Open Wide Zippered Pouch from Noodlehead

And now for something a little bit different…

I don’t always sew Christmas presents.  It can be hard to know what people will like, and I don’t want to invest time into something that isn’t a sure thing.  That’s why, this year, I decided to make a few zippered pouches.  These are not clothing or decor, and they are very, very functional, and can be used to store whatever the recipient wants.

I haven’t made many bags, so I’m not as tuned in to that area of the sewing world, but I knew from what knowledge I did have, that if I wanted to find a tutorial for a bag with great instructions, I should look at Anna Graham’s blog, called Noodlehead.  So, off I went, and found exactly what I was looking for:  the Open Wide Zippered Pouch.

After the initial tutorial post, Anna went back and updated it with two more size options so you can make small, medium, or large pouches and, as the name indicates, these pouches open wide when you unzip them.  They also stand up, thanks to interfacing and boxed corners, and stay open so you can see what’s inside.  I had never considered these options before, since the zipper pouches I use are store-bought and of the flat variety.

I made both pouches in the small size.  They were easy to make and didn’t take long at all.  I got all my fabric and zippers at Pintuck & Purl–just quarter yards of each fabric I wanted to use.  The printed fabrics are Cotton & Steel quilting cottons and the light blue solid is a lightweight denim from Art Gallery Fabrics.

I sew a lot of clothes but I have found that there are always new areas to explore in the sewing world.  So even if bags are fairly new to you, as they are to me, you can handle this.  I would definitely make these again, and I’m already planning to try out another of Anna’s pouch tutorials this year.

These pouches were well-received and are already in use, which makes me happy.  I recommend Anna’s tutorial to you if you are looking for something like this.  Here’s my question for you:  do you have any favorite bag patterns?  I’m not planning on switching away from garments, but I might try a few bags this year.

Recommendations

• I’m reading The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair, and it’s so interesting.  This is a great book for someone who only has little chunks of time to read.  She talks about a myriad of colors, and each entry is only about two or three pages, so you can learn a lot of fascinating color history, even if you only have 5 minutes here and there to read.
• I tried Cremont cheese from Vermont Creamery earlier this month, and it is SO GOOD!  I highly recommend this one if you are a cheese lover.
• I just started listening to the Awesome Etiquette podcast from the Emily Post Institute after hearing about it on the Love to Sew podcast.  It’s definitely not about picking apart the behavior of others, but focuses more on how we can care for others with our actions.  It’s nice to hear and think about positive, uplifting things.

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