Happy Monday! Today I want to share a some zipper pouches I made recently!


I dug into my canvas scraps for these pencil pouches made from Anna Graham's Canvas Pencil Pouch Tutorial. I haven't made any of these in 8 years (see my first batch here), it was fun to revisit this design!


This time around I went completely scrappy. I don't reach for my canvas scraps often, so I wanted to use up as many scraps as I could while making these. This meant that two of the three pouches I made had different fabrics for the front and back! I think it adds a bit of whimsy to them!


Even the linings came from the scrap bin! Using up scraps is so satisfying.


I had three metal zippers that were the right side, which is why I made three pouches! Well, plus I can't just make one. My Mom requested another (I gave her one of the original pouches I made years ago), which is why I made new ones in the first place! I figured I could find uses for the other two.


How fun do they look from the bottom?!


This is a wonderful design, and a great tutorial by Anna! I was glad to make these again and also to use up some scraps! It had been a while since I've used these metal zippers, they are so nice. I have plenty more in other sizes, I feel like I should reach for them more often!

Pattern: Canvas Pencil Pouch Tutorial by Anna Graham
Fabric: Scrap stash
Notions: Metal zippers from Zipit*

Happy Sewing!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Scrap Pouf in Progress

Happy Thursday! Today I wanted to share a new long-term project that I started in January, a scrap pouf!


The idea of slowly filling a pillow or other object with small fabric scraps isn't new, but for some reason I never took to the idea. Fast forward to this past January, when I stumbled on this reel on instagram. The maker (Brynn!), shows a pouf that they made, that is intended to be filled with fabric scraps, old clothes, single socks, etc. Something about their description of it really sold me and I immediately decided to make a pouf of my own.

Note: Brynn is going to be releasing a pouf sewing pattern in May! I'll update this post with a link to their pattern when it's published. Looks like I'll be making another pouf then!


I thought about designing something myself, but honestly just didn't feel like it! I did a quick search on Pinterest and found this DIY Floor Pouf tutorial by Heather Handmade. I had one invisible zipper on hand and it just so happened to be the right size! Thankfully I have a good stash of larger canvas fabric cuts, and I went with this beautiful pear print that I've had for nearly 10 years.


I've been slowly stuffing my pouf over the last few months and it's been really satisfying. I genuinely get excited when my little pot of scraps is full and I get to add it to the pouf! So far it mostly has small fabric scraps and trimmings. There are also batting offcuts from quilts and a bunch of random scraps and elastic from processing vintage sheets.


I'm thrilled by how much this pouf has already decreased the amount of trash coming out of my sewing room. It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to fill it!

Happy Sewing!

Scrappy Canvas Zipper Pouches

Happy Tuesday! Today I want to share a scrappy project I undertook back in November.


It all started when I decided to completely reorganize my scraps. First I spent time getting my quilting cotton scraps organized back in color order this Summer. For a while I had my scraps organized by size and into groups of warm and cool colors. I ended up liking this set up less than I thought I would. For my work flow, it just makes more sense to have them organized by color. After tackling my quilting cotton, I moved on to the garment fabric scraps, linen, and canvas. It feels so good to have everything organized again, and it inspired me to make something!

Without really trying, I managed to pull three color palettes worth of canvas scraps. Zipper pouches seemed like a good choice, and I hadn't made any in a while! For the sizing, I used the pouch I keep my knitting notions in as a guide, which I made about ten years ago.


The pouch panels were randomly pieced, using the scraps as they were as a starting point.


Here are all three pouches that I made, all together! I had a lot of fun making these and it felt really good to use up some canvas scraps. I definitely have the hardest time using non-quilting cotton scraps. I'm hoping now that I have them a bit more organized, I'll be more inclined to use them! How about some photos of each pouch individually?



The purple one! This one I made for myself, because I love purple. :)



Primary colors for this one! I made this one for my friend Jacey.




And finally, a teal one. This one I made for my friend Amanda.


These pouches were a good reminder to myself that sometimes I just need some time to play around in my supplies. What started as a cleaning/organization project resulted in three finished projects! For me, time spent straightening up or organizing supplies is never time wasted. It could spark my next idea!

Happy Sewing!

January Monthly Report

It's time for the January monthly report. See past reports here.


I only finished two sewing projects this month. I don't typically do a ton of sewing in January historically, so this isn't very surprising. I focused a lot more of my energy on writing blog posts. I wrote and published 10 in January! The last time I posted that many blog posts in a single month was January 2019, whoa. I'm hoping to get back into a better schedule with posting and starting up my Friday Favorites series has definitely helped. Anyways, back to those finishes. One of my finishes was an Artist size Lined Drawstring Bag made with my Geometric Bliss* fabrics. The other is a gift, that I can share later this month!


My other sewing focus this month was on a new scrap quilt project. I have not made a sgnificant dent in my scraps for a few years and I've never made a throw size quilt completely out of my scrap bin. I started by getting my scraps organized and then spent about a week kicking around ideas. I ended up laning on a modified spiderweb block design. I cut the quadrants in half so that I could print paper piecing templates for it. I'm playing with the contrast of warm vs. cool colors and so far I'm excited about it! I think this will really help use up some scraps this year!


To keep myself accountable for my stash goals, I track my yardage for fabric and yarn each month. Read more about how I track here. Here is how I did in January:

January Fabric
Used up: 6.25 yard
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: -6.25 yards
Year to date: -6.25 yards

January Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: 0 yards
Year to date: 0 yards

Not a ton of action so far on the stash tracking! I used up a little fabric and didn't bring any in. Glad to start the year off in the negative though! I knit some on my mitten project, but no finishes or yarn coming in this month.

I want to spend a little time each month checking in my with 2022 crafty goals. This month I:
- Stitched a few rows together for my all green patchwork quilt which is a long term WIP.
- Finished a garment, so that's one of the four garments I want to make this year.
- Started that scrap quilt!
- Knit on my mitten project.


Dusty is discovering all the best sunny spots around the house. On this particular day, it happened to be on top of some pieced quilt block rows.

Have a Great Month!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Finished Project: Scrappy Pincushion

Today I'm here to share a small project that I made this week! This project ticks the box for two of my goals this year. First, it's made completely from my scrap bin, so it's my scrap project for March. I'm trying to make at least one project from scraps per month in 2021. Second, it's a new-to-me pattern. I am hoping to sew one new-to-me pattern per quarter, so this is my quarter one pattern I'm trying.


This week I finally made the Sit 'N Sew Pincushion Pattern by Shannon Fraser. I bought this pattern over a year ago, so I thought it was a good one to start with for this year. I actually pulled the scraps for this pincushion over the summer, but just didn't get around to making it. It worked out, because I could easily pick this up and make it in an afternoon since I'd kept the pattern and fabrics together in my sewing room cart. Grab and go!


It was fun to use some summery prints in this project. I quilted the pincushion top with straight lines as I put it together.


For the back of the pincushion I used a blender and quilted some random diagonal lines. I filled the pincushion with crushed walnut shells to give it nice weight.


The finished pincushion has a little hanging organizer to keep a few tools. I think it will come in handy, keeping it next to my machine.


Find the pattern in Shannon's shop here: Sit 'N Sew Pincushion Pattern by Shannon Fraser


Happy Sewing!