Do you ever do something you thought up yourself that actually works and think “wow, I’m a genius” because I did, and I am just thrilled to bits.  As you may know, I’ve been making these “jelly roll bags” and they are very simple and very fun.  Well my husband took one to work with him to show the women that work in his office, and at least one of them said that they’d like it better if it had a zipper pocket and some way to keep it closed.  I agreed, totally.  The only things stopping me were a) zippers are scary and b) what am I going to do to keep this giant opening closed?

Well I finally found a video on YouTube that explained how to put a zipper pocket in, in a way that I understand and was easy…ish.  So now that was out-of-the-way, and I’ve played with a couple of zippers now, so they’re not as scary as they were…now comes how to close this bag.  I have used magnetic snaps before and they are great, but I didn’t think it was going to be enough to just put one in the lining in the middle.  I mean this is an eleven (or so) inch opening, I needed something a bit more substantial.

I had an idea of trimming off the side of the bag and using it as some sort of flap.  How I was going to fandangle this flap was beyond me, but I knew this was involved.  I cut off about three inches on the side, so that each of the rows of patterns were going to be included in this flap.  Then I got some scrap of the lining, sewed them together with the magnet snap attached to the lining, flipped it inside out, top stitched around the edges, and viola!

Now, how am I going to attach this thing?  I didn’t want to just sew it to the outside of the bag or make a patch or something.  I want it to look good, not like some piece of garbage.  So, very bravely, I cut a slit into my outside part of the bag, just big enough to slip the “flap” inside.  Then I zigzag stitched over this a couple of times, checked it with a good tug, and BAM IT WAS ATTACHED!  And it looks good!

Okay I know how silly I am, you don’t have to remind me.  It’s the little accomplishments that make me jump for joy.

It looked exactly like this in my mind…

Anyhow, I hope everyone is going to have a great weekend!  Oh!  Before I forget!  I saw the President yesterday!  Okay not close up…but I did see him landing at the airport from my office window.  I even saw air force one on my way home and got a really good picture.

Happy sewing everyone!