Sashiko Dragonfly Wallet

I cut into my sashiko dragonfly sampler.

 Open wallet showing two slip pockets.

 Backside with coin pocket and secret pocket behind coin pouch. I pieced a little sashiko to the coin flap.

 With detachable