Ready to swap!

Preparations are well underway for the Sew South retreat next week. I am happy to report I finally got moving and am even hopeful I may get a few extra things finished! We'll see though, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself....

The first thing to tackle, which I must admit I had been meaning to do for weeks, were the items for the sample swap. I chose to make pencil case bags, and I showed my test bag a few weeks ago. The pattern is from Amy Butler's Style Stitches.

I wasn't thrilled with it though, I just couldn't get the zipper quite right. Usually when that happens I just add some end caps, but this time I decided to do the zipper installation from the open wide zippered pouches that Anna from noodlehead posted. I love the result! I still used the Amy Butler pattern, just with the zipper in differently. I probably could have made the smallest size, but I went up one so that a regular pencil would fit inside. I picked totally random fabrics that made me happy, and I even hand stitched the lining shut so they would look totally pretty :)

I really hope the people who get them love them. It will really be my first swap so we'll see. I am pretty excited to see what I get to come home with too! I'll report back later on that one. In the mean time, have a good weekend! I am hoping to make some incredible progress on the rest of my stuff, but this nice weather might just tempt me outside instead. Either way it will be a win.