Smartphone Wallet eXtra

I started making smartphone wallets over a year ago. One of the first ones was a gift for a friend of mine. Recently, I went to visit her...and to say that her wallet was a dirty mess is an understatement. She told me that she loved it and used it all the time...yeah, I could tell. The constant open/close/open/close broke the zipper pull right off.

Upon closer inspection, I saw part of the problem. I designed the smartphone wallet for someone like me - a light traveler. It wasn't made to hold a lot of things like loyalty cards, receipts, and credit cards. Her smartphone wallet was PACKED...so packed that I'm amazed that the zipper even closed. 

But it got me thinking. I wanted to make her another one...one that wasn't so thin...one that had more room to stuff things in. When I returned home, I got to work. The first one I made was a PAIN. I created a 1.5" zippered gusset. It was cumbersome to sew together and there were raw seams on the inside. I tried to wrap bias tape around the edges but gave up and ripped it out. My next attempt involved encasing the raw edges with a simple zig-zag stitch. That worked... but it looked UGLY. 

I almost gave up. But something happened that really (and I mean REALLY) angered and frustrated me. Rather than let it get to me, I became incredibly motivated to figure out how to make THIS work - without any raw edges and binding. I channeled my mom and my inner-engineer. And then applied some in-the-hoop embroidery techniques.

After one practice wallet (made out of muslin), I ended up with this. It's 7" x 5" x 1" - on the outside, it's the same as my other smartphone wallet. But you can see here, it's got a 1" zippered gusset.

The inside has one zippered pockets, one zippered pouch (that's attached at the bottom), and a divided pocket for loyalty cards, credit cards....

There is PLENTY of room in here, so the next one I make will have another zippered pouch...or maybe another divided pocket. I might put a divided pocket on the side with the zipper....she has a lot of stuff. 

She asked that I keep the smartphone pocket on the back. I still have to add the eyelet. 















 


This is what it will look like....

In my excitement, I messed up the zipper. Really, though, it was the least of my concerns....I just wanted to get it done and see if it worked!


There are no raw edges. None. =) And sewing it together is actually quite simple!



I'm off to mow my lawn (the sun FINALLY came out)...but then I'm back to sewing! I plan on using this one as model when I make the next one! Once I get the techniques perfected, I'll get a pattern written up! YAY!

Here's an update on the wallet.