I suppose that I’m either lucky or stupid but I don’t have a fear of zips, and never have. Practically the first thing I made was a cushion cover with a zip. I didn’t know that it was supposed to difficult and therefore it wasn’t – well, eventually. The method that I ended up with for cushions is very similar to the one for inserting the zip for the Sophia, and so step 8 was one I was looking forward to.

The secret with zips is all about stability. They have a habit of flopping about all over like fish gasping for breath, and even when you pin it down everything still moves – the fabric gapes, the zip slips, and before you know it you’ve been pinning and re-pinning for several hours and feel no closer to actually putting your foot down.

The biggest hand you can give yourself is to baste the two pieces of fabric together to create a seam, whenever possible: a zip is simply a seam that opens after all. You can then easily centre the zip onto the seam and pin it in place. Then crucially, you hand baste it in place. I’ve tried doing without, but believe me there is no short cut to hand basting for the neatest possible result, plus it has the added bonus of producing the least swearing from the sewing room…

Where the Butler method differs is in dealing with the zip tab, and I think I’ll adopt this wherever possible. Instead of keeping the fabric in the machine, and lifting the foot to tease the tab out of the way, she advises that you take it out, remove some of the seam basting and move the zip tab. Then onto take two – finish off the top end of the zip, easily and without tears.

All that’s left is to open up the basting, tidy up and admire your perfect zip. Now, if only the rest of it would go so easily…

I must confess that lately my sewing mojo has left me, which is partly why this bag is taking so long. I don’t know why, but I haven’t been truly inspired to sit down and cut, sew and play. Does this happen to everyone? I hope it comes back soon.

And if you were wondering about the cats, and I’m sure you’ve done little else, they are getting on better, although the very early morning chase growl hiss is still going on, so I’m still not sleeping well. I invested in a Feliway diffuser which arrived yesterday and there’s been rapid progress to include a bit of head rubbing, so if you do intend to introduce a new kitten to an older cat I’d recommend investing in it before you bring the kitten back.

And now, because it’s late and I’m tired, I’m going to sit back and watch my favourite movie about writing, Wonder Boys, adapted perfectly from the book of the same name.