Zippered Whale Snack Pouch
Recently Barnaby and I both came down with some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning. Whatever it was, it was not pretty, and I was one grouchy (and miserable) mama. I’ve always been a grouch when I’m sick, and being a mom has exacerbated that, because I can’t rest when I want to, and that makes me super grouch. My sinful self only wants to serve ME and take care of MY needs when I’m sick. It was definitely un-natural and hard to serve someone else’s needs when yours aren’t being met.
Somewhere in that rough week, Barnaby pulled out one of his little book called “A Whale’s Tale”for me to read. It was about the story of Jonah. If you aren’t familiar with that story, Jonah was called by God to preach to his enemies the Ninevites and he runs away because he didn’t want to obey. As a result, Jonah ends up on a ship which got caught in a horrendous storm that God sent, and he was thrown overboard by the desperate sailors after Jonah told them that his disobedience was the reason for the storm. The storm subsided once Jonah was thrown into the sea, and God sent a fish to swallow Jonah. I don’t know for sure that the fish was a whale, but in children’s bible story books it always depicts a picture of a whale. Regardless, i was encouraged by the story because it reminded me that if God can send a fish to swallow Jonah (to save him from drowning in the sea), then He will provide me the strength to be a good mom to Barnaby even though I didn’t want to be a mom that week. I definitely felt like I was drowning in all the demands a little toddler can make (quite a lot!). That was the inspiration for this whale zipper pouch…and also because I had just purchased a bag of sixty 9” zippers from Amazon for my previous projects…
This whale zipper pouch is extremely easy, and can be made unlined to make the project even simpler (under 1 hour). However, I ended up lining the pouch because I wanted to add a little more stiffness to the pouch (I told you I LOVE lining my projects). You could also fuse iron-on fusible fabric to add the extra stiffness as well. Normally I like to use a print cotton fabric for lining because it gives the pouch a little surprise when you unzip it, but this time I didn’t find any fabric that really matched, and since there was enough fabric for lining as well, I ended up self-lining, and the result was fabulous. Let’s get started!
MATERIALS:
1/3 yard of dark blue home decor fabric (I used this)
White felt scraps
7″ or 9″ zipper
Matching thread for sewing
My free Zipper Whale Snack Bag Pattern (available in my free resource library)
TOOLS:
Sewing machine with zigzag stitch options
Fine Pins
Fabric Scissors
Fabric glue (I use Aleene’s No-Sew Fabric Glue)
Sewing needles
NOTES:
1/2” seam allowance is already included in the pattern so you do not need to add seam allowance when sewing. This means that when sewing the pattern pieces together, sew 1/2”in from the edge of the fabric.
Backstitch at the beginning and end of each seam. You do not want your handwork unraveling!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Finished! Use this pouch as a snack bag, pencil case, stationary bag…it’s extremely versatile! Let me know in the comments below if you made this project and what you store in it. Happy Sewing 🙂