My newest A Piece of Me Pouch is a combination of this and that; a culmination of bits I have gathered, an unfinished project and a couple of new things I wanted to try. This is larger than the version in my pattern - it's very easy to make in any size you choose! - and I'll show you how I created a loop for carrying or hanging.

Always on the look out for interesting fabrics, I found this fabulous buttery soft Punched Faux Leather and as soon as I saw it, thought it would be great for stitching on. It has a tiny bit of stretch so rather than trying to battle with it on the bias, I made cross stitches into plus stitches. Of course it was stitched the same way, it just took a little focus to make them + + + + +


The floral pattern is part of a design in Anna Maria's Needlework Notebook which looks modern and pretty. It was tempting to add more stitches but at the same time it's nice to see the punched fabric and not have that texture lost.

To make the stitches stand out I used all six strands of Aurifloss. The bright colours work really well and the thread has a nice sheen so it doesn't look dull against the pewter. The combination of the soft faux leather and the stitches make it very strokable!  


On the other side is an appliqué flower I started in Jo Avery's class at Stitch Gathering in 2017. The intention was to create three flowers but when I laid it out it looked a little squished so I decided to take the easy route and stick to one, I just added a couple of leaves to the flower. 


It is hand appliqué on Essex Metallic Linen using Aurifil 80wt thread, which sews like a dream and blends in so beautifully. I use 80wt thread with Clover Black Gold Applique needles, both are very fine and perfect for hand applique. 



On the inside I used the most vibrant orange solid, it's like a LOUD wake up when you open the pouch! A bright coloured lining is a fun surprise and I do like having contrasting inner and outer fabrics.


Naughty me keeps forgetting to add labels to things but recently I found these labels I got from The Dutch Label Shop - they are actually based in Malta. The quality of the woven labels is incredible and the service truly excellent. There are cheaper labels available but I wanted to try some fancy ones and I don't regret it! The colours are so pretty and I will order again when I eventually use these ones up. If you want to check them out I would love you to use my referral code 5664043 during signup or checkout.


For the binding I chose a woven fabric by Anna Maria Horner. I'm fairly certain I haven't used a fabric like this for binding before, certainly not for bias binding anyway. I wasn't sure how it would behave but turns out it does the job perfectly! I'm happy to have experimented because I think this fabric adds even more of a boho vibe and I like it. I did cut rather too much so as I got round to the final edge, rather than finish it off I chose to make a loop.


This was super easy to do and a loop is great, especially on a larger pouch like this. To make the loop, rather than finish the end according to the pattern, I simply continued sewing - using a ladder stitch to sew the folded edges of the binding together. I didn't sew it all the way to the end, I left a section unsewn and because it's a woven fabric it has a cool raw look. I made a loop with the binding and knotted it where I had stopped sewing, so the raw tail hangs from the knot.


Did I mention this pattern has a quick, neat and easy way to sew the zip?! If you've never sewn a zip or you don't like sewing them, I promise this method isn't at all tricky and you'll be zipping away happily!
My zip is 'metal look' from The Little British Fabric Shop, a combination of Gunmetal teeth and Iridescent zip pull. I'm now a big fan of buying zip tape by the roll, it's so easy to cut to the size you want and add a pull yourself. To be honest I prefer real metal zips but then I really don't like cutting them and would only buy the exact size I needed. The other thing about metal zips can be the weight of them, since chunky zips are my preference, chunky metal zips are much heavier. On a smaller make that's fine but I don't like the added weight with something this size.


This is my creativity pouch, to be filled with wonderful inspiring things! It's big enough for my planner, a notebook and bits of stationery... could probably fit a sewing project in there too.


Having a giant handbag (currently a rucksack, though I have a big tote bag I use too) means I can carry lots of pouches. Currently I have three pouches in my bag, I really like using them as a system for organising and it stops me having to root around for the things I need. After diving into my bag I realise I could do with a little A Piece of Me pouch for lip balms and make up, that's my project for this weekend! Do you use different pouchs / bags in your bag or is it just me?!!