A couple of years ago I hurt my back (doing nothing at all-how sad is that) and from that time I quit carrying my regular purse. At first it was because it was painful but then I got into the habit of just taking my wallet into stores with me. The problem is that it was small and my phone and keys wouldn't fit in it. So I decided to make a bigger one. I looked high and low for the perfect pattern that would work for me and this was as close as I could find. I altered it a little bit to fit my needs. The pattern is called The Necessary Clutch Wallet and I bought it from Emmaline Bags on Craftsy. I also bought the hardware from her Etsy store and it was well worth it-very good professional quality hardware. Here are a few inside views and the changes I made.
View from the front. I added an inch to the height so my large-ish sized phone will fit inside. I made a wrist strap for it and also a long shoulder strap. I clipped both on the wallet and if I don't want to use the shoulder strap, all I need to do is remove it and leave the wrist strap attached.
The inside-I added one more large zip pocket.
I made a small detachable zip pocket that snaps in to hold my key chain sized store cards.
I also added snaps in between the two zipper pockets so I could snap them together, keeping the wallet from opening as much, and keeping whatever I put in there from falling out.
I changed the position of the inside D rings, which are meant to hold the straps. The original position made the flap scrunch up when using the long strap and that bugged me. I left the original D rings in for now but may remove them sometime. I put the new D rings in the side seam.
I also added a small outer zip pocket to hold my most-used credit card and two most-used grocery store cards.
Plus I added cute zipper pulls. These are made by a company called Inazuma and I've seen them on Etsy as well as a few other sewing websites.
I've been using the wallet for a week or so, including an afternoon shopping trip, and so far it is working out fabulously! I'm very happy with it and with the changes I made.
The fabric for the outside is Sophie by Moda and the inside fabric is Lovely, also by Moda. The fabric for the small zipper pocket is some Japanese Hello Kitty fabric I bought on Etsy a few years ago.
linking to:
beyond the picket fence
someday crafts
creations by kara
seven thirty three
ducks in a row
the ny melrose family
