Zipper feet and zipped purses.

Yes, it is possible to put in a zipper without too much angst, and it's possible to finish with great results. 

Good instructions, a few hints and the right sort of zipper foot can all make a difference.

I can help you out with the first two of these... the foot is up to you.

People often ask what they're doing wrong, that they can't get a sharp finish on their zippers. Having seen lots of machines and presser feet in action, and having demonstrated zippers on other people's machines in classes, I've come to the conclusion that the style of zipper foot is a big player.

You see this style of snap-on zipper foot...?

Not even I can put in a good zipper with it.  And I can put in a good zipper. 

Especially when making bags, with all their enclosed spaces, bulky fabrics and bulky zips, that big lump on the back of the foot just gets in the way and causes trouble. 

Some machines come with a lovely narrow zipper foot (like the Bernina foot, in the photo directly above), and some come with adjustable or sliding zipper feet, like the feet in the photos below.  Others have that wide snap-on number.  If your machine came equipped with one of those wide ones, I'd suggest you start looking at the alternatives.

The designs of adjustable feet vary a bit between brands and vintage, but they all do the same thing.  They all allow the full length of the foot to glide easily along the side of a zipper or any other raised object, just behind the needle.  This means that you can sew in tricky places and around tricky things like zips, piping cord and magnetic catches.

The two pictures above are current model generic zipper feet, and are available in long or short shank fittings.  These particular ones are from Sew Much Easier (a YOU SEW GIRL stockist).

The two pictures below are from my 1980's model Singer and my 1960's model Janome machine. They both fit current model Janome, Singer and Brother machines.  Check any old machines you have about the place, you might just have one!

 

The foot can slide either side of the needle so that you can sew as close to the edge of the zipper as you like.  They're also good for sewing piping and getting close to other lumpy things that might be on your fabric (magnetic catches, beads and whatnot).

This is another adjustable zipper foot that I have.  It's a snap-on for another 1960's Singer machine of mine.

The little plastic bit near the snap-on bar thing (serious tech-talk here!) moves from side to side, allowing the foot to snap on either side of the needle.  Clever and effective ...but really tiny and fiddly.

Really, it doesn't matter how your machine handles the arrangement between needle, foot and zipper, as long as the effect is that you can always sew as close to any sort of obstruction as you like, without a great big lump of presser-foot getting in the way. 

Sort that bit out, and you're a third of the way to better zippers!

Now... for the good instructions, tips and hints, we have the newly-revised extended-dance-mix version of my old Coin Purse Kit .... I've added lots of extra full-colour photos to completely explain the whole process and I've tweaked the instructions substantially.  Best of all, it's now a PDF that you can find HERE and download immediately.

I use these little purses as my go-to gift for kinder and schoolteachers (and for staff Christmas presents one year), combined with inkjet fabric and my girl's artwork.  They're always a hit!

Kinder Surprise

Well... it won't be much of a surprise if any of the kindergarten staff read my blog...

Using my coin purse patterns, some inkjet printer fabric, scraps of fabric and some swivel hooks...

I used copies of my wee girl's art (HERE's how..) and made individual purses for each of the lovely women who looked after her so well this year.


The images will hopefully bring smiles long after the girl herself has gone on to 4-year-old kinder and forgotten all about them.

Fuzzy Felty Flex Frame Purses

So the flex frames have been a bit of a hit... but the most commonly asked question is "How do you use them?".... This afternoon I pulled out a scrap of pattern card and did this.
The bottom shape was just drawn freehand. You could make it any shape you want - oblong, square, completely abstract... as long as the top section is 4.5 x 8.4mm (give or take a mm). Fold the card in half and cut the shape out.

Cut 2 pieces of felt from this shape.

When I made the scarlet purse (in the top picture) I used beautiful Winterwood wool felt, so I only needed these outside purse pieces. With this burgundy purse I wanted to test cheap acrylic felt squares (from Spotlight). This felt is weak and thin, so I folded down the top 2.5cm of the pattern piece and cut two lining pieces in a contrast colour.

Using basting spray, stick the lining to the outside purse pieces.

Do some simple embellishment...

As simple as you like...

And as quick as you like...

Using the top of the lining as a folding edge, turn the top of the purse over. Give it a gentle press with steam so that it sits very flat.
Stitch the turning down to create an open-ended casing at the top of each purse piece. The backtacking at each end must be very secure here.

The two pieces are then stitched together (right side out) about 4mm from the edge - again with super-secure backtacking.

You can then either trim the edges with straight scissors (so that all the layers are level) or use pinking shears. Alternatively, this could all be lovingly handstitched - or blanket-stitched by machine - and there would be no need to trim edges at all.
Thread the frame through the casings at the top of the purse.
Line up the open end pieces and push the hinge pin in....

...and fold over the ends of the hinge to hold the pin in place. Use pliers, the sides of your scissors or whatever works to fold these ends over. (I'm yet to find my ultimate hinge-closing tool!).

