Conquered the Zipper...

I have really really struggled today to get to grips with making a lined, zippered pouch.  Most people who have a go (judging from all the tutorials that are out there) seem to struggle with the outer fabric, zip, inner fabric sandwich that you make (doesn't that sound delicious) when you are starting to assemble fabrics plus zip, but I got my head round that ok. My big problem was that after sewing round all the edges and turning the complete purse the right way,  the zipper didn't seem to sit quite right - no one goes into much detail about this bit, so I had no hints to help me on my way.  I wont go into detail because it's very hard to explain if you haven't made one of these yourself (and, errr, a bit boring!), but the good news is I finally worked out where I was going wrong..  What a relief...  So now I've mastered buttonholes and zips and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.  Here's the finished pouch.  I love these fabrics - the floral stuff is Geranium Leaf in Taupe (good grief taupe is a truly horrible word) by Philip Jacobs for Rowan.  Cottonpatch have this in a few colours at the moment in their bargains section at £1.85 per 1/4 metre.  The other fabric is Cotton Shot in Sludge (!!) by Kaffe Fassett - it's absolutely lovely and not at all like sludge!

Mastering the pouch was a complete distraction from the great wallet search, but I needed something to give my brain a rest (I didn't plan on struggling with the zip!).  I am hoping to make a few more of these before the weekend, using other fabrics too, to take along to Creative Open Workshops Handmade Market that I'm doing this weekend (look - there's my needle book on the poster!).  I'm really looking forward to this market, once I've got over the logistics of getting down to Birmingham.  I've had a look at the things that the other sellers make and I really have to remember NOT to take too much money with me otherwise I'll be in great danger of spending more money than I make.