I'm doing it! - Making my own pencil pouch

So I am finally starting to sew. I am starting with a pencil pouch. The instructions were found on a YT video. I had the materials from collecting things over some time (a long time!)

Here you see me using a rotary cutter for the first time. It was difficult to follow a straight line so...

I placed a ruler on the part I wanted to cut and it worked great. I had to cut a few times because I was not confident but I can see how this tool is so useful in cutting down.. well. cutting time 😆 These are probably all things that you learn in fashion school which is one of the benefits of fashion school but when you are leaning on your own, you have to learn through experience!

So if you are like me, learning on your own... protip #1 use a rotary cutter to cut fabric. protip #2 use a ruler to cut in a straight line with a rotary cutter protip #3 cut with confidence (once you lay the ruler down) if you don't, you will have to cut several times and you will get lots of small pieces off little by little and overall more loose threads and jagged edges, like this:

So I discovered what the pedal is for. If you do not have a pedal, the sewing machine will continue sewing continuously once you press the on button (When I tell ya I know nothing about sewing, I meant it!). Anyhow, it makes sense that you would control it with your foot and not your hands because your hands are too busy putting the fabric through the machine. 

Because I did not know this, it lead to a knot which I cut. This apparently was a mistake because now no stitches are being made. I have to figure out how to use this $25 sewing machine with instructions in a language I can't read 😩 

15 minutes later, I know how to thread the machine. Thank you Youtube University! Ain't she a beauty:

I really cannot believe I did it. I was having some difficulty with the sewing machine. Turns out I needed to use better quality thread (who knew there was a difference between threads!) and a metal spooly instead of a plastic one. Once I got that sorted out, the machine worked splendidly!

Anyway, here is how the pencil pouch (I will use it as a makeup bag) turned out. It came out beautiful! 

Big shout-out to @mysewbliss on Youtube. I was losing hope there for a second but I trusted the process and look how 

beautiful my new makeup bag is. An Eva original. I'm so proud :)

Off to the next adventure!