Give Me Liberty Please!

When Krista and Nicole threw down the Liberty-lined gauntlet to stitch up some Liberty last month, they didn't have to ask me twice.

As soon as I saw Ayumi's Embroidery Pouch in Patchwork Please! I knew I would be making one in advance of the sewalong - it's near the end of the book, so it'll be months before that one gets the treatment, so I started formulating a plan immediately.  A Liberty-Heather Ross plan. 

The sew-along booted my butt into gear!

I showed you the cover a while back, and I know I have already put the finished shots on instagram as I was so happy with it and couldn't wait to show off; but today I am linking up with Nicole's blog for all to see...

I am so in love with this pouch.  It finishes at 9.5" square, which is perfect for a nice sized hoop to fit inside.

As you were party to my vinyl dilemma, you may like to see a bit closer how I managed to incorporate one of those 50 pence pencil cases, zip 'n' all...

Instead of the second side pocket, I cut open the pencil case, unpicked the vinyl from the right-hand side of the zipper, (with the zip closed and pull at the top), and then trimmed to size; I amended the pattern slightly so that my pocket was lined was some Klona jade, and attached a strip of Liberty to that, and the other side to the edge of the zip sandwiched with the linen, the same way as you would sew the first side of a zippy purse.

Apart from not dividing the other vinyl pocket, this is my only real deviation from the published pattern.

Having a transparent pocket, or rather two, is so useful, and I am glad my gamble paid off.

Due to all the vinyl, I machine-stitched the binding to the inside first, then hand-stitched it down on the outside.

So there you have it!  Thank you Ayumi, your pattern is brilliant, so it really would have been difficult to make a duffer!  And a final thank you to Krista and Nicole for getting me to make this sooner rather than later.

I am over the moon with every inch of this pouch, it's another favourite thing ever!

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Don't forget to pop over to yesterday's post if you haven't entered my Sew Mama Sew giveaway for the chance of winning your own bit of linen and Liberty. 
PS. No Reply Bloggers have been prevalent - if you discover you are of this ilk, email me before Friday, and should I pick you, I will be able to contact you - I know Blogger likes to randomly bump people!

Making progress...

Here are a couple of pics of my Patchwork Please!/Give Me Liberty embroidery pouch as promised...

I have reached a bit of an impasse - the pattern calls for some transparent vinyl for the clear pocket, but where, oh where, do I get any of that??

In an attempt to use what I had on hand, I tried sticking sticky backed plastic to itself, but that is still too thin, and anything else I have, like document wallets and the like, just don't feel right.  I ordered a sample from a table covering type company, so we will see what that is like, but I am guessing more plastic bag than I need.

Does anyone know where I can get what is needed in the UK?  Should the sample turn out to be the biz, I will let you know, but any ideas please in the meantime.

Talking of meantime, Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is less than a week away...

... just saying xxx