Zakka Water Bottle Holder

Welcome back to the Zakka Style Sew Along, hosted by

Lindsay of LRStitched!

This week's project, the Water Bottle Holder, was contributed by

Pascale Mestdagh of "Between the Lines" blog.

{You must go and visit her...her bags and other projects are wonderful!}

I'm not gonna lie...I was not really panning to make this project.

I figured at some point I would have to

take a break from the quick pace of

one project each week...

{Who knew I would be missing 5 projects before this one?}

But here in Southwestern Pennsylvania,
it's been a long hot summer already!
Temperatures have been
in the 90's and holding.


Motivated by the heat wave, I've already finished my
Zakka Water Bottle Holder!

{Ta-dah!!!}

Let's get started with the fabrics I used...

I wanted this water bottle for my own use,

so I picked some Strawberry Fields {top}

and Buttercup {bottom} prints,

both by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda.

{The European linen I have in Cream

looks just right with the prints!}

I got started stitching, after I read the Flickr group thread,

which warned of a few pitfalls with this project.

I decided to follow the book loosely,

but make the water bottle holder "my way"

using techniques I use when I make my purses.

One thing I did was make the printed outer piece into a divided pocket,

rather than stitch it down all the way across the linen.

I also used Pellon 987F fusible fleece
for the lining, the outer piece, and the pocket.

{I'ts not a big pocket, but I could put some $ in there!}

Also, for the appliqued rectangle,

I made mine kind of big, to show off the pretty contrasting

lining, since it doesn't show up much when in use.

{I used Heat N Bond, and stitched it with a cute zigzag, which made me happy!}

After sewing the "tube" it was time for stitching the "circle"

in place for the bottom of the holder.

This was rather new to me, since I don't make circular purses.

If I had it to do again, I would mark the seam line on the tube

and also on the circle, to match everything up perfectly.

{Here is where I'm going to show you my feet of clay.

It's not very round.  Hmmm...but it worked anyway.}

For the strap, I used both prints,

and I didn't use a turning technique.

Instead, I stitched the two long sides together,

then ironed 1/4" under on each of the other two long edges.

{I stitched near both edges and had this pretty strap when I was done.

I just inserted the strap ends between the outer piece and the lining,

before sewing along the top edge.}

You know, I don't really like water.

But recently I was introduced to these fantastic

flavored concentrates, and I am crazy about them!

{Have you tried them?  Do you have a favorite?

Mine would be the Blueberry Lemonade.}

I think this little holder will be going lots of places with me this summer!