Monochrome Clam Up Pouches

Striped patchwork, colorblocking, foundation paper piecing, monochrome gradients, and some fun quilting make for some good lookin’ Clam Up pouches, don’t you think? One of our Monochrome 9 fat quarter bundles makes 5 pouches. Five!

Supplies

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Take a look at the ByAnnie Clam Up sewing pattern for all the required supplies, but I thought I’d call out a few:

Magenta 9 FQ Bundle

I love the range of values in our highly-curated bundles of Kona Cotton. I’m biased, I know. The pinks in this bundle are lovely, but choose among all our other Monochrome 9 bundles.

Soft and Stable

In my opinion, there’s no substitute for Soft and Stable [Amazon]. Nothing supports like it. It's what gives these pouches structure, allowing them to stand and to be fully open when unzipped. The 36“ x 58” package was enough for these 5 pouches, plus at least 3 more. When you get it out of the package, you may worry that the folded creases may be set in, but a quick steam iron on a polyester heat setting gets the creases out as if they were never there. I was so surprised by that!

Zippers by the Yard and zipper pulls

I used Zippers by the Yard, which is basically a long length of zipper tape without any attached zipper pulls. Then I took a few colors of individual zipper pulls and slid them onto the zipper tape. I was worried about that process, but it was WAY easier than I thought it would be. Just watch Annie’s video that you get as an add-on to her Clam Up pattern or take a look at this quick video I made:

 

Instructions

Cutting

A bit of careful cutting is required, so here’s a cutting layout to help you along. To give an extra bit of wiggle room on the binding, I’ve sized the binding strips 2.5“ (instead of 2.25”). I’ve labeled the pouches A through D, so as you cut each fabric piece, separate them into 5 groups:

• A: (size XL) foundation-paper-pieced awareness ribbon on the front
• B: (size L) 8-strip patchwork
• C: (size L) 5-strip patchwork
• D: (size L) 5-strip patchwork (darks)
• E: (size L) colorblock

Sewing and Quilting

For the striped patchwork, sew the strips together with a scant 1/4“ seam allowance. If you sew with a full 1/4” SA, the patchwork may not be wide enough for the pattern piece.

You can choose to have the bag quilted or non-quilted. And let me tell you, quilting Soft and Stable is smooth as butter. It’s really fun to quilt on, and I enjoyed coming up with a variety of straight and curvy quilting lines. This focal pointed design comes straight out of a book from my quilting library: WALK by Jacquie Gering. See page 53. You’re welcome.

Then just follow instructions in Annie’s pattern and watch her add-on videos that you get with pattern purchase. As Annie suggested, I used freezer paper to make the pattern pieces. For the triangular grab tabs I used scraps of pieced fabric - a fun touch! I used Aurifil 40wt thread throughout, in Medium Grey and Black (to match the zipper tape). I used a walking foot and 14 Topstitch needle for the entire project.

So get the ByAnnie Clam Up sewing pattern, some Soft and Stable [Amazon], pick out your favorite Monochrome 9 bundles, and have fun sewing!