Hello crafters!
I’m always on the lookout for any oppourtunity to craft so when my wallet finally wore out enough to be considered un-usable I just knew what my next project would be! Since I was planning on making my own unique DIY wallet in “just a couple of days” I carried my wallet contents around in a plain old ziploc bag until I had my DIY wallet ready.
Unfortunately a couple of days turned into a couple of months and my ziploc bag eventually ripped so I knew it was finally time to snap to it and get this thing made! I love the way it turned out and buying stuff is so fun now that I don’t have to shamefully rifle through my torn ziploc 🙂
If you need a new wallet or you want to make one as a super cool gift follow along below!
**Just a quick side note, I attached my button in the wrong place and had to re-attach it in the last stages so pay close attention to where the button is placed in the ‘button’ section of this post and ignore any other stray buttons you may see in the other photos. Sorry 🙁
Supplies needed to make your DIY wallet
- Exterior fabric
- Interior fabric (more explanation on fabric choice below)
- Thread in a matching colour
- Hair elastic
- Button
- Sewing Machine
- 10″ zipper (If your zipper is too long I will show you how to adjust it below)
Fabric choices
You will need two types of fabric to make your DIY wallet: a more durable outside fabric and a thinner inside fabric for all the pouches and slots. I love buying upholstery fabrics because they are cheap and sturdy! I was in luck when I went to the fabric store because all their summer patio fabric was on sale. I purchased enough fabric for three wallets and it only cost me $3, now that’s my kind of price!
As for the interior fabric you can get creative! Just make sure that your interior fabric isn’t too thick because we will be folding it over multiple times to make the card slots and your machine might have a hard time going through that many thick layers.
Cutting your fabric
This tri-fold wallet is composed of a few different pieces: the coin pouch, cash pocket and the card holder all held together with a button and elastic clasp! If this sounds overwhelming it’s ok! It took me some time to figure it all out and I will try to explain it as simply as possible below!
Below is a diagram of all the pieces you will need to cut out. You don’t need seam allowances on every piece so pay close attention to the diagram and measurements!
Once you have cut out all of your fabric pieces you should have something that looks like this:
Don’t worry; I will show you how to fold up your card slot piece down below!
Embroidery
Before you start any sewing the first step is to embroider your cash pouch. The cash pouch consists of two 20cm x 23cm pieces as per the diagram. You will only need one of the pieces to work your embroidery on; simply fold it in half on the fold line and work your embroidery on one of the sides with the open edges at the top.
Keep in mind that you will be folding down a 1cm seam on the top and you will be sewing over about a 1/2 cm of fabric on the sides so don’t embroider too close to the edges!
I drew out a few different bird doodles that you can use for inspiration.
This embroidery design template is available as a free PDF download on the members page if you want to print it out. If you aren’t a member yet simply sign up for my seasonal newsletter to be included!
If you need a little bit of embroidery help you can head on over to my Beginner Embroidery Stitches post to find some inspiration 🙂
Assembling your wallet
*Disclaimer: I am new to using my sewing machine and am still working on making neat lines so don’t be alarmed when you see some funky sewing in the pictures below!
Preparing Outer Fabric
Before you get any of the other sections ready to attach you can get the outer fabric ready. Each piece of the outer fabric should measure to 37cm. This will create three 12cm sections and a half cm allowance on either end. My lines are a bit hard to see because I just used a regular pen.
Once these sections are marked out use your iron to fold on each line. Fold your outer fabrics so that one has the pattern on the outside and one has the pattern on the inside.
Set these pieces aside while you continue onto the cash pouch section.
Cash pouch
Since you already have your cash pouch on the table (hopefully with a cute embroidered creature on it!) we might as well start with that. Find the second piece of the cash pouch and line it up with the embroidered piece with your embroidery facing inwards. Sew a straight line along both the top and bottom of the two pieces of fabric.
Flip the fabric tube that you just made right side out and iron the seams to flatten. Fold the pouch in half from top to bottom and iron along the fold.
Find your outer fabric that has the pattern on the inside. You will attach the cash pouch to the middle section. Center your pouch on the outer fabric and pin just the back fold of the cash pouch. Sew along the top of the pinned fabric.
Fold your pouch back up into position and pin the sides in place. Using zigzag stitch sew up both sides of the pouch to seal it closed. *Test the width of your zigzag stitch on some scrap fabric to make sure you are happy with it before you use it on your wallet or you will spend half an hour unpicking your stitches 🙁
I went just a little bit past the pouch on the top corners to make sure they won’t fray over time.
That’s the cash pouch complete, you have definitely earned a break! Head onto the next section when you are ready to start working on your card slots.
Card slots
Right now your card slot fabric is just one long rectangle. With each fold that you make you will need to iron it flat to make sure it stays in place and has a clean edge. Here is what your fabric will look like when it has been ironed.
Start by folding over the first 1cm edge and ironing it down.
Flip your fabric over so that the 1cm flap is on the bottom. Following along with the measurements on the diagram fold each section up like the pictures below.
When you reach the end you will have five rows of card slots and an extra 10cm of fabric. Fold this 10cm back behind the entire piece to reach the first 1cm edge that you folded. Here is a view from the back of the card slots:
Without sewing the back flap, sew one straight line up each side of your card slots just to keep all of your folds in place.
Center your card slots on the bottom section of your inner fabric, below your cash pouch.
Fold the card slot section down and sew along the bottom fold of the back flap.
Fold the card slots back up and sew a line along the top of the slots.
Now go back to your zigzag stitch and sew up the sides just like you did for the cash pouch.
Finally grab a couple of cards and put them in the slots. You want the slots to be fairly close in size to the cards so that they don’t fall out. You may need to just sew one line down the center or a double line if your card slots turned out wider than mine.
Attaching button
Put aside your work so far and take out your other outer fabric piece. Attach the button in the middle section of the fabric about one inch from the bottom fold.
As I mentioned above; I attached my button in the wrong spot and had to re-attach it at the end so please ignore my button placement in the photos below.
Making coin pouch
If you have made it this far good job! You are in the final stages of your DIY wallet 🙂 You should have one piece of inner fabric left for the coin pouch, grab that fabric and your zipper. Cut the coin pouch fabric in half along the fold line. You will also need a couple of small scrap pieces of fabric (two pieces about 3 square inches each)
If your zipper is too long for your wallet simply close the zipper and cut the excess zipper off from opposite end of the zipper pull. It doesn’t matter that the end of your zipper no longer has a stopper; you will fix that with your scrap squares.
Take one of your scrap squares and fold it in half. Lay the folded edge across the end of your zipper.
Repeat with other end of zipper. If you are using a zipper that is slightly shorter than your wallet (like I am) you will just need to make sure that your scrap square is long enough that the zipper with the scrap square extensions on the end is the length of your wallet.
Sew a simple straight line across the end of your zipper, up the sides and across the end of the zipper fabric to make a square.
Repeat this process on the other end of your zipper. Trim any excess fabric on the sides of the zipper.
Now grab your coin pouch fabric and fold down a 1/2 cm seam on the two top edges. Center your zipper along the edges and sew straight across.
Next sew up the sides and bottom of your pouch and trim any extra fabric.
Finishing up your DIY wallet!
Now grab the two outer pieces of fabric. Lay them out with the pattern side up on the card slot piece and the pattern side down on the button piece.
Line the two pieces up and sew along the bottom and both sides leaving the top open. Don’t go straight to the top edge, leave about an inch open so you can add in your pouch.
Turn your wallet the right way round and iron the edges to flatten the seams.
All you have left to do is attach the coin pouch to the top of your wallet! Insert the coin pouch into the top of the wallet. Fold the outer fabric sides inwards and then fold the top edge of the outer fabric down all the way around the top of your wallet. You might want to iron/pin into place.
Next; tuck your hair elastic in between the coin pouch and the outer fabric and open the zipper of your coin pouch.
Now use your sewing machine to sew a straight line around the top of your wallet. The corners might be a bit tricky to fit under your sewing machine; I just sewed the corners by hand to make things easier.
Congratulations! You have completed my DIY wallet tutorial 🙂 Please comment below if you need help with any of the steps. I would also love to see your completed wallet; if you want to share your photos in the comments or by email I will be happy to add them to this post!
Happy crafting!
