My how a week flies by! Last week I shared a piece of clear vinyl I bought from fabric.com, hoping to use it one day for some WIP zipper bags. Well, we all know how things like that go! You get something for a future project and think... not now... there are other things that must come first, but in the end you cannot help yourself. You keep thinking about it, you gotta do it...
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| WIP Bags |
So I did. One bag led to two, two led to three, three led to 'why can't I do it like this', which led to 'I think this would be better'...which led to I am out of clear vinyl now!! Seriously! Good news: My itch has been scratched!
Here it is, the clear vinyl. It is 8mm thick, medium/heavy weight. Honestly, I didn't know what thickness to get. I just popped this in the cart and thought it would be fine.
I also mentioned that I was going to buy the pattern for the vinyl bags from Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts. Which I did. I couldn't very well think of how to make these by myself, and the pattern helped immensely!
As always, the hardest part was picking the fabric! Why...I don't know. They are just bags! Eventually I settled on fabric and a zipper!
According to the pattern directions, I needed a 12" zipper. This one will need some cutting, but it will work. The zipper will have zipper ends.
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| 11" x 11" |
I got so 'in to it' that I didn't take pictures during the process. So, yeah. First zipper pouch. It works. The zipper opens. That's a good thing! But notice the horrible pucker on both sides of the zipper! Yikes! I felt like I must have done something wrong. I reread the directions and wondered what I did wrong.
The binding was attached like a normal binding. I even machine stitched it! Kind easy when it's a clear project!
I was still feeling pretty good regardless of the flaws. And I sure as heck wasn't going to give up! I ain't no quitter!
Day two. I was giving it another go! Fabric, zippers, zipper ends for two pouches at once. Check and check.
Zipper casings attached. Everything is going according to plans! Yes!! Let's move on to the zippers...there has to be an easier way, something that won't pucker!
This time I folded the vinyl away from the casing. That way I have fabric, zipper, fabric...which should make things go much smoother all the way around. I found that vinyl is super sticky and it slips and slides. I'm sure that's what caused of puckers!
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| 8" x 8 1/2", 14" x 14" |
It appears folding back the vinyl was the solution. No puckers! It still isn't perfect, but I can live with this.
Of course, this has now led to my version. As much as I like and appreciate the pattern, and I could never have thought of this on my own, I wondered how it would work 'my' way. Just a slight variation...
I didn't feel the zipper tabs were needed. They look good and all, but they also limit the opening size. Surely I could skip this step.
So I did. I also moved the zipper closer to the top. Either way is fine. I just wanted to give it a test run.
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| 13 1/2" x 15 1/2" |
You see that I totally went bonkers with this clear vinyl thing. I was hooked! (kinda like mini mini quilts a couple months ago!)
Project bags stacked high with WIP's, important fabrics, little blocks and scraps! You could use them for anything...anything!
You might be thinking a good old Ziploc works perfectly fine, why go to all the trouble and time for these? I say why not? Look at them! Color...cute...variety!
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| One yard of vinyl goes a long way! |
Sewing with vinyl or oil cloth can be tricky. It sticks, it slips and slides.
- You need to use longer stitches when sewing with it. Small stitches may cause your vinyl to tear away like a perforated piece of parer.
- Go slowly and gently pick up the vinyl as it moves through the machine to prevent sticking.
- Fold the vinyl away from the casing when installing the zipper.
Let's talk about cutting vinyl! Believe me when I say it's tricky! You can't see it very well with a ruler on top. It sticks to the rule and shifts easily. I have a plastic vinyl on the backs of my rulers and it made it nearly impossible to cut accurately. I ended up flipping the ruler over which didn't solve the problem completely.
I found that cutting the back piece was best done after the front was complete. Inevitably, you have to trim up the front and it seemed to always be a different size that the back.
My take on these bags and the pattern: The pattern is well worth buying, especially if you are like me and need a jumping off point. I wouldn't have known where to start! That being said, you could easily figure it out with out a pattern. (me, not so much) Personally, I like the bags without the zipper tabs. Easier access when opened up and they look clean and finished without tabs. Buy the pattern, give it a go!
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