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How to make a wallet out of fabric

Another cheap and cheerful last minute gift idea of mine. After the popularity of my hand made bow ties among my friends, I thought I might try making something for my family as well. I decided on a wallet for my Dad, partly because I'm fed up of seeing his cards lying around everywhere, partly because wallets are so easy to make, and much more exciting than the boring leather ones you find in most men's clothing stores.
Here's how you make them. A word of advice before you start: I said 'last minute gift' earlier, perhaps 'last few hours gift' might have been a better expression. It's very important to take your time while your doing this, one small mistake could very easily ruin the whole thing, or at least make sewing the wallet very difficult (as I will demonstrate in my instructions).

1.

First of all (and easiest of all), roughly cut our a piece of card (card can come from anything as long as its a little bendy, I chose the cardboard sleeve of a ready meal) so that it is a little bit bigger than a credit card (or Costa loyalty card- they're all the same size after all).

2.

Next, cut out a rectangle of material, just over four times the size of the piece of card. It should be roughly 18 cm by 25cm before you hem the edges.

3.


Cut out a smaller rectangle from a differently patterned material. This rectangle, when hemmed, should be a little bigger than your cardboard cut-out.

4.


Sew your small rectangle onto the big rectangle, right side up. Make sure you only stitch around three edges, leaving the top one free- this is where you are going to put your cards in. Do this twice, as shown above.

5.

Cut out another piece of card identical to the first, and two rectangle of the same material as the big rectangle, which are a little bigger than the card shapes. Hem the material, then sew them onto the big rectangle, wrong side up, with the pieces of card sandwiched between the material.


The material should be sewn on so that it is above, and on the different side to the rectangles sewn on in step 4. If you fold the bottom left corner back, as I have done in the photo, you should be able to see the other material.

6.

Cut out two more rectangles from another material and hem the edges. When they are hemmed, they should be just a little bit bigger than a credit card.

7.

It's up to you how you want to embellish them- I chose to make a word- 'card'- just to remind the wallet-user what goes into the pockets. If you want to do a word like me, cut the letters out of the material, then sew another material onto the back (as show bellow), then put a few stitches in any flaps, like on my 'R' for example.


8.


Sew the materials as close to the edge as possible, leaving out the top part so that a card can go in. you can sew all the way through the material for the first pocket, as long as a card will still fit in.

9.

You're almost finished. All that's left to do is fold the shape in half so that one side is plain and the other side has the pockets on it. There should be a gap all the way across the top where you can put notes etc. Sew along the sides indicated in the picture by (cleverly inserted!) red lines. Fold again in the middle and the wallet is complete. If you want you can sew on a strap to fasten the wallet, but I chose to leave it open for ease of access. Now you've got your wallet, what are you waiting for? Get out into the sales!
 

How to make a clip-on bow tie

As usual, shortage of yuletide funds has meant that this year, I will be making presents for my friends. Whacking out a batch of Betty Crocker cookies seemed like the easiest option to me, but then I had a re-think. I decided that I wanted to get them something which had a bit more of my personality stamped on it. After all, this will be the last Christmas I spend with my friends before we all go to university next year, so I suppose in I way I want to give them something to remember our last Christmas together by. Aren't I cute!
So, anyway, as it's something I already know how to do, and it's something my friends know I like doing, I decided to make them all bow ties. But, because I didn't want to give them all the same thing, I put a little twist on the bow ties to jazz them up a little. I think they make really cute little gifts, and they're cheap and relatively easy to do. Here's how you can make them too:

You will need:


  •    A selection of printed fabrics. You will need at least two- personally, I would go for two clashing prints/patterns. I have used thin fabrics to make the bow tie light, and I have folded them multiple times (as you will see) to avoid interfacing.
  • Some clips. Regular hair clips will do- you could even use a hair comb. Using clips means the bow ties can be used for a variety of purposes- they can go in your hair or inside a collar. 
  • A sewing machine is highly recommended.
  • Needle and thread.
Method:

1.

Turn your material around and draw a rectangle of dimensions approx: 23cm by 16cm. Cut out- it doesn't matter if the cut is a little rough.

2.
Do the same for a second sheet of fabric, this time cut it into a rectangle approx 17cm by 12cm- you can alter these dimensions depending on how big you want it to be.

3.


Fold the rectangle lengthwise so that the right sides are facing outwards. Then fold in half as demonstrated.

4.
  
Do the same for the smaller rectangle. Pin the edges together to make sewing easier. You don't need to pin the edge where the two folds meet.

5.

Sew all the way around the edge where the edge is pinned. Leave a gap on the side where the folds meet so that you can turn the shape inside out. Do this for both rectangles.

6.

Use the hole to fold the shape inside out- this way the shape looks a lot neater. The corners can be tricky to turn, so I found using the end of a pair of scissors to push them through was very helpful.

7.

Sew up the hole you used to turn the material inside out. You should end up with two shapes like this (see above)

8.

If you're doing bow ties for a couple of friends, you could try mixing up some different combinations of clashing patterns, like beige zebra and polka dot, or paisley and leopard print (inspired, even if I do say so myself!)

9.

To make the centre piece of the bow tie, cut another rectangle from the outer bow tie material, about 5 cm in width and a few inches in height (it doesn't really matter how long it is, as you can cut it to size later). Fold twice in on itself to make a triple thickness strip and sew along the length of the material. You can do the same for other bow ties if you're making more than one- as you can see, I haven't been consistently accurate with the length:

10.

Take your bow tie body, place the smaller rectangle on top of the rectangle, as close to central as possible (like in step 8). Pinch the bow tie at the centre, making sure both the top and bottom rectangles are pinched. Sew through the centre several times, as demonstrated below.


(the large black spot is where I started sewing)

11.

Take the strip of material which corresponds to the material of the larger rectangle in the bow tie. Wrap it once around the pinch at the centre of the bow tie, and sew through the centrepiece in the same way you sewed through the pinch.


You might want to think about customising the bow ties to give them a more personal touch, as I have done for the bow ties I'm giving to my closest friends. I warn you though, it can be quite difficult to force a claw-backed stud through several layers of fabric. It might be advisable to punch through the material with a craft knife or the sharp end of some scissors first.




12.


Take a hairclip (curved ones work just as well) and push it through the centrepiece of the bow tie. Fix it into place with a few stitches, just so that it doesn't slip off. 

There you go! Your bow tie is complete. I made 15 of these babies for christmas presents, and it only took me a few days- doing an hour or two each day. Once you get the technique, you can whack them out in no time! I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did!
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