All Sewn Together!

Major bout of gift sewing completed. Four Sew Together Bags. Broke 3 or 4 needles, and gouged my thumb in the process. I think they will make nice gifts for the crafty ladies on my holiday list.

Some additional hints and notes if you attempt this pattern,

• I pinned the flaps on the lining back before sewing on the side binding, after having to pick out part of the seam on the first bag I was working on today. The next two bags finished up a lot quicker without all that ripping.  

• I clipped the bulk back at the base of the vertical creases in the side panels to make the binding go on straighter. On that first bag I had to fight to get it over the hump. In the process I gouged my thumb somewhat when it got in the way of the needle clamp screw as it descended during a stitch.  

• I basted the zippers to the lining with a long machine stitch and a 1/8" seam allowance. This made binding the zipper a lot less stressful.
  
• On the first two bags, I used my edgestitching foot to topstitch the second edge of the binding down. This did not work well when crossing a bulky area like the seams and folds.  For the second two bags, I just used my zipper foot, and that seemed a lot easier. 

I will put some little notions and quilter's emergency chocolate candies in the zippered pockets before I wrap them.  

So tomorrow, it will be back to clue 1 of Allietare. 

Does anyone have any good handmade gift ideas for 3 to 4 year old girls?