Admire your purse....

...and squeeze it to open and close it.

Cute huh? And really quick. Quicker than it took me to write this tutorial.

...
A quick note on the frames: We've had to add a little packing surcharge on the single frames (it's those itty-bitty pins that take all the time!). The single frames are now $3.90 each (CODE: FLEX90) or a packet of 5 for $18.15 (CODE: FLEX90/5).

Think Music

Over the last week, whenever I've reached the end of my ability to think about class notes, submissions (for yet-to-be-revealed projects), website tweakings or pattern instuctions, I've tinkered with a little idea I've had for a long time.

This has been in my head since pushing a pram around the northern suburbs with a nine-month-old* who wouldn't nap during the day (or night, for that matter) and dreaming up bag designs was the closest I got to a sewing machine.

(*That baby is now nearly three years older. For those of you who ask how I work around a small child: the answer is.... S - L - O - W - L - Y!!).

Patternmaking is like a puzzle that grips me until it's solved. I started the pattern after midnight last Sunday morning. It was lucky I didn't have a sewing machine at home or I'd have been up all night!

I once knew a writer who said he wrote "to get it out of my head". Patternmaking is a bit like that for me. It's compelling. Addictive. The next stage is nutting out the right materials and processes for the job, and that's just as absorbing.

It's been my think music all week. Whenever I reached a block point with whatever I was writing (or was simply too tired to think in words) - or whenever I felt overwhelmed by it all - I'd tweak the pattern again. Make a toile. Tweak again. Today I worked only on this (and trying to keep a sugar-fuelled kinder-holidaying child busy). By this evening I was happy with the shape, at last.

There are still minor technical glitches to be ironed out before it's a kit, but I'm hoping to have it finished in time for the Sydney Stitches and Craft Show.

I have a lot to write between now and then, so I anticipate a bit of 'think music' will be needed in between. Watch this space...

Rescue effort

I made an Evening Bag today. I decided to make it in evening (wedding?) fabrics for a change. When I turned the bag through, I thought that those interesting textural bits on the fabric rather resembled crinkle-cut potato chips.

Luckily, I'm a terrible hoarder of anything that looks like it might EVER be useful....

These broken (fake) pearl strings have been in my possesion for over 20 years - surviving multiple shifts between houses, countries and hemispheres....

..and the potato chips are now poppies... sort of.

Because I finished it long after the day's light was gone, I couldn't get a decent photo of the whole bag. Can you put the picture together in your mind...?

Don't worry - I'll follow up with a proper photo another day.

I didn't make this one, either....

This is the Melways purse, made by our resident Crafty Girl, Ann Marie. She also made these ones using my kits.

Ann Marie did a purse frame class with me years ago, and then our paths kept crossing.... crafty girls seem to walk around on the same paths an awful lot. Now she's working with Leah in the office!

Funny, how things work out.... Welcome to the fold, A-M!

Adding a little ZIP!

I've been sprucing things up a bit. Overhauling, upgrading, updating.... making LOTS of zip purses!
Lots of purse combinations and composition changes were photographed before this one won as the new cover of the Coin Purse Kit. Nice and bright - covering a few different tastes in fabric design (and strangely enough, matching half my daughter's wardrobe...!).

We get a few enquiries about WHAT'S in the kit, and what the difference is between the Coin Purse Kit and the Make-Up Purse kit (so this blog post is for posterity - it will be referred to in future with an easy link rather than a long email!).

There are four shapes and sizes of purse (12cm and 10cm boxed corner purses and 12cm and 10cm squared). The kit contains the instructions for putting a zip in a LINED purse with NEAT corners (not bunched-up-end-of-zip-in-seam corners). There are also 2 x black and 2 x white zips in each size. (If you need more zips, guess what? WE STOCK THEM!).

The Make-Up purse kit is ONE size (15cm) and comes with four 15cm metal zips (2 x black and 2 x white). We stock these zips as well. :)

Are you scared of zips? I'm surprised how many people are. So I'm going to be running a workshop at the Stitches and Craft Show to show zip-shy people that zips are (relatively) harmless haberdashery... nothing to be scared of.

I'll be teaching a super-easy way to make lined zip purses in all sorts of sizes - from coin purse to luggage pouch. See that lovley colourful pile above..? All done with this same easy method! (You may remember these xmas gifts? Same method!).

Just a visual reminder of where you can see me.... I'll be in the indie crafter section. The rest of the show will be fab too - the all new Living Creatively revamp will be worth seeing! But please come and say hello to me!

...

PS. Thanks so much to all who have sent in more donations and bags for the Rainbow Comfort Packs. To follow updates keep your eye on Handmade Help blog. I'm posting there - along with a few others - and you can keep up to date on news of what's happening on that whole front. There are lots of ways that we can help - no matter how near of far you are from Victoria. Eg. Check out Trash's raffle.... you may have a few hours to enter before she draws it.