Snappy Dyed Wallets

I might be crazy for doing this, but I just signed up for my second half-marathon!  This one is in just a few weeks, but my sister and I picked it out a few months ago and have been training diligently (ahem, almost diligently) so I'm suuuure it will go splendidly.  We chose one in Annapolis, Maryland, and we're going to make a weekend of it and spend a few days with my parents (and of course, their two pugs, Lucy and Ricky) on their sailboat.  I can't wait to parade those little dogs around town, eat ice cream and seafood, and do some exploring in Annapolis.  Here's to hoping I survive the race, as well!

Before I embark on that adventure, however, I have a few more projects up my sleeve: including the second installment  of the dip-dyed adventures (earlier adventures can be seen here!)  For this project, I used a couple of dip-dyed striped pieces.  I have been steadily working my way through them, in an effort to use these pre-cut pieces up before I forget what project I cut them out for (not like that's ever happened before or anything.)  To create the stripes, I folded my fabric pieces, clipped them with clothespins, and then dipped them into the dye, leaving some un-dyed at the top.  Once they were somewhat dry, I unclipped them and set them with a fixative to avoid bleeding.  What a triumph it was to pull my little pieces out of their buckets and to see that they actually had stripes on them!  Once all of the dyeing was completed for the outer pieces, I cut the insides bits and pieces from this great light blue/silver metallic lining that I found last week at Joann's, and already used for some zippered pouches.  I layered the inside pockets to make room for credit cards (or in my case, a vast array of coffee shop loyalty cards) and a few larger pockets for cash, receipts, lists, pet photos, etc.  I put a zippered coin/trinket pocket on the outside, and voila…a wallet!  I hand-sewed a snap button to the inside (post-photo shoot-I'll upload a complete photo as soon as I snap one!) to keep everything tidy and closed up, and declared these beauties ready for their internet debut.  

One of my many sewing "helpers" taking advantage of some good morning light

My mom and I have also been spending some time on a super-secret project that I will be able to share in just a few weeks (if you can manage to contain your excitement that long, that is.)  I'll be posting a sneak peek this weekend, and the will be revealing the finished project soon, so stay tuned!  Hope your weeks are going wonderfully, thanks for stopping by!

  

Belated billfold

Hello friends!  I know I've been absent and I apologize!  I've had a wild couple of weeks that included yet another move and a great deal of training for my new summer job.  It's been exciting, but busy!  I popped in to share a project I made some time ago for my mom for Mother's Day.  I somehow got it finished, packed up, and mailed on time (which is nothing short of a miracle for me) but I just never got around to posting it on here.

For the last few years, my mom has been using a cheap "wallet" that she found in the attic, even though it doesn't really fit any of her cards or money, and it doesn't have a pocket for change.  After trying (and failing) to convince her to get a new one for herself, I decided I should make her one for Mother's Day, and this is what I came up with:

 

I used pretty blue and white fabric for the outside, and lined it with pink polka-dotted fabric.  I put in an inner zipper pocket, two larger inner pockets for bills, six credit card pockets, and two clear card pockets in the front for ID cards.  It closes with a snap button tab, and I used pink thread for the top stitching (I thought it looked so cute against the blue!) 

I lined the inner pockets with the outer blue fabric, just to make the inside more interesting.  I love the way it came out!  This was one of my all-time favorite handmade gifts.  I completed it in a reasonable amount of time, and it was pretty fun to put together!  This could easily be changed around in terms of pocket layout; the possibilities are endless!  I can't wait to make some more wallets!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I have some projects planned for the new house this week, so I'll keep you all posted!  Have a great weekend!