Mark it off the list

This weekend, I got to mark a bunch of stuff off the 'ol to-do list, and it felt great. Most of these were gifts or items people had requested, so it was nice to check them off and get them in the mail today.

First on my list was making some produce bags that have been on my to-do list for more than a year. And, of course, after I made them, I was even more annoyed that I'd waited so long because they took about 5 minutes each to make. So easy, and they were great at the market. See how happy the tomatoes look? I used this tutorial from The Sproutz Store Blog.

Then, I moved on to finishing up the last of the makeup bags on my list. I tried a few new ideas and techniques, some more successful than others.

The one on the left was modeled after the fabrics in my Cosmo Bag. The middle one matches the dress I made in the spring, and the one on the right is just some fun fabric from the Sanctuary collection (purchased from Hawthorne Threads a while back).

All of them were made using the scrappy make-up bag tutorial from Noodlehead, which continues to be reliable. This time, I tried adding in the zipper ends from Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial, and I finally got it to work for me on the last bag!

Zippers and I don't generally get along, but I think I'm finally figuring it out. The key is to shorten the zipper a lot, and make the fabric end longer, so you're sewing through the fabric and not the zipper when you close up the bag. Also, my attempts on the first two bags helped me realize that trying this technique with home dec fabric (the gray fabric) is a definite no-go.

Last, I finished up two little projects that my cousin Catalina requested. She needed a Kindle cover and a small coin purse. The Kindle cover was made using my tutorial, and the coin purse was from Noodlehead's lil' cutie pouch tutorial. It was my first time to use the cutie pouch tutorial, and it's another winner from Noodlehead.

Now, it's on to stuff for Biscuit!