Originally my first whim of the week was going to be about a romper that I made, but over the weekend my wallet got stolen (read about it in the next Coffee Buzz!) so I decided to write about a quick pouch/wallet hybrid that I whipped up to put my replacement cards and cash in. I needed it because I didn't have time to go shopping for a new wallet, and because I didn't want to fork over the money for a new one (I usually buy my replacement wallets in little flea markets in Shanghai when I go home, where each wallet is usually less than $10).

I looked up a plethora of simple wallets to sew, but they all needed clasps that I didn't have at my disposal. I switched gears and began looking at small clutches, which I thought would serve my purpose just as well. I quickly found this adorable clutch through Craft Gawker. I thought that the fold-over flap was ingenious, and I already had velcro because I bought some for my baby sister's christmas present (I made her the pink dress Ariel wears in The Little Mermaid).

I decided that instead of printing out the pattern, I would just use a card that I already had to reference for size. I also chose to cut a double-size of one face, so I could just fold it over and have one less seam to sew (this ultimately made my pouch look slightly more like a sunglasses case instead of a clutch, but it'll work). I also cut out the pieces for the bow and for the strap.

closeups of sewing the pouch and the velcro

After sewing the entire pouch together, along with the strap, I became very puzzled as to how the bow would work. For some reason, I couldn't get the bow to look right! After 20 minutes of fiddling, I scrapped the idea. Another element of the pouch that I didn't really like was the raw edge on the top - the tutorial uses real leather, but I only had some vinyl/pleather at my disposal, and the effect just wasn't as nice. I wanted to use one of my fabric scraps as a border for the top.

I ended up ripping all the seams apart to sew on the border and to remove the fabric strap. I replaced the strap with a thick white cord I had bought for a project that had never happened, and it was surprisingly easy to sew and attach to the vinyl. I also took the time to hem the fabric scrap for the border and attached it to the top of the piece, with a double-edge on the lower part of the border.

Pouch with border!

Finally, I decided to paint the end of the cord purple with some nail varnish (I used OPI Planks A Lot from the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection). This was because the cord was fraying badly and I didn't like the effect that my E6000 had on the cord.

Waiting for the varnish to dry....

Here's my finished project, with all the items safely inside! Hopefully this one doesn't get stolen too - the paranoia is so high.

finished pouch with items in it

What do you think? Do you think I could have executed better or redesigned the clutch/pouch/wallet even more?