My sewing frustration has peaked!

Well, I decided that I truly, truly HATE pleats (and zippers!!!)

And here's why: after finally attaching the zipper on my 'work in progress' zipper pouch the darn pleats didn't match up causing me to want to rip out my hair (and the stupid zipper) And when my not-so-trusty seam ripper failed to help me out of my situation I gave up on that bag for the moment.

And seeing how I need a gift for my co-worker today I decided to try something a little easier. A lined coin purse! I still had to work with a zipper, but this one didn't hate me so much!

[Here's a tutorial for making lined zipper pouches]

I used left-over fabric from the fat quarter and my black linen-look stash. I sadly had to use a white zipper but I think it turned out rather well. I just guesstimated the size, it was big enough to hold a necklace (still on the cardboard) and a gift card with extra room, we'll say it's on the large end of coin purse sizes.

I think it turned out pretty well. This is the first thing I've made that was lined with a zipper. So now that I kind of know what I'm doing I might think about finishing the pleated bag...or maybe not.