May Day Giveaway!

A beautiful day in Seattle had me indoors, whipping up three fun little zipper pouches for the Sew Mama Sew May Day Giveaway! As I am heading off for a mini-vacation, I am posting this today. The official day is May 23, and I am happy to accept all entries until Midnight, May 25th. Enter to win a lovely handmade zipper pouch by me – just leave a comment below with your choice!

A zipper pouch is the ultimate bag, perfect for travel or for sorting, storage or decoration, a zipper pouch can carry a lot. I use them for sorting art supplies, cosmetics, bike tools, accessories, sewing notions, and more. I love them, and enjoy making them, and hope you will enjoy the three up for grabs below. To enter, just comment below. Don’t forget to leave your email address, so I can contact the winners. I will also post the winners on May 26th.

1. Ruffles

I had a lot of fun with Ruffles. The collection works together so beautifully, and cheers me up when I see it. Inside is a pocket “Hey, good lookin’, what you got cookin’?” and the back has decorate stain red stitching across the border of the red/yellow fabrics. The light sky blue zipper is a nice smooth finish. The pouch is slightly narrow, 1″ deep, but 10″ across at the bottom so it will hold a great deal while still fitting easily inside a messenger bag.

2. The Bike Bag

The echino bicycle fabric is choice for summer. The green blue hues complement  a sunny yellow linen lining with green accents. One side has a large pocket that fits my iPhone and cards. This one would make an awesome companion for day bicycling trips, easily holding tools and a spare tire along with your essentials.  In this photo you can see the boxy shape of the bottom of the zipper pouch.

3. The (mini) Carpet Bag

The (mini) Carpet Bag is my favorite. Luxurious fabrics, rich deep gold and reds, a sturdy build and a girthy middle, this little zipper pouch will hold a great deal. It’s a bit smaller than the others, 8″ across the top but around 3″ deep so it has a true pouch appearance. The fabric is lustrous in the light, revealing intense hues that make me think of Persian rugs or Turkish food or luxury.

To see even more photos (I do love my sewing table!) check out my flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdandbicycle

To Enter:

Comment on my blog with the number of the bag(s) you’d like to receive. Yes, you can say any combination, but only one comment per person. I will draw a winner on May 26th. I am happy to ship internationally as well, and if you are also participating in the May Day Blog Giveaway, leave me a note – I’d love to see what you’re making as well. These three lovely little zip pouches were all handmade by me, in my Ballard home, today, during the nicest sunny day in Spring thus far. Each bag will have some extra some goodies in it as well!

Thank you for checking out my blog, and for participating in Sew Mama Sew’s May Giveaway Day! I am off for a much needed vacation, visiting Kansas and family for the first time. (I am hoping for lightning and storms!)

Love,

MaLora

UPDATE: May 26th – Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone for checking out my blog!

Pretty {little} Pouch

Oh my gosh I love Spring! I spent this lovely April Friday stitching up a delightful pretty pouch for a swap on Flickr. My partner’s preferences were boxy, zippered, and for traveling. I had an easy time using the awesome Prudent Baby tutorial: Man-Gift Toiletry Bag with Oilcloth. The construction is simple, but it does leave the inside edges a little unfinished. However, the added oilcloth as a liner, with cotton+interfacing as the focus, made a very sturdy bag just perfect for the girl on the go.

My only changes to Prudent Baby’s tutorial: I had to have finished seams around the zipper. I couldn’t help myself. I like a clean line. And handles. I had to have handles. It’s harder than you think to close a boxed-shaped bag with a zipper when there is nothing to grab.

I choose bright and cheery aqua and cherry, to brighten up and be visible inside larger suitcases. The bag itself is just around 9″x6″, with about 4″ height. Perfect for the 2 oz travel bottles to stand upright. The lining is some cute cat oilcloth from my stash. I added in some japanese linen “handmade” labels on the inside despite that I wanted to make some of my own but have been too lazy.

Using scraps, I had to add in a fabric envelope with a vintage pearl button. I absolutely love buttons now that I have a machine that will do holes! I want to add buttons to everything! The flap is a bit loose, so you can stuff cosmetics or jewelry or whathaveyou inside.

I am a bit sad to send it off – it looks so good in my sewing room! I love the photo below. You can see how the Spring sunshine starts to move across my studio. I have hung up crystals that shimmer rainbows across my cutting mat as I work.

What have you been stitching up? Anyone else up for a swap?

Love,

MaLora

PS: I was also practicing my free-motion quilting foot to try out writing with my machine… Syko makes it look so easy! I need more practice, as this is my 5th try.