Zakka Style Sew Along Week 2-with a Giveaway!

Welcome to week two of the Zakka Style Sew Along! The sew along is being led by Lindsey and Amy. They have invited 24 bloggers to sew the projects found in Rashida Coleman-Hale's book, Zakka Style. Today, I will show you my version of the House Pouch project.  (read all the way to the end for a great giveaway!)

This is a fun and quick project with so much room for creativity, personalization and embellishment. Like the project designer, I used linen for the house itself. It's Robert Kaufman's natural Essex Linen, one of my absolute favorites along with the medium aqua, the greys and the yarn dyed black...I guess I love them all when it comes right down to it.  I paired it with my own screenprinted material called "Petticoats" for the roof because I thought that the little scallops look shingle/roof tile like. I didn't have any ruffled lace on hand but I much prefer the flat cotton crochet-like lace anyway. I did not use the suggested fleece for the circular windows. Instead I chose to use quilting cotton. When applying appliques to a project like this, it is helpful to use a fusible web, such as Steam a Seam, to adhere the appliqued shapes to the base material before stitching. That's what I did with the door and window pieces. Then you can focus on your stitching and not holding your appliques in place.

I was concerned that I was getting a little too pink (if such a thing is possible) so I used a contrasting green zipper from Zipit. It coordinates with the lining print which is that pretty floral called Somerset in Pink by Freespirit that you see beside the pouch.

One of my favorite parts of this project was selecting the button flowers. I welcome any opportunity to pour over my button collection. I used a mixture of new and old. On the far left is a vintage button. Beside it is actually a scrapbooking embellishment with an adhesive backing. Since this pouch isn't going to be washed, I decided to use it but put a few stitches through the center button into the linen to secure it assuming that the adhesive wouldn't hold up over time. The wooden buttons are from the Basic Grey Kissing Booth Collection. The others were just random finds in my button bag!

I hope you will sew along with me and make your own house pouch!  When you are done, share your pictures in the Flickr group.

Just to remind you, the full schedule for the Sew Along is right here:

April 2nd Zig Zag Tote with Sew Fantastic
April 9th The House Pouch with During Quiet Time
April 16th Zakka Pincushion with Pink Penguin
April 23rd Sewing Kit with Monkey Do
April 30th Patchwork Pencil Case with VeryKerryBerry
May 7th Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets with Little Bluebell
May 14th Raincloud Mug Rug with Quilt Dad
May 21st Zakka Block Quilt with I like Orange
May 28th Stem Messenger Bag with Sew Sweetness
June 4th Zip Organizer with Spotted Stone
June 11th Orchard Path Tweed Pouch with Don’t Call Me Betsy
June 18th Happy Couple Handwarmers with A Cuppa and a Catchup
June 25th Patchwork Potholder with Sew Take a Hike
July 2nd Water Bottle Holder with One Shabby Chick
July 9th Elephant Bookmark with Cut to Pieces
July 16th Patchwork Ribbon with {House} of A la Mode
July 23rd Delightful Linen Bag with Sukie
July 30th Bread Basket with Patchwork Notes
August 6th Sweet Sugar Cookie Sack with BettyCrockerAss
August 13th :: Little Pocket Pillowcase with Freshly Pieced
August 2oth :: Sweet Memories Photo Frame with Noodlehead
August 27th :: Pleated Coin Purse with Shape Moth
September 3rd :: Happy Garland Message Board with Maureen Cracknell
Handmade
September 10th :: Nesting Boxes with From the Blue Chair

Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors: 

And last but not least, courtesy of Aurifil Threads, I am able to give away five packages of thread to five lucky winners!  Just leave me a comment to be entered.  I will draw names randomly on Friday the 13th.

There is another giveaway from Zipit on Lindsey's blog so head there next and then to your sewing room to get started!