Finishing The Painted Bag

The paint is dry and it's time to do some free motion doodling on this painted piece of material (click here to see how it was started)!  I decided to use black thread. Using the circles as the centres of the flowers, I machine sketched petals to create simple flowers.

I got so carried away making the bag that I forgot to take pictures of the process.  As it turned out, this layered, painted fabric is just too stiff to work for the fortune cookie bag.  It simply didn't have the flexibility to fold as it should so I decided to leave it as a small clutch.

 

30 Minute Zippered Pouch

Unfortunately the process photos in this post were lost to computer gremlins.  I have been able to restore the final images.  Sorry!

As you will know if you've been following my blog, I found it necessary last week to go shopping for a new car (see why here).  This was also an opportunity to completely empty out the old car, reorganize my 'stuff' an decide what I really need it the new vehicle.  Something that is probably good to do once every 7 or 8 years! LOL.  I had a few small things that I wanted in the glove box (flashlight, spare batteries, note pad, etc.) so I decided to make a little zippered pouch to keep them in.

  I started with a piece of this pre-quilted scrap I had.  I thought it would be perfect because it gave me batting and a backing (which ended up being the lining of the bag) and it was free because someone had given it to me.

Next I grabbed my stash of little batik scraps.  I keep them in one of those zippered plastic pouches that bed sheets come in these days.  It's a great size and I can see through it so it's perfect!  

I just randomly started layering the scraps on the pre-quited backing, using a zig-zag raw edge applique method to secure them.  I used whatever strange shape I had and I think it added to the fun of the final result.

I wanted to add some more interest, so I cut some circles and squares than started adding them, again just using the zig-zag stitch.

Then I added some extra stitching lines on a few of the shapes, using a straight stitch to make spirals, etc. inside the shapes.

I stitched the zipper to one end, flipped it around and stitched the other side of the zipper to the other end, and then folded it, right sides together, and used my serger to stitch the side seams (remember to OPEN THE ZIPPER for this part).  I also serged across the corners to give it a bit of dimension and then I turned it right side out and it was done!  All that in 30 minutes!

Here's the finished pouch, showing both sides.  A great way to make something from nothing (or little seemingly useless scraps).