I learned to sew when I was quite young. Cross stitch first, then some hand sewing, then eventually my Nanny started teaching me how to use her old sewing machine to make little drawstring bags to keep my jigsaw pieces in.
I've always made things, and quickly claimed my Mum's old machine, but didn't buy one of my own until I was about 18. I've sewn ever since, but something I've never really got to grips with is zips. The zipper foot that came with my machine sat in the bottom of the box with a multitude of bent pins and empty thread spools, and I always passed it off as something I couldn't do. It's daft really - I've always assumed it's complicated and therefore put of learning properly - until now.
I decided the other day that the only reason I thought I couldn't do it was because I hadn't really tried. A few months (possibly even years) ago I bought a few cheap, pastel coloured zips with the view to making some simple pouches - then put them away and promptly forgot they were there! While sorting out some of the boxes we still haven't found permanent homes for I found them and decided now was the perfect time to teach myself!
I decided to make a pencil case of sorts for my friend (and ex-boss!) who has recently retired and was feeling rather down about life in general. You can read her new blog about her adventures in 'being old (her words, not mine!) here. It was soon going to be our last payday so I thought a celebratory, moving forward, who-needs-a-salary-anyway sort of present was in order!
I had a look through various books and a couple of pouch tutorials online and set about figuring it out.
I'm pretty pleased with the result - it's a tad wonky and I'm sure most people will be thinking "why is this worthy of the internet" but considering before I started I'd never successfully sewn a zip into anything and by the end I had actually made a functioning object, I was rather proud of myself!
I have also now decided there is no excuse not to start making more complicated items. I've always shied away from clothes that have fastenings and apart from baby bloomers and a couple of t-shirts I've always seen clothes as too complicated. However, if I keep saying 'I can't sew clothes' then I'll never try, I therefore never will sew any clothes and it will become a self fulfilling prophecy - so it stops here!
I can do zips - I made a pencil case!
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