Are there any sewing experts out there.......????

Hope you can help me.  What have I done wrong?

My cheap thrifty side recently kicked in, and instead of purchasing any of these little box bags off of Etsy, I decided that I could surely sew some on my own.  So.... off to JoAnne's fabric store I went.  WOW - culture shock.  It's probably been 20 years since I have sewn anything more than a hem or stray button.  Enough said - it was an eye-opening experience!

I had found an online tutorial for the little boxes, and I had some fabric stashed away, so all I needed was interfacing and appropriate zippers.  I was unsure as to the proper interfacing, and the blank stare that I received from the JoAnne's employee when I asked questions....obviously I was speaking a foreign language.  (Amazing!)  A helpful customer came to my rescue, and tried to help me find an appropriate product amongst all those bolts.  This is the best we could come up with.

But....there seems to be some puckering, wrinkly action going on.  It is adhered well to the cotton fabric, so I am wondering.....did I buy the wrong stuff?  My other thought is that I should perhaps attach the stiffener to the lining of the bag, not the outer fabric.  (Although I did it as the tutorial instructed, so I imagine that is not actually the problem.)  Any thoughts?  Suggestions?

I have several more bags planned (not sure why??) and would like to cure the puckering problem before I try another one.  I think I will enlarge it just a bit too, and I definitely want to put little tabs at each end of the zipper for ease of  actually zipping the zipper.  Duh!  Wish I'd thought of that early on.  The lack of those is more irritating than the puckering.   

If anyone is still reading this..... I can also share some knitted FO's.  I think these are all posted on Ravelry though, so perhaps it is redundant of me to do so.

Oh, but before the knitting, let me share some spinning.  I haven't spun anything for quite sometime, so it was with great delight that I spun this skein of  FatCats Variegated BFL fiber, colorway "Shadowed Glenn".  (Approx 250 yards of probably sport weight.)  She may make it a stock colorway - I'm hoping.  This is such a pretty yarn, I think.  It's not very well spun, as I was somewhat out of practice, but I don't think it will take me long to get back into the grove of things.
 

Now, back to the knitting..... first off, the mittens that I knit from the Knitpicks Winter Woodland mitten kit

I was a little unhappy with the dark color of the Palette yarn, but Knitpick's customer service came to the rescue again.  They sent me 4 new skeins that really do look much better in quality.  I think there was just some inferior yarn in my kit.  I hope to start the next pair of the mittens soon.  The kit has the patterns and sufficient yarn to make 6 pairs total.  Don't ask - I have no idea why I would want 6 pairs of similar mittens.  Filler for the charity box, probably.

I also made my DH 2 new hats that match the cowl in the previous post.  He loves them!

Jared Floods "Turn a Square" free hat pattern in Malabrigo.  He wears them all the time - inside and outside the house.  I certainly cannot complain that he is not wearing them.  LOL.  Each winter is harder for him to handle - the cold is really getting to him these days.  Apparently his heart meds are to blame.

Speaking of Jared Flood.  I hope to take a class with him this spring.  He is one of the many fantastic instructors that will be teaching at YarnOver put on by the Minnesota knitter's guild. His class is one of my first choices....and I am hoping to hear there is place reserved for me.  I think we will hear our class assignments at the end of the month.

And, another hat.

This photo, you won't see on Ravelry. :)  I should have held the camera just a little bit higher.  I don't wear hats, but this one....just might be the exception.  I also knit one for my mom (but failed to get a photo before I gave it to her).  She asked for a hat, which surprised me - she too being the non-hat wearing type.  I've worn this one a couple of times and really like it.  So warm!

I just finished another cowl yesterday, but not blocked yet.  I'll share photos soon.

And everyone needs a giggle.  Background - BG is moving from his crib into his "Big boy bed" at home.  He's doing much better now, but there were a few tumultuous nights when the transition began.  This is a photo my daughter sent to me....... She found him like this - and still asleep!