Patchwork Birdie Pouch

It's another year of Pouch sewing Challenge projects and i'm starting out the year strong with a little patchwork Birdie which was something i have not done before. I also made a Faux Hexi patchwork Birdie which i love. Buying fabric that looks like patchwork is always a great time saver but i'm really happy i also made a real patchwork birdie. I didn't quilt it as i wasn't using fleece and i wanted it to have a more simple look to show off the fabric. 

I used the Ruby Star studio fabric called Sugar Maple by Alexia Marcelle Abegg and used a few squares of a charm pack. I still have plenty of the fabric pack left over after making the front and back of my pouch to make other fun projects. 

Before starting i needed to know what size i wanted each square to be and be sure that my zip pocket could be placed where it did not have to go over a horizontal and vertical seams as this would make it unstable. 

I made a visual plan because this is how i design. As i wanted each square to finish at 2" then i needed to cut out my fabrics at 2.5"x 2.5". I need to cut out 20 squares for the front and 20 for the back. 

I made 4 rows of 5 squares and pressed each seam to one side per row so the seams would nest nicely to avoid excess fabric lumps. I also used starch, i find this helps stop the fabric stretching when sewing.

I Interfaced the patchwork pieces and I marked on the pattern piece where the pocket piece would sit so i could make sure that the zip would have the correct placement before cutting the pattern pieces to make sure they wouldn't stretch. 

Once i cut my pattern pieces it was just a matter of following the pattern instructions.