Farewell to Zakka

Favourite finished project - pleated coin purse

It has been a long journey. Nearly half a year. 24 weeks from April 'til September. And now it is time to say goodbye.  I managed to make 22 of the 24 projects in the book but not by the due date each week. You can find a link to each of my posts here. I think having a weekly deadline was helpful to motivate me. I was stretched with new techniques beyond my limited sewing experience but success has give me new-found confidence to try small sewing projects in the future.

Thanks

Firstly, a BIG thank you to Lindsey from LR Stitched who hosted the Zakka Style Sew Along on her site every Monday. She not only organised generous sponsorship and linked to guest bloggers but she also featured the handiwork of the Zakka faithful in a great mosiac.

Most used project - zig zag tote (needs longer straps for me though)

Secondly, a thanks to all the designers from Rashida Coleman-Hale's book Zakka Style. You have created some absolutely sweet and practical items in a simplistic style that appeals to a lot of people and yet allows scope for creativity and individuality. I sincerely hope that the editing for the 2nd edition will benefit from this sew-along.

Zakka Style has introduced me to some lovely new materials - especially linen, textured solids, tweed and embroidery floss. There were some firsts for me - bag hardware in the form of zippers, tri-bar sliders, magnetic clasps, purse frames and button makers - bag making, embroidery and hexagons.

Trickiest project but well worth it - zip organiser

And finally thanks to all the great Zakka faithful who have been such a great community of support in this 6 month journey. Many of whom started blogging for the first time. The comments on the Flickr group and blog posts have been so encouraging. Some of my favourite versions were made by Freaknoodles and Mary Emmens. A have made blog friends  with a good many of the talented ladies - Vera, Simone, Heidi, Amy de, Amy, Sheila, Robyn and Elnora. They are all lovely and talented.

I personally have to say a HUGE thank you to Amanda, The Patchsmith who was not only witty but extremely helpful in her early blog posts each week. She was our pattern pioneer and fell into every editing hole and quagmire within the patterns. I learned early on to check her post BEFORE embarking on each project.  She would definitely have a career as a pattern tester. We have become zakka sisters-in-arms and I hope we continue to visit one another's blogs in future.

Easiest project - happy garland messenger board

Zakka Style has been a great book to make handmade gifts for....

my Mum

my sewing friends...

my daughter

and donations to worthy causes...

Then of course there were some lovely things I gifted to myself...

ones that I wished I had kept...

and finally those that I have no use for - yet!

I am thinking of attaching a ribbon and hanging the hand warmers on the Christmas tree

I only managed to convince ONE friend to buy the book. Marieka from Bespoke Bites joined me in the last week and has made 2 of the projects so far.

How did you go with the Sew Along? Even if you didn't participate, Lindsay has opened all all her posts so you can link up your projects in the future. I encourage you to join the Flickr group and learn some valuable tips BEFORE you make each one.