser last November.

Margaret Elaine used a clear vinyl front so one could see the inside.  The top has a zipper.  You can see one of the ones I purchased is stuffed full of EPP templates all ready to go.  The other one is too, but with a different EPP project.  How did she make these anyway?

Then Tori Manzi, also a Coastal Quilter, showed some of us the craft bag she made using pet screen, which is easily located at any large hardware store.  And, yes, it cuts and sews easily.  I did not get a picture of Tori’s bag, but then Becca Babb-Brott (Etsy Store Sew Me A Song) made one as well and it was so nice and roomy.  I had immediate bag envy.  I knew I had to make one of these bigger craft bags that stored EVERYTHING.  I didn’t get a picture of Becca’s bag either, but Becca sent me a tutorial on how to do it.  This tutorial uses clear vinyl, but you can easily substitute the pet screen.  It’s from So Sew Easy and is easy to follow:  “How to Make Clear Vinyl or Project Bags.”  Just google for it if this link does not come up

On the way to the So Sew Easy Tutorial, I saw a blog post on a “52 zippers project”–one a week for a year.  Hmmm.  Until I put the big zipper into my “Aeroplane Bag,” I had not put a zipper into anything for probably 32 years.  Maybe I better take a look?

Here’s the introduction

52 zippers project: All the zips! In 2017 I have a few lofty goals. One of the bigger ones is to undertake a project I’m calling “52 zippers”: this year, every week I will sew a new zipper pouch and post about it. I have kind of the perfect storm of reasons for doing this–I have too many zippers, too many cute fabrics that I’m not using because I don’t want to cut them up, lots of fabric embellishment ideas that I want to try out but not on a whole quilt, and of course a lack of organization. My other thought is that while I know many people have mastered zipper pouches, I think it is a common thing to fear the zipper. I’ve written up a set of basic lined zipper pouch instructions, which you can download for free! As the year goes on I will be adding more modifications and techniques to add to the simple zipper pouch. Look for more handouts to come! These handouts will be free for a limited time; at the end of the project I’ll be compiling all of the handouts into a comprehensive zipper pouch pattern.

Source: 52 zippers project – a little crispy

Before I knew it, I had these two pouches and had printed out instructions for how to install a “D” ring, a wrist band, and make a “dumpling bag.”  Pouches lend themselves to showcasing bigger pieces of fabric, like this fabric from Anna Maria Horner.

These bags are LINED, and doesn’t my zipper look nice?

At this point I was using zippers I already had in storage.

Ok, now I had more confidence, so I went back to the So Sew Easy tutorial.  I had a pale lavender zipper, and here is what emerged.  I love the look of the hanging outside zipper technique.

Oh, BLISS!

Then, this one happened with a white zipper I had on hand.  You can see it in relationship to the lavender bag in terms of size.

How fun is this!

More googling and I discovered that Sew Michelle sells COLORED pet screen in lots of colors.  So this package arrived the other day.

And Zip It (Etsy store) sells all things zipper, including fobs and what are, in bunches, really reasonable zippers in many sizes and colors.  So this package arrived, and I chose the colors of the zippers.

I have a real soft spot for these zipper fobs, but there are all different kinds at Zip It.

Also, it seems that there is a way with plastic zipper teeth to separate the two sides for easier sewing–which also means you can use the smaller pieces of a zipper you’ve cut off by adding a new pull–which, of course, Zip It has.  You could mix and match zipper pull colors with the zipper itself, like putting a blue pull on an orange zipper.

It’s clear my go-to present these days will be zippered bags of some sort.  They are just so much fun to make.