Zipper Organizer

I made a quick little project this week. If you saw this in-progress pic of it, could you guess what it was?

I didn't think so. How about this, where it's all sewn?

I wouldn't have known, either, so here it is in use:

A few days ago, someone pointed me to a brand new pattern for a zipper organizer, and it sounded perfect to me, since I'd been wondering how to organize and store all the zippers I've accumulated. It's a pattern designed by Michelle Wootton of Birdcage and Thread, and it can be found here. You can't beat the price of only $2.00! It was well-written and even had a nice video tutorial to go with it. It was also easy to sew!

I used some of Jess's older fabric, her Sunflower canvas. I didn't have the grosgrain ribbon the pattern called for, so I improvised by sewing a fabric tube and pressing it flat. It worked just fine. The hooks are actually drapery hooks, and I dug around and found 55 of them in a drawer - enough for more than two organizers! (Sometimes it pays to save everything!)

There are 11 hooks on each side....

.... so the organizer holds up to 110 zippers, with 5 on each hook.

I think this idea was ingenious! I can now hang my supply of zippers in a closet to prevent them from getting dusty or fading, and they're portable so I can take them wherever I want to match with fabrics. I love it! The organizer could also be used to hang belts, jewelry, or anything else that would fit on the hooks.

The photo above doesn't show all my zippers. I only put a few on there for demo purposes. I need to do some organizing by color, etc. And I probably need to make another organizer. ;)

Gatherer Crossbody Bag

If you remember (c'mon, it's only been a week this time) from my last post, I showed you what I'd received from Jess's newest fabric line for Cloud9 Fabrics, Spring Quartet in babywale corduroy. Jess and I put our heads together to see what could be made from the 2-foot square samples, and here's what happened.

First I made a strap from some lovely pleather Jess had ordered from Discounted Designer Fabrics. It was a crossbody strap, so it was about 50" long (highway hypnosis again, but only half as much as with the Heidi strap).

Here are some progress shots of the bag. There were a dozen darts!

There were a couple strips of piping, which I made from a fat quarter of cirrus solids from Cloud9 Fabrics. (The lining was also a cirrus solid.)

Next there came a little pleather tab. We didn't want raw edges like the pattern called for, so I cut it double wide and turned it under like I did for the strap. Only the ends have raw edges this way, and it's a little heavier and sturdier.

Unlike the pattern, Jess suggested a snap to hold it shut. Placement of that was a little tricky, since I wanted the flap print to line up with that of the pocket front, so I had to mainly guess as I was cutting it out. I set the snap before sewing the pocket onto the front of the bag... and held my breath to see if I'd guessed right.

After completion, it was quality-tested. (I think Josie was looking for cat hairs, probably to see if she'd managed to get enough on it. Cat hair sticks really well to corduroy.)

Finally, here it is! Did you recognize the pattern along the way? It's the Gatherer Crossbody Bag, a free pattern by Noodlehead.

My guess was a bit off on the snap placement. It could've been about an inch higher on the pocket, so it kind of pulls on the top of the bag when snapped, which bugs me, but I guess it's not a deal breaker. Lesson learned for the next time.

It has the front pocket plus a slip pocket on the inside.

My assistant photographer (Courtney, of course) was here yesterday, so she took a photo for you for size reference. She does a great job (and cut my head off as instructed)!

So there ya have it. It's a sweet little bag, pretty easy to sew, and the corduroy is great to work with. I still have the other three prints in the same 2-ft. size. What would you make from them?