Petite Pleated Pouch

 The inspiration for this little pouch came from a another zippered pouch I saw on Pinterest:

wavey pleated clutch yorktownroad etsy store

 I was also inspired by this quilt block:

textured quilt block TeresaDownUnder WP blog

And so I fooled around with some fabric and this little guy is what I come up with:

 I began with a long strip of this burgundy fabric.  I don't know what it's called, but it's rather thick, slick, shiny, and frays like mad.  Another cool aspect is that the fabric has a holographic effect--it looks black if you tilt it to the right angle. I'm sure it would be perfect for formal dresses or maybe a dressy fitted top. Of course I wasn't planning on making either when I picked it up out of the Red Tag bin at JoAnn's.

I made two pleat-cheats which consisted of cardboard strips measuring 1.25" and  0.75".  Why make 2 different sizes?  Well, tried to make then all the same size, but then I ended up with something that wouldn't lay flat.  One side of the pleat needs to be longer than the other side if you want them to lay flat like this:

Here's a handy-dandy diagram to show you what I mean:

 I stitched down one side and flipped the pleats on the other side to lay the opposite direction so I could stitch that side as well:

I added some fabric to each side and it ended up looking a lot like the quilt block I showed earlier:

I trimmed my version of the quilt block and fiddled around with it until I found something I liked.  I was really pleased with how the pleats looked when I folded the block in half.  So I set out to make a little zippered pouch.  

Now, most of the time when you make zippered pouches, you're dealing with a front and back.  This pouch I made is slightly different because the outside is all one piece.  Of course, I didn't take pics of the whole process (slapping forehead) but there are oodles of tutorials on zippered pouches.  Why make another one?  

I will say, the pouch being tiny like it is sure made top-stitching around the zipper a major pain in the arse.  I won't be trying this again in these proportions any time soon (never!).  I did finish it though, and I love how it turned out.

I made this pouch for the Fab Folds Sewing Challenge.  I host a sewing challenge every other month and September's challenge was to make something using pleats, pin-tucks, or smocking.  It's a fun way to meet new bloggers, learn new sewing techniques, and get totally inspired!  I have a challenge page you can go to on my menu bar and visit previous challenges and see what's current now.  

I'm curious.  What do you know about pleating, pin-tucking, and smocking?  What have you been sewing lately?  What do you think about my Petite Pleated Pouch?  Have you ever been in an online sewing challenge?   

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,