Tuesday, May 19, 2009

How to: Make a Wallet



My girlfriend wants a kayak. It was her birthday. We were leaving for the party in an hour. Eeeek! I made her a special wallet to stash her kayak fund. A dream fund. This would be a great graduation gift.

Do you have an hour? Gather your scraps!

1. Cut two rectangles of fabric, 9" x 4.5"

2. Cut one 'skinny strip', 9" x 3.5"

3. Cut trim, 1" x 9", or use bias tape.

4. Cut one scrap, 1.5" x 3", for tab, or use ribbon.

5. Gather assorted scraps and fusible web for decorating, and a snap or velcro for the closure.

(There is no photo here, but I am putting this up in the spirit of getting it done, but not perfect.)

1. Finishing the pocket edge: Sew the trim piece to the skinny strip, with a 1/4" seam, down the long edge. Press the trim up and away from the skinny strip. Press under 1/4" on the other long edge of the trim(like making bias tape). Next, fold the trim over the seam allowance, to finish it off. Stitch close to the edge. Tip: When you fold the trim over and press it, extend the edge a bit past the seam. Then you can stitch in the ditch, from the top, and catch the edge on the bottom.

2. Attaching the pocket: Place the pocket on the RIGHT side of one of the rectangles, matching raw edges. Baste to keep it all even and square.

3. Tab: Imagine you are making bias tape. Press tab in half, lengthwise. Next, press under one end 1/4" . Press each edge under 1/4". Stitch close the edges.

To attach the tab, place it on top of the pocket piece, on the left side of the wallet, aligning raw edges. Baste.



4. Sewing the wallet: Place the second rectangle on top of the pocket unit, right sides together. Stitch, with a 1/2" seam, leaving a 4" opening on the bottom. Backstitch over the tab and the pocket edges for strength. Trim the corner seam allowances.

Turn inside out, press. Stitch across the bottom, close to the edge.



5. Decorate! Now you can make this personal! Iron on fusible webbing to your scraps. Cut out into desired shapes, and iron onto the wallet.

6. Tab Closure: Sew a snap or velcro onto the tab and the wallet.



Done!

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Sewing since I was 8...a friend of my grandmother's sent us a large box filled with fabric scraps. That was all it took!