Why it pays to do a practice run ...

Or something like that. The title for this post might more accurately read: "Why you probably shouldn't squeeze in a little sneeky sewing when you're supposed to be starting dinner and you stayed up too late the night before..."

Anyway. I sat down, when I should have been starting the dinner, and decided to "whip up" a couple of Noodlehead's, funky  Open Wide Zipper Pouches. One as a practice that I'd keep, and one for my Grace kal prize. You might be looking at the pretty pouch in the photo above and be wondering what I am on about. It looks nice enough doesn't it? I love the rich red cotton velvet and the linen floral is super lovely. Well, let me show you why it pays to do a practice run when you leap into a new project...

It all actually starts with the top photo. Look closer, my flower fabric is upside down. And the velvet? You know how it feels smooth when you run your hand over it one way, and rough the opposite way? That affects the colour too you know. Mine runs smooth from top to bottom on one side of the bag, and smooth from bottom to top on the other. Remember to check which way your fabric is lying!

In the zip photos above you'll see two things. In the left photo, you can see that my zipper isn't inserted evenly on both sides. The gap between the zipper teeth and the floral fabric is slightly wider on one side. So what? you might think. You hardly notice. Well, I (eventually) noticed. It meant that the floral fabric is longer on one side than the other. So, put in your zip carefully!

In the right zipper photo I've showed you my wonky zip end. It's not too bad, but it's just a bit messy. I resolved to try another way to deal with the end of that zip. Actually, in my next bag (which I saved until the next day and thank goodness is much, much better) I basted my zip to the outer fabric before sewing on the lining. It makes sewing in the zip much easier and more accurate. For the end of the zip I folded it back on itself and then off to the side, so the end is straight, not angled...

And, there's some shonky lining up of seams. It didn't help that my fabric wasn't even because of my dodgy zip. Can you also see how the velvet is a different colour on each side? 

But it didn't stop there...

I skim read the step in the tutorial about making the bucket bottom by sewing seams along my inside corners. And, instead of measuring 4 1/2" horizonally across my corner, I measured vertically, down from the tip. Bad move. That meant my bucket bottom is much smaller than it should be and my pouch is both smaller overall, and the top doesn't stand tall quite like it should. Plus, look at my seams! No way near lined up... If I'd been on the new hit show Great British Sewing Bee - I'd be going home by now... So the lesson? Read the instructions!

But I got there. It did get finished, despite all the crazy sewing. And, it's pretty and I'll use it. And, it was a good practice.

But then, I remembered something - I was supposed to use the grey & white spot for the lining ...