Life Updates and Another New Sewing Machine

 Well well, it's been another 9 months since my last post. Oops. I really don't do it on purpose I swear, I've been super busy making bags and getting inventory for my local pop up shop where my makes are for sale. It's been a fun experience and I'm hoping once the Holiday season really kicks into gear my sales will pick up as well.

    As I mentioned in the title, I did get a new machine! A Juki DU1181N to be exact. It's an industrial and I love her, her name is Layla. The only thing she can't sew is unlined cotton and I have another machine for that. The Janome HD5000 is fantastic and I love that machine but when it came to thick seams it still was a struggle and I was tired of manhandling the machine to get it to do what I wanted. This new one sews through anything I throw at it. 

    My online presence has been spotty lately I am trying to post more on social media but life gets in the way and it doesn't always work out. At the end of the summer my husband and I were in a bad car wreck, physically we both could be better. My husband especially is still in a lot of pain from the accident and we are both seeing specialists. So as you can imagine things have been different in our house lately. We got another dog in August of 2022 and we love her very much. She's a Havanese and her name is Jasmine. She's fresh and doesn't like to go on the paper and she is also destructive, as just tonight I pulled one of my daughter's no longer lost airpods out of her mouth and it was in 3 pieces. Love her, but my goodness, she's a menace. We also no longer have any babies in the house, our youngest turned TEN and there's something about when your youngest is into double digits. We also have an almost 14 year old, and I just turned 40. So, yeah. 

Jasmine, the Trouble Maker

    BUT I am loving sewing, I am loving the creativity of the community, it's very special and not as competitive as some other crafts. I wanted to give that quick update and as always I will try to not go so long between posts. Here are some photos of some bags I have made.

My New Sewing Machine! Janome HD5000BE

Before I get into the fun stuff with my new sewing machine, I would like to say a fond farewell to my Brother SE-400. It gave me many good years of sewing and I'm sad to see it go, I just don't use the embroidery like I thought I would and I needed a machine that can handle thicker layers since I'm getting more into bag making. 

With that being said, my new machine is a Janome HD5000BE, I LOVE this machine. It's mechanical so there was a slight learning curve for me, but other than that it has been a joy to use so far. The threading is easy and it still has a top loading bobbin that I was already used to, I think it's a great next step up for me since I'm no where near ready (and don't have the space) for an industrial. 

It does everything I need it to without all of the bells and whistles, it is sturdy, and the stitches look fantastic. I keep the zipper foot on 95% of the time but when you do have to switch feet it is a low shank machine so the snap on ones are great, but if you do have to switch the whole foot out that's easy too with the screwdriver. My machine came with the quilting kit which came with extra feet, which will be nice if I ever need them but for now this is great. I found an extra narrow low shank zipper foot which has become my favorite.

The HD stands for Heavy Duty and yes it can handle multiple layers of faux leather, vinyl and even denim. I wanted to get into more than pouches with different materials and I am confident I won't have any issues with this machine. I will post some of my projects at a later time, but for now, back to sewing!

Mini Faux Leather Zip Pouch Tutorial

 If you're looking for a super fast, easy zipper pouch to make I have the perfect one for you right here on the blog. With these I am using faux leather so there is no need for interfacing, however if you decide to use cotton fabric you can easily add some fusible interfacing and follow the same pattern.

For these pouches I have made them in mini sizes but if you want to size them up for a larger pouch the steps are the same.

All you need is 

1 piece of faux leather (mine is 4"x6")

The best patterns for this are ones that have allover or multidirectional patterns, if not your pattern will end upside down on one side.

1 craft zipper

Wonder Clips (you really don't even need them) 

That is it

Step 1:

With your faux leather pretty side up, put your zipper tape face down and sew together using your zipper foot.

Step 2:

Turn your project over and finger press the zipper and faux leather open. Topstitch down the entire length of the pouch

Step 3:

Fold the other raw edge up to your zipper tape and repeat step 1

Step 4:

Open your zipper to turn the project right side out, topstitch down.

Step 5:

Zip back up but leave the zipper pull within the barriers of your project! If not you'll have a non working bag!

Leaving about 1/4" at the top of the bag, make sure your zipper tape is together and sew up both sides.

(If you are making a larger pouch you can leave about 1"-1 1/2" space at the top.

Step 6:

Trim excess zipper from both sides, if you want to and have a lighter on hand you can quickly seal the edges where you cut the zipper tape.

Step 7:

Turn project right side out through the zipper and poke out your corners. 

You are done!

So simple, so cute! I love to play around with different leather/zipper combinations.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing 101

I finally learned how to thread my sewing machine and get it working, I still have a little ways to go but I'm getting there. At least I can sew in a straight line! I'm very excited to start work on some projects that were put on hold. I'm also very excited for the holidays so I can make some wonderful homemade gifts. I know, "oh joy" but trust me, homemade gifts can be fun, creative and in these tight economic times, nice and friendly to the pocketbook. I may be spending even more time on Pinterest than usual to get some inspiration.
What the heck did people do before the internet?

Oh, and we're thisclose to getting 200 "likes" on facebook! So please share us with your friends, it's very exciting to have so many readers and I'm looking forward to spending more time crafting and blogging so I can share everything with you!
I hope everyone had a happy and safe halloween!