Sunday, December 20, 2015
Sewing up a Storm.
I've been so busy sewing this week, it's been wonderful!!!!! I haven't had a lot of time for sewing in the past several months since I'm back to my day job. So it's been so nice to be creative, and I can't wait to see all the happy faces when they get their gifts.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Sydney Mini Wallet Tutorital
Click any of the pictures to make them larger.
This is a quick sew, and not difficult. It will be easier if you have some sewing experience like sewing with zippers, and adding snaps. If you're new to that don't worry, I'll add some links that will explain it easily. This is a great 'scrap buster' project, or FQ project. All you need are a few coordinating fabrics, a zipper and snap of your choice. I prefer the magnetic snaps so that is what I have used.
What you'll need
........................Height Width
Outer fabric= 11" x 6.5"
lining fabric 1= 7.25" x 6.5"
lining fabric 2= 4.25 x 6.5"
zipper pouch 2 pieces= 4" x 5.5
1 zipper 5" + cut to 5"
zipper tabs 1.5" x 2.5"
pocket 5.5" x 4.5"
Interfacing med 11" x 6.5"
Interfacing med 2" x 6"
Cut and press all of your pieces. Attach the larger interfacing to the back of your outer fabric. Attach the smaller interfacing to the back of the lining fabric 1. Center it about a 1/2 down from the top. This will give strength to the snap when we attach that later. All seams are 1/4".
Lets start with the pocket piece. Fold it in half right sides together so it measures 2.25" x 5.5" Sew around it around the outside leaving a small place to turn. Turn press and top stitch along the top of the pocket. Set it aside for now.
Zipper Pouch
If you've never made a zipper pouch or done one with zipper ends check out this pattern. http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/how-to-cover-the-zipper-end/
Take your zipper, and make sure the teeth part is no longer then 5.25" Just cut it. Then add your zipper tabs right so that the teeth showing measure 5" or less. To add the zipper tabs I just press 1/2 across the narrow part, then set it right on the end of the zipper and top stitch it in place.
Then take your first pocket piece right side up, and center your zipper face down on the edge. Using your zipper foot sew along the length of your zipper. When you're done do the same thing to the other side, with the fabric right side up, and zipper face down. Then press and top stitch both sides of your zipper.
Next lay it flat with the zipper in the middle right sides up. Place your pocket on the lower piece and center it in place about 1/2" down from the zipper. Pin and sew around the pocket.
Next place sides right sides together and sew up the sides. I like to taper them in a bit on the bottom so they don't make the wallet bulky in the next step. Turn it right side out and press.
Now place lining fabric 1 right side up, with the interfacing at the top. Then center your zipper pouch in the middle lining it up with the bottom, and place the the smaller lining piece on top right side down to sandwich it in.
Sew the bottom in from each side about 1.5" we're leaving a whole in the middle so we can turn the entire wallet later.
Now lay it out flat and lay the outer fabric on top. Keeping in mind the placement of your pocket, the part farthest away from you at the top, will be the flap. Pin and sew around the entire outside edge, no need to leave a spot to turn, since we'll do that through the lining.
If you want a straight flap leave it as is, if you want a curve like I have then you can just draw a slight curve like this onto your fabric and sew along that line. Then trim it nicely, I like using the pinking shears. I only brought it down about an inch. You don't want to go too much lower or it won't lay flat. Now trim your corners and turn through the opening in the lining.
After giving it all a nice press it should look like this. Now top stitch across the right hand side. Now we have to work on placement of the snap.
If you're are doing a straight flap just center it. If your doing the fun curve then you have to eyeball it a bit. What I do is fold the bottom part up so that it lines up with the top of the zipper pocket. Then fold the flap down. Fiddle with it until it's all nice and straight and pin or clamp the sides.
I stuck the pin right where I wanted the snap to be. I then folded back the flap a bit and marked the spot on the top and bottom with fabric pen. Then attach your magnet snaps. This is easy to do because the lining is still open so you can just reach in and attach them. (if you're not sure how to do this, head on over to http://www.noodle-head.com/2013/05/magnetic-snap-tutorial.html Anna has a great tutorial)
Make sure your snaps like up nicely. If they do then we're ready to sew up the lining and finish up.
Lay it out like in the photo above and then flip the zipper pocket over to the right so the card pocket is facing down on the bottom half.
Then sew the lining together with the zipper pocket so you'll have 4 layers like this, just stitch across it, and then trim it up with your scissors. Alternately you can hand sew this shut with a ladder stitch for an invisible seam.
Make sure everything is lined up again. Then lift the flap up and sew up the sides around the top, and down the other side, and you're done.
The Sydney Mini Wallet
You could also add a wristlet and it would make a great cell phone wallet.
But she really needed a small usable wallet. She has a few old wallets of mine that are big and glunky and when we want to bring it shopping it takes up too much room in my purse and is very heavy. I searched high and low for the kind of wallet I wanted.
Most of her money at this stage is coins, so it needed a decent sized zipper pouch. She also likes to carry around some business cards and papers. So I drew out what I wanted, and made two samples. They're roughly 4" x 6"
Coming Soon--Sydney Mini Wallet-- Tutorial