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Friday, March 15, 2013

DIY Felt Wallet


Years ago I made my first Felt Wallet for the kids. I tried to find the link where I found the idea, but it's MIA. So I will say right now, this is not my original design!

Most of my crafting ideas happen to me at the most random times throughout the day. If I don't write them down, I forget them. I've started carrying a small notebook and pens wherever I go, but...it's boring. My creativity book needed a bit of jazzing up and this wallet was perfect for the job. 

I thought I would show you how to make one, so you can be as cool as me. I kid, of course. 

Before anyone says anything about my dirty craft table, let me introduce you to it. My table is actually a piano bench from a piano my Dad had when he was a kid, so it's from the late 50's. I've used it as a craft table for as long as I can remember. It's insanely messy and needs an overhaul, but I love it. I have so much random stuff inside!

 
Anyways, back to the wallet. For supplies you'll need 3 pieces of felt, embroidery floss, a sewing needle, a small hair tie and a button. What you want to put in it is up to you. The ones I made for the monsters have dry erase flash cards, notebooks, or whatever they feel like putting in them. 
   
 First, take your felt and figure out how you want it to look. I decided to have a gray outside, black inside and bright glittery pink for the pockets. The size you need for the wallet will depend on the size of the things you are putting inside of it. Measure your biggest item for width and add about 1/2 to an inch (I used my notebook for width). My pens fit exactly when folded in half lengthwise, so I needed no trimming for length. Your 2 main pieces will be the same size.
 

 Next you need to measure your pocket size. You want it big enough that everything stays in, but I prefer to have a little overhang so it's easier to get everything out. Width will be the same as the 2 main colors.

Once everything is cut to size, set aside the pockets and the front piece, so you only have the middle color. This is when we will attach the hair tie. Using your embroidery floss, sew the hair tie onto the edge of the black so a little bit is hanging over. 

 
Set that aside and move onto your front piece. It's time to sew the button on. Figure out the placement of your button. You want to hair tie to stretch a little bit, but not too much. Sew it on.

At this point you can either decorate your front piece with embroidery or some sort of appliques. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do, so I left it blank. I may possibly use puffy paint to decorate it later.
  
If you are putting pen pockets on, you will need to set aside the front and grab your pocket fabric and your middle piece. If you aren't doing pen pockets, move to the next step. 

For pen pockets line your pocket felt up at the edges of the middle piece and measure for your pen pockets. Mine had clips on them and rubber finger grips so I needed to make them a little bit bigger. They were about an inch and a half wide.
  
 Using simple straight hand stitching, sew a straight line all the way down the sides. I wanted 2 pen holders, so I made 2 lines, the finishing stiches will make the other pocket.

Now it's time to sew it all up. Line it all up, but make sure that when it's closed the button and the hair tie actually make the wallet close. I didn't do that once and had to completely redo all my finishing stitches. Not cool.

I use a blanket stitch for the edge, but you can do whatever. This post is long enough so I'm not going to show you how to blanket stitch.  Future Girl has an awesome picture tutorial if you don't know how to do it. 

Stitch it all together and you are done! You'll have a super cute wallet to hold whatever you want in it! 

Hopefully this tutorial wasn't too confusing. I know it's a lot of set aside, do this, do that. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
 

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