More pocket bags

The basic version of this was one of my first designs.  I developed it into a larger version with a gusset.  The latest development has been to add a zip.
My journey with zips has been an example of God at work. When I first made the bags to be sold for Kenya, J asked me about bags with a zip.  My response was rapid - "I don't do zips".  At that point, zips scared me.  I didn't think I would ever include them in my creations.  I said as much to J.
Just as I am now doing lots of things I thought I would never be able to do, zips now form a part of my repetoire.  I don't claim to enjoy using them - I do still find them something of a challenge.  But I am becoming more confident. And when I tell J of other things I "don't do", she often smiles at me and gently asks, "like zips?"

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I gotta create

Long gap!

Apologies for the long gap in posting.  Term started - and while I managed to do some sewing, it was not at my "holiday rate" - and then I had no time to photograph the results or blog them!  However, half term has now (at last!) arrived and, with it, a week to catch up on sewing, housework, marking. planning, blogging - and hopefully have a rest as well!
One more item which needs resolving is that the wonderful embroidery machine decided I was working it too hard.  I had horrible noises from it, immediately followed by an error message to tell me that there was a "motor rotate error".  I looked this up, and the upshot was that it needs a new motor.
Now, this is an expensive machine - and not mine, but on loan.  I contacted a local company to find that the cost of repairing was well beyond my means.  This is where God (and friends) stepped in.  Within a week, I found the servicing manual for free online; money had been donated to pay for a new motor, and a friend at Church had offered to see if he could fit it.  I now have the motor (bought a fraction of the cost of having the machine repaired) and the friend is coming round tonight to see if he can fit the motor here or whether it will be better for him to take the machine away to fix it.  God is good!
This has also given me the chance to catch up on putting the embroidery panels I had already made into bags, and to catch up on other sewing.  Hopefully the machine will soon be back in operation, however, as I am now in a new phase of bags and have also introduced other items which depend on the machine!