A Spoonful Of Sugar Blog Tour

When Lisa sent me a mail about her new book, I was very excited and happy at the same time. The cover was beautifully designed with a catchy word "zakka" right in the middle. It must be a book for me I thought. And indeed, this book is filled with beautiful pictures and amazing projects that you will find it hard to resist making one or more stuff.

A Spoonful of Sugar (same as Lisa's nick in instagram) consists of 20 simple sewing projects that are even suitable for handsewing! In fact, I realised ALL projects in this book are great for completely handsewing if you wish to try.

I had wanted to make the Zakka Dilly Bag with the pretty crochet bottom so I can put yarns in while on road trip but I changed my mind after seeing the cute little panda pouch.

And thankfully, I brought along one pack of purse flex frames with me after moving here. It was such a lucky find! These flex frames can be bought from Daiso with various lengths.

And, here's my version of Pretty Panda Snap Purse! Doesn't it look adorable? I used a different color instead of black and white for panda. I was thinking: "How cute is a purple panda!" But when I finished my last stitch, I was surprised to see that my pouch looks like a little puppy rather than Lisa's version of a panda. I had to laugh out really loud. Is it because of the color? or the mouth? or the floppy ears? I'm not so sure. When I showed my kids and asked what animal do they see, they all answered "PANDA!" And then, I heaved a sigh of relief!

For this pouch, I did "lazy handsewing" as I term my own sewing method. It means it doesn't follow the traditional Japanese way of handsewing since it will take a much longer time and patience which I lack in both. So here's what I always do, for example the ears (or fabrics without added interfacing):

1. Cut out the paper template and glue it on a recycled cardboard. Cut again so you get a rather sturdy hard template.
2. Choose your fabric and place them right sides together. Draw the template on just one side. Then, pin both fabrics together and start stitching on the drawn line. Trim to 1/4" seam allowance (I usually "eye-ball" the allowance  instead of measuring. It's so much faster).

Lisa suggested using spray starch and iron for the eyes and ears. I have never used her method but I think it's a quick and efficient way. I sew the traditional way of continuous stitching and pulling the thread to gather the fabric. Just like sewing yo-yos.

For the ears, I did a little stuffing to make the ears soft and squashy. 

I even added a fabric tag at the back of the purse. Because it's so much love!

The inside of the purse is spacious enough for a lippy, money, keys or other small daily necessities. Very useful and functional. 

This face is so adorable and irresistible, isn't it? I heart his innocent eyes and gentle smile.

All in all, I really love this Pretty Panda Snap Purse pattern. The instructions are straightforward and easy to follow. I handsew it entirely and it only took me four hours from start to finish. Simple yet very satisfying. Well, I'm ready to make another one very soon! xxx