Hi there and welcome to my stop on the Zakka Style Sew-Along!
I really love all the projects in this book - so many great patterns and really practical items that you are able to make in your own style and with your own twist.
Lindsey and Amy had an idea a while back to do a sew-along to Rashida's amazing book and gathered a huge group of bloggers to each host a project every week (not to mention a ton of sponsors and AWESOME prizes as well!!).
You can go read more about the sew-along here and join the Flickr group here.
And every week Lindsey has an amazing prize for everyone who has sewn along with that week's project.
My project for the Sew-Along is the Water Bottle Holder by Pascale Mestdagh.
I really loved this project - it's pretty fast to sew up (especially if you skip the hand-sewing like I did...I did give it a go but then decided to stick with machine-quilting instead).
I used Robert Kaufman Essex linen in Steel on both of the water bottle holders that I made.
I really love the linen/cotton blend of the Essex linen. It reads and feels just like 100% linen but you don't get any of the warping that you sometimes get with regular linen.
I did alter mine a little from the pattern - the pattern calls for plain muslin for part of the outside and the lining but I'm all about using prints and the more color the better. I'm not sure if that still makes mine "zakka" but the kids love how they turned out.
I used a linen robot print for my son's and Martha Negley's pink feather print (which seems to be sold out everywhere) for my daughter's.
I cut my linen to be a bit smaller than the pattern (I cut it at 5" instead of 6.5") so that I could see more of the print.
** Edited to add: The pattern calls for the batting to be cut at 6" x 11.5" and then to overhang the linen equally on the batting along the short sides - to do this the batting would need to be cut at 6.5" x 11".
Also, I've had a few people have trouble with the instructions for lining up the muslin on the linen. I folded mine in half and then just laid it flat on the bottom fabric with both raw edges lining up along the bottom....the instructions for this were a little confusing in the book and told you to line up the raw edge and the folded edge but this would make the outside too long for the lining.
Please email me if anyone has any trouble and I'll try to help out if I can!
And I machine stitched lines onto the linen base instead of hand-stitching it like the pattern (mostly cause I'm lazy and this was way faster).
I also changed the buttons to snaps since I thought they would be easy for the kids to change the handle sizes (and again - faster than sewing on buttons - see...I'm lazy!).
I think the hardest part is sewing the round base onto each of the tubes but as long as you pin it well, you shouldn't have much trouble (and mine isn't perfect but just try your best!).
Oh, and make sure you pin the circle to the bottom and not top of your tube - as you can see by my daughter's holder, I pinned it to the wrong side but I liked the way it looked and so I left it!
I made my son's holder with the two handles that it calls for in the pattern (you can then alter the handle to make it extra long, medium or short) but for my daughter's holder I just made the longer handle (without the extra smaller attachment) and actually cut 4" off the length - it fits her perfectly.
I used Aurifil 50 wt. thread (which is now my go-to thread!) in white and black.
And the best part is I have 5 sample packs to give away to 5 of you!!
So leave a comment here telling me your favorite go-to thread and I'll pick a winner on Friday.
And if you make any of the projects in this book, don't forget to add them to the Flickr group or join in on Lindsey's link party for your chance to win awesome prizes!
Thanks again to all the wonderful sponsors on this sew along!!
