I am having so much fun making these things! This one is for a friend. I made another one for my SIL for her birthday, but forgot to take photos. If she can get me a shot of it, I will post it. Hers turned out very cutely too!
I have learned a few good tricks to help with the process. One is to NOT use a hair elastic for the closure. They are round and much harder to sew in and have stay in place. I am using thin flat elastic now. You can get it in white or black and it lays flat. If you take about 5-6 passes over it with the sewing machine, it won't go anywhere. The other trick is to try to get the corners pushed out as well as you can to sew a smoother top stitching around the whole thing.
This particular wallet (I am about to reveal a secret here), I had sewn all the way around the outside edge with beige thread. Well, it looked great on the inside where the pockets were a lighter color, but on the outside, where the background was black, you could see the smallest of little stitch messes. Well, here is how I corrected it. I used a thin line black permanent Sharpie pen and basically colored the stitches black!!!!! It worked like a charm....now it looks so much more professional. And adorable, I might add! Check it out in the photos!!!!
I did not get my corners turned well, and that was what caused the sloppy looking stitches. I need to find a way to do it well.
Once again the free pattern is here:
http://www.handmadetherapy.ca/2011/02/03/tea-wallet-tutorial/
