Zipper Pull
Have I ever mentioned that we have LOTS of guys in our family? As in a blended family of seven sons and no daughters??? I love to make things for our beautiful daughters-in-law and grandbabies, but I haven’t ventured far into homemade-for-men land. So, when I saw a tutorial for a zippered toiletry bag on The Purl Bee, I decided to give it a try. The first challenge was fabric. I wanted to use oilcloth to make the bag easy to clean, but all I could find was gingham, fruit, vegetables, animal prints, and floral designs. Then I stumbled on this fun plaid online at Mendel’s, and it just happens to be the colors for the University of Kansas, the birthday guy’s favorite college basketball team . . . how lucky was that? The bag was easy and fun to sew, and I have plenty of fabric left (and plenty of KU fans left!), so I’m sure I’ll be making more. 8-7-12 UPDATE: Today I added a little guy a-la-mode . . . a zipper pull made from a Jayhawk keychain. ♥
PILLOWS A-LA-MODE 
Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Very cool project–and great colors 🙂
Thank you! And glad to find another fan out there! 🙂
Wow! That looks fantastic!
Thank you! I hope he likes it! 🙂
Great job, I love the plaid !
Thank you! It’s definitely different from any I’ve seen before! 🙂
If you decide to sell them, let me know 🙂
🙂 My grandma was the same way–she had 5 boys with no girls! Although ironically all my uncles had girls.
The bag looks fantastic, and the is awesome!
We have granddaughters now . . . so fun to make some girly things! 🙂
Ohhhh, I really like this! How was sewing with oilcloth? I’ve never done it.
I was a little nervous, but it wasn’t any different for me than sewing with any other thicker fabric. And it’s so easy to cut and doesn’t fray . . . yay! 🙂
Great looking! Love plaid!
Thank you! I’m a plaid fan, too! 🙂
very guyish– and very professional job of sewing!
Thank you! It felt like my “learning version” . . . I made a couple of notes on things I’ll do a bit differently (and better!) next time. But I think Kyle will love it! 🙂
what a great idea! love it!!! I’ll have to keep this in mind next time I’m looking for a guys gift
You’ll love it! And it only takes 3/4 yard of fabric, too! 🙂
Now that’s cute! Guys would hate to hear that word used to describe their things like toiletries bags, but since they’re not here, it’s fair game. You might have the beginnings of a small industry there is the university gets wind of it. Can’t beat a well done plaid item.
The tutorial calls it a “Dopp Bag” . . . that was new to me! I’ll probably call it a “travel bag” when I give it. 🙂 And thanks for the compliment! I do love a bit of plaid myself! 🙂
You did a fantastic job! I wanna make one now!
Yay! I know yours will be out-of-this-world quiltedly amazing! 🙂
Guys are hard! This looks great, but where oh where is the a-la-mode guy style?
I made a tissue box cover for my DH’s bathroom. He loved it and I did too because the store boxes “didn’t go” I did not use a pattern, just took a part a square tissue box, embroidered panels and cut to the right size then sewed together, leaving the bottom open to slide over the new box..
Actually I’m going to look for a Jayhawk zipper pull (or a charm or keychain to make a zipper pull) for the a-la-mode, both to jazz it up and because it needs one. I ALMOST put some letter buttons for KU on the side, but I decided he’d think that was cutesy. 🙂 I’ll post an update when I find something! Oh, and I had to cut out a rectangle from each corner of the oilcloth to make the bag, and these will be the perfect size for luggage tags . . . I’ll be making some of those, too. 🙂 And I love your idea you describe for the tissue box . . . you should write a post about it! 🙂
you are amazing. wrong colors, though…..should have been purple…… 🙂
🙂 That’s what a L-O-T of my friends here in Kansas will tell me, too!!! 🙂
Yes great job, it looks very well made. I agree it is hard to find handmade stuff for men. I think I’ll have to put a couple on my to do lost.
Thank you! I hope you’ll get to try it! Once in awhile I see an article or link about guy gifts and bookmark them . . . I think I should start reading them instead! 🙂
It’s always hard to know what to give to the guys in my family, too. Great idea. I love the colors of that plaid! 🙂
Thank you! It will certainly be easy to spot while traveling! 🙂
Okay, I give up – what is Dopp short for? If you want them to be university-true, you could look online or in the college stores for pulls to use on the zippers. Or find a resin button similar and upfit a regular zipper with the button.
I don’t know what Dopp stands for!!! 🙂 And, guess what, I just got home from running errands, which includes a KU keychain to use as a zipper pull! I really like how it looks . . . I’ll add a pic to this post! 🙂
You got me wondering and i noted to look in dictionary but when looking at post to make one I found:
On the original post at http://www.purlbee.com/zippered-dopp-kit/
I love my dopp kit! (I also love the phrase “dopp kit” which Joelle and Page just taught me, It’s an old fashioned term for a toiletry bag). I think of my dopp kit as a little piece of home that I can carry with me wherever I go.
Thanks I like learning something new…
I did read that in the tutorial post . . . but still wonder about the term’s origin, don’t you??? Words are so much fun! 🙂
It was just fate. you were destined to make this tote and find that keychain at this time. Enterprising efforts, here you come!
🙂
Love the matching keychain pull! Very clever idea!
Thanks for visiting me today, Lynda
(Walking Out My Door)
Thank you! And the photography on your blog is lovely! 🙂
Boys/Men are sooooo hard to make for. This is a brilliant solution – I can see what I’m going to be making for Xmas this year 🙂 Was the pattern easy to follow?
The top confused me a bit . . . but I kept reading the instructions and did what I THOUGHT it meant and when I turned it rightside out it looked great! So it was probably just me. 🙂 Also, there are several other tutorials available online with a little searching. I might try another one and see which I like better. 🙂 (P.S. I didn’t have to do the step about binding the inside seams since oilcloth doesn’t fray. Yay!)
I find guys are hard to gift for, I guess I like shopping for stuff I like, ha. You sure did a good job, looks!
I know! I can ALWAYS find things I’D like! 🙂 I’m afraid our fellows get a lot of gift cards . . . but they don’t seem to mind. 🙂