Experimental make-up bag

Bet the title got your attention! Normally I stick to making clothing but my tatty old scruffy make-up bag is definitely on its way out so I decided I should sew myself another one to replace it. Then my eye fell on a pair of old RTW jeans that I was going to throw out and I thought to myself, I could use some of that fabric from a less worn area and have a go at making a bag.

I googled make up bags and came across the Little boxy pouch post and followed the step by step tutorial. This tutorial is great! Here's my recycled denim experimental make-up bag in all its glory!

I changed my measurements from those in the tutorial as I wanted a bigger bag. I cut two pieces of fabric 12"x6" and by chance bought a tan 12" zip to tone in with my tan coloured contrast stitching. The bag has turned out longer than I wanted but C pounced on it and wants it as a pencil and pen case for his drawer at work. That's fine by me as I can make another next weekend and get it more the size I want. I will also sew in the zip a little differently, so you can see the exposed zip teeth and you get the benefit of the contrast in colour. I used a tan coloured 'normal' thread to sew in the zip. I had bought upholstery thread to have an experiment with, as my Machine hates topstitching thread and I'd heard upholstery thread was a good sub. It isn't. I tried altering the tension many ways. Still no! I quit while I still had my sanity intact! 

I mostly used the overlocker to construct this and obviously used the sewing machine to insert the zip. It's a fast make! I'll probably also add a lining in the next one although with the overlocker the innards are neat. And let's face it the the denim's been washed so many times that a handful of times more can't harm it at all! Have you ever sewn an experiment that worked great? Any non-clothing experiments?