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Friday, September 6, 2013

Zakka Handmades Pencil Bag


There are days when you need a quick finish. Right now I seem to be in the middle of so many big projects, and while I love each one of them, the endless stream of ongoing work can get a little slow. Today I just desperately wanted to sit down at my machine and make something from start to finish. Since Sunday is my Mouse's third birthday, it seemed like a great opportunity to sew up a little present for her.


Enter Zakka Handmades. I bought this book back at the beginning of summer with great plans to use it immediately, but it just didn't happen. This afternoon when I spotted it on my bookshelf, I knew exactly what I wanted to make: the adorable Children's Pencil Bag.


This is the sweetest little bag. It's quite easy to sew, yet it looks more advanced than your typical pencil pouch. In fact, I had so much fun making my first, that I immediately started on my second...sort of...


One thing that I absolutely love about patterns is seeing how far I can stretch them, especially when it comes to bags. I love to take a small bag and try it at a larger size or shrink a big tote down to a miniature version. It opens up so many possibilities, teaches me more about bag construction, and is just plain fun. So once I finished my first pouch for Mouse, I tweaked the measurements a bit and made a purse using fabrics from my Koi stash and some of my favorite Essex linen.


I love the way this turned out. It's a good shape with lots of room inside. The linen adds nice texture, and even though the bag is larger, it's still a pretty quick finish.

My husband took us out to our local Chick-Fil-A for dinner tonight. We go there about once a week, usually on their family craft night. It's led by a very sweet employee of theirs who has been so good to my girls, and we brought along this purse for her as a small way to say thank you. You should have just seen the smile on her face.

Small finishes. Happy moments. This is why I love sewing, my friends.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.

15 comments:

  1. These bags are so wonderful. Versitile! Love the way they turned out.

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  2. Both are gorgeous - and precious gifts :-)

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  3. Your bags are adorable, I am sure your little one will love them!!

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  4. These are lovely! Happy Birthday Mouse.

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  5. These are wonderful and as we always have a wealth of drawing supplies around I may need to make some of these too- thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. Both sizes look beautiful! And what a lovely thought! I would have been delighted to receive one!

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  7. Adorable. That was so thoughtful of you to give the bag to that lady! I am sure she will greatly appreciate it!

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  8. They're both so cute! I love Koi. I really must get some soon. I bet you really made her day :)

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  9. totally adorable, and so very useful, too. Such a win win project!

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  10. Really love the Koi bag and fabric combination! I have been holding out on getting some Koi, but I think you've pushed me over the edge now. : )

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  11. That was so sweet of you to make the employee a bag. Those types of spontaneous gifts really make people happy!

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  12. Aw...they are so cute. Love your fabric choices. It's good to have a project that finishes quickly.

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  13. Hello Heidi! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed making my "children's pencil bags"! Both projects turned out delightfully charming! Love how you enlarged the pattern to make a mini zippered tote! And how nice of you to give it away as a thoughtful gift... Hope you continue to enjoy your crafty moments!! Happy zakka making ;D

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Aren't you the sweetest for leaving a comment! Due to all the ads that bombard this section, I have to moderate everything first, but look for your comment to post in a day or two. Thanks so much for writing!