Zakka Along Week 10 :: Zip Organizer

"This just might be the cutest thing I ever made." Yup, that's what I told hubby last night just after I basted the front of the zip organizer to the back. That would be just before I tackled the 20" zip. Which is when I sat down in front of my computer screen with the post by Krista pulled up. I believe my next words were, "This is downright scary." I'm pretty sure I said, "Oh my gosh" at least a dozen times in the next half hour.

Trust me. Don't attempt this project without stopping by Spotted Stones and reading Krista's post a couple of times. And when she says, "You'll want [the zipper teeth] to be out of the way when you stitch on your binding. Otherwise they can get caught and you'll have to redo the corners." believe her. Believe me.

All in all this was pretty fun, and easy enough until the second zipper. Then things got a little frustrating. For me, the trickiest part was actually hand-stitching the binding down, especially in the corners. And I forgot to heed Krista's suggestion to sew a line of stitching above the first zip so things don't travel around to the front. But I did add tabs to the 7" zipper ends, which gives it a more finished look, and I bought some of the Wonder Clips she showed, and I'm definitely a fan. They certainly made it easier to sew all the layers together, and it was when I finally thought to use them again while hand-stitching the binding that things got easier.

The pattern for the zip organizer is by Masko Jefferson of Stitchin Sista, who has a couple of helpful pictures on flickr. There's great opportunity to use a fun combo of fabrics and colors. But do pay close attention to the errata Krista mentions. Even with the corrections marked in my book, I still had to recut and sew one set of pockets. This is definitely a pattern, for me anyway, where steps need to be followed slowly and carefully.

But all turned out just fine in the end! Proud - and relieved - once again. Seems to be the zakka way!

Linking up with LRstitched, show off friday, and {sew} modern monday.