Birdie Wallet

Hulo friends,

A friend asked me to make a wallet from one of my fat quarter fabric, Birds in Bermuda from Urban Zoology line by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman. I bought it at Quilt and Craft Fair in Canberra last year. It cost me around $3-$4 per fat quarter (believe me, the fabric price in Australia is EXPENSIVE!).

She asked me to make a three panel small size wallet. I have to say, sewing a bias binding on a wallet is not easy. Why? Because the thickness is different in every part, and it affect the bias binding, no matter how strong I stretched the fabric. There are places where I have 6 layers of fully interfaced fabrics, but there are places where I only have 2 layers! Regardless the messiness of the bias binding, here is the result!

A zippered coin pocket in middle panel

Inside the pocket

The inside. Two cards pocket on left and middle panel, one card pocket and one photo pocket on the right panel. I interfaced all the pockets with medium fusible interfacing.

As you can see, I sew the folded area with zigzag stitch and straight stitch to make it easier to fold. As for the photo frame panel, I sandwiched the plastic between interfaced fabric, so the photo frame is sturdy enough.

A small ring that can be used to attach a strap or to place a key and put it inside your wallet.

I'm a very peculiar person. Since our brand label is quite big, it doesn't fit anywhere! I tried to sew it in one of the pocket, and it didn't look good. So I attached it inside the money sleeve.

Neatly folded, which needs a little trick to sew it.

Why? Because if you have the same size inside and outside, when you put your cards/money inside, it will increase the thickness of the wallet and your wallet won't fold properly. That's what happened with my first wallet (that I gave to my housemate's daughter).  Since then, I always cut the inside area 1 cm shorter (width wise) than the outside.

Voila! 

That's the birdie wallet. Hope you enjoy it :D

Fili&Lino