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| A mini wallet made out of home dec remnants... |
Several weeks ago, I mentioned being in the market for a minimalist wallet. The one featured in that post was about as minimal as I wanted to get. It had three separate pockets for coins, cards and bills and still folded up into a compact unit.
Today's wallet more closely resembles the one I am effectively replacing, being roughly the same size and capable of carrying bills without folding them first. There are also more card slots and the coins are carried in a zippered pocket.
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| Comparing minimalist wallet side by side with today's bifold wallet... |
This is another YouTube project, from the same channel that brought the convertible backpack/sling bag to my attention (JSdaily). The exterior of the wallet is actually made out of the same fabric as that bag.
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| Almost the exact dimensions as my old wallet... |
As you may have guessed from the title of today's post, however, the discussion that follows will not just be a standard show and tell. (Do I ever just do a standard show and tell? I don't think so; there's always some aspect of the "making" part that's worth sharing in greater detail.)
Today I'm going to enumerate all the reasons why I wouldn't recommend a bifold wallet as a beginner project or why you should never attempt one until/unless you're 100% committed.
What do I mean about that last part? Well, sometimes we fall into the sewing doldrums and just want to make something to snap out of it. Under those circumstances, don't choose a "simple" bifold wallet... not unless you're prepared to be fully engaged and thorough about the project. (Who knows, maybe now is the right time to be committed.)
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| Both wallets have a zippered pocket on the other side... |
A basic bifold might appear to be a quick and easy make, but the process can actually be extraordinarily finicky. More so than making a long wallet, believe it or not.
I have the experience to back up that opinion. A few years ago, I made a bifold wallet for my cousin from scratch and ran into several issues that eventually took months to resolve. The time it took was in large part due to the fact that until I was in the right mindset to finish it, I knew it wouldn't go well.
By contrast, the two long wallets that I've made were executed much more smoothly.
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| View of the (6) card slots... |
The first challenge of sewing up a bifold wallet is that it has to end up with a defined symmetrical shape; all edges or sides must be carefully constructed in order for the finished item to look nice and neat and not "I made this by the light of a camp fire".
Which is not to say that most other things we make don't have a defined symmetrical shape. It's just that a bifold tends to be small, so any inherent wonky-ness is sure to be noticed and noticeable.
This is where you need to take your time and be patient. Pay strict attention to your seam allowances, sew as straight as possible and maybe hand crank over card slot folds that end up being six layers thick. (Tip: start with the right needle and preferably a new needle.)
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| Original zippered pocket before a zipper facing was added... |
Secondly, while most of us make our first wallets out of fabric, oddly enough, a small wallet is one of those rare things that's easier to sew out of vinyl, leather or some other substrate that doesn't fray and require turned hidden seams. (Tip: consider trimming your fabric seam allowances in a stepped fashion on each layer — called grading — so that you don't end up with overly thick finished seams.)
Further to the challenge of using fabric, it's crucial to select material with the right weight for the job. If you choose a heavier fabric for the exterior, don't try to use it for the lining. If you want matching sides, the best option might be to use interfacing to bulk up a light weight fabric for the outside.
In this recent post about my past sewing failures, one of them was a bifold wallet that was attempted with an unwise choice of heavy weight fabric. It's a permanent failure.
The third challenge of bifold wallet making is that even if you're patient and meticulous and have chosen the best materials, the final test of putting it to use can send you right back to the drawing board.
This isn't likely to happen if you follow a purchased pattern that's been tested, but beware if you use a free tutorial (or try to figure it out on your own). Once you fill up the wallet with coins, bills and cards, you might find that it doesn't close properly or simply doesn't look right because it's too lumpy in the wrong places.
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| Experimenting with a zipper facing... |
I watched this tutorial as soon as it was released (January 20) and put it on my list to rewatch and make, but I didn't get to it until a month later. (It was the "needing to be in the right head space" thing.)
My fabrics were chosen early on, however. I knew I had enough of the pink twill from the curtain panel (first used on the Oriole bag and matching pouch) to make this wallet match my convertible sling bag.
The black and white leafy print fabric has been seen here before (too many times to mention) and I've previously reported that it's a very thin microfibre. That made it an ideal choice for the card slots and basically for the entire lining.
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| View of bill pocket interior... |
If you think about it, many wallets that you buy have nylon pocket linings and card slots. While potentially slippery, that kind of fabric is easier to sew when stacked up several layers thick.
The top edges of my card slots were interfaced, but the Decor Bond pieces were carefully cut to stay out of the side seam allowances (as per the tutorial). Since the exterior is twill, I skipped the interfacing there and instead fused it onto the lining side. (Not to be confused with the bill pocket lining, which was left as is.)
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| Open exterior view... |
I had just enough of the "linen" to put a strip of it across the front of the wallet. Once it was zigzag stitched on, I attached a brad and added a couple of rivets. (Really loving the rivets these days!)
Note that the decoration on this side of the wallet is not something that the tutorial includes. If you want to add it, place it just a bit lower than the measurement for the zipper placement at the other end.
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| Close-up of decorative linen strip, brad and rivets... |
The snap fastener set that I used here came to me in a large package without tools. I've had consistent issues with installing them (there's a picture of them in this post) and this time was no exception. I keep a fabric scrap with a set attached to it that I use to gauge whether or not one works, and the two parts on the wallet "snapped" fine against it.
However, when I tried to snap the actual wallet closed, it would not close for the life of me! Long sigh later, I correctly assumed that it wasn't the end of the world and that I wouldn't have to take apart the entire wallet to put in a new set. There had to be a solution. With the help of a pair of needle nose pliers, I widened the opening on the receiving end and it did the job.
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| Filled up with 10 assorted coins, 4 bills, 4 credit cards and 6 business cards... |
The above shows how this particular wallet looks when filled up with stuff; it's definitely workable. (By the way, it's worth mentioning that I interfaced the coin pocket lining with SF101. My old wallet has a tear in the coin pocket lining and I think you'd agree that often, it's our heavy coins that cause the most damage to a wallet.)
This last photo is a close-up of my (failed?) attempt at getting a cleaner looking topstitch around the zipper by adding a black facing around the zippered pocket opening. The original stitching around the zipper wasn't bad, but my eyes kept being drawn to the clearly visible back stitching at the beginning and end.
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| Doh! |
Obviously, I should have pulled the threads to the back and knotted them instead of back stitching. It's what I eventually did on the zipper facing above. However, I did a poor job of aligning the stitching on said facing!
Oh well.
See what I mean about needing to be fully engaged when making a "simple" bifold wallet?
Final word on this tutorial? It's a good one; JSdaily's videos have a proven track record with me and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her projects. She makes it all seem so easy.
[To minimize broken links down the road, I avoid including external links as much as possible these days, but you should have no problem at all finding this tutorial by searching for youtube jsdaily diy small card and coin wallet; as I stated above, the video dates back to January 20, 2020.]
'Til next...
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