Sewing: To-Do List: Chair, and Zipper Bags.

I've been wanting to make some zippered pouches for sorting toys for a while. We have some gigantic ziplocks, but the kids have a hard time opening and closing them by themselves.  I want to make some that are large, like the two-gallon ziplocks, out of fabric but with a vinyl window in front, so they could see what's inside.

If I didn't have a huge hoard of fabric, I could make them out of fabric to match the toys insides: cars, trains, blocks, puzzle, dolls, dinosaurs, hats, kitchen stuff, etc. That would be super cute!

I'll most likely be using the fabric I have, and maybe, if I'm motivated, I could do an applique on one side, and the vinyl window on the other. Maybe. The problem with me and with projects that could be super cute is that I have a tendency to be more utilitarian, and less cute. My priority is never cute, it's always function. (we're talking craft sewing here, folks)

In any case, here are some neat ideas.

A zippered pouch with one side out of vinyl. Nifty! This is over at Crazy Mom Quilts

this is sort of cool, but it's probably too bulky. I can see this working for larger sets of things, tho, and this could sit on a shelf on it's own. At Lemon Cadet

This is a neat idea!! I love these! I wonder how these would work larger? Also, they close with hook and loop tape, not a zipper. At ZaaBerry. She's got some other great tutorials over there, too.

This is close!! I'm not a fan of bags at the end of drawstrings because they become weapons in the hands of my boys. Obviously, I'm the only person who has boys who do this. ;) From Make It Perfect.

So, that's what's on my mind right now, altho I've been consistently derailed by two devious toddlers.

The other thing filling up my mind is the reupholstering of my childhood chair. My parents got this chair second hand back around 1981, and it was covered in a ratty pink-ish poly chenille stuff. That was ok, and in 1991 or so, I recovered it in a tapestry I thought was AWESOME, but .....it didn't remain awesome either to me, or to the husband who banished it to a rat-infested shed.

I couldn't part with it, tho. Memories of long, hot summers sitting in that chair sideways with my legs over the wide arm, with a peanut butter and jelly in one hand, one of my 10 per week library books in the other hand and big glass of iced tea somewhere nearby will not let that chair get away from me. I hope to do that again, altho, probably I'll skip the the pb&j, and I don't get to read 10 books per week anymore.

Here's the chair. it's super, super sad, and buried in the garage, covered in dust. It's pretty horrific. I want to reupholster it, but I also want to paint the wood black.

The things that are tricky to me are the arms, and all those tacks with that trim. Ugg, that's going to suck. And, I don't know how to reupholster anything. I've tried googling but I don't know anything about furniture, either, so I can't google say "how to I make those rolly chair arm things".  So, we'll see how this goes. I plan to take detailed pics of the deconstruction to help me get it back together correctly.


Here's the fabric. The leaves on this are pretty big and the fabric is reversible, which leads to more indecision: which side out? some places with the white side out and some blue? all the same? I just don't know. The more I think about this project, the more overwhelming it becomes.

Here's another pic of the fabric, with the cart handle in it, for scale. I'm also not sure what color to use for the trim and tacks either. Match the fabric? white or blue? or black to contrast? AAACKKKK!

All right, so I need to quit thinking and get busy!