Good Hair Day!

I knew that I had to make a toiletry pouch from Kim Andersson’s Good Hair Day collection fabric. I think I’ve been having a bad hair day for about 4 years now but at least I can have a cute toiletry pouch. The pattern I used is the Jade Pouch by Blue Calla. I love its flap and handle.

I made a couple of simple changes to it to personalize it – a fabric zipper pull and accented handle.

  

Fabric Zipper Pull

To make a fabric zipper pull, you’ll need: a lobster clasp, a split ring, and a scrap of fabric. I found the lobster clasp and split ring at the craft store in the jewelry-making section. They’re a bit hard to see in the picture below; the split ring is 1″ down from the top of the fabric. Cut your fabric scrap to 3/4″ x 5″. If your fabric scrap is a bit shorter than 5″, that’s fine. You’ll only lose 1/2″ in length when making it.

On the wrong side of your fabric, mark 1/2″ in from both short ends.

Press each end in toward the 1/2″ mark. Your fabric should be pressed in 1/4″ from each short end. You can always just press your fabric in a 1/4″ without marking a 1/2″ in but I like to have the line as a guide. I always find myself fumbling with the pressing ruler when I’m trying to iron something this tiny.

This part is tedious. If you have a bias tape maker, that would probably be easier, but I have never mastered those. Anyway, take your fabric and mark and center line from the long edge and press the raw edges in towards that line. Then press the folded edge toward the center again. You should have a piece that’s 4 1/2″ long x 1/4″ wide.

All raw edges should be enclosed. Topstitch down the length of the strip.

Take your split ring, and open one of the ends. I normally use the tip of my seam ripper to open it. There’s probably a safer way to do this, as I usually stab myself with this method. After your split ring is pried open, slide in the lobster clasp. Once your lobster clasp is attached to your split ring, push your topstitched zipper pull fabric through the center of the split ring and tie it in a tight knot.

Yay! Your zipper pull is done. I like fabric zipper pulls because they can be made to match any project. They’re a little bit fiddly but they add a nice touch to handmade projects.

Accented Handle

You will need a main fabric, accent fabric, woven interfacing (SF101), and fabric glue (or glue stick). Instead of following the Jade cutting instructions for the handle, cut:

• 2″ x 7″ piece of main fabric
• 2″ x 7″ piece of SF101
• 1″ x 7″ piece of accent fabric

Fuse the SF101 to the main fabric. Mark a line down the center of the interfaced side of the fabric and use your iron to press the sides in to the center line that you just marked. Mark a line down the wrong side of the accent fabric and press* the raw edges towards the center line, (same as you did with the interfaced fabric).

*Sometimes it can be difficult to get non-interfaced fabric to press. You can use a bit of spray starch to get a crisper press.

You should now have a 1″ x 7″ piece and a 1/2″ x 7″ piece.

Take your 1″ x 7″ piece and topstitch an 1/8″ in from the folded edge. The top of the handle will end up being the side with raw edges facing up.

I also topstitched my accent piece at this step to prevent shifting when I sewed it to the main fabric, but if you don’t like stitching over existing stitches, skip this step. The top of the accent piece will be the side with no raw edges. Topstitch as close to the edge as you can.

I like to glue the accent piece to the main fabric to prevent shifting. You can always use clips or pins, but I find they get in my way when I’m trying to topstich and I end up shifting my accent piece. Take your main fabric, with raw edges up and run a bit of glue right down the center where the raw edges meet. Center your accent fabric, raw edges down, on top of the main fabric. Press with a hot, dry iron.

After the handle strip has cooled, follow the existing stitches on the accent piece, and topstitch down to main fabric.

Follow the handle instructions in the Jade pattern for attaching.

Thanks for reading! If you add a fabric zipper pull to your project, I’d love to see it; tag me on Instagram

GIVEAWAY!!! To win a charm pack of Good Hair Day fabric, leave a blog post comment and let me know what you’re working on. I’ll notify the winner via email at the end of the blog hop.