Aargh!

If I EVER decide to buy a chunky plastic zip instead of a normal one again PLEASE talk me out of it!

Over the last few days I have been making a pouch for my partner in the Sweet Little Pouch Swap and have been winging it in typical Juliet style.

I started off by designing a paper pieced a panel which reflected my partner's interests. It was inspired by this amazing mini quilt.

I then got a bit carried away and designed a second paper pieced panel for the back.

At that stage I looked at what I had and decided that the panels would work really well as a pouch like my sewing case, BUT the panels were a bit bigger than my original pattern so I needed to alter the dimensions of the pattern.

The problem with altering the pattern was that I needed a longer zip. I went to buy a nice long zip and discovered that the only longer zips that I could find were either in really ugly colours or chunky zips. It was a tough decision but I finally decided to go with the pretty coloured chunky zip.

What a mistake!!! The thing was a PIG to put in!!! I sewed, I swore, I unpicked, I sewed, I swore, I unpicked, I sewed, I swore, I unpicked... By the time it was finished I was VERY grumpy and was about ready to throw the thing across the room.

In the end the result is pretty good, but I am left feeling a bit disappointed knowing what it could have been and obsessing about the wonky bits.

I really hope that my partner loves her pouch. She will hopefully be able to see past all the imperfections that scream at me.

See, I told you it was wonky! Look how squint it stands!

Please note that a chunky zip would probably be fine for pouches that you make using a zipper foot, but for this one I use a walking foot to get over the many layers of fabric, wadding and interfacing.The chunky zip was just too thick and led to all kinds of problems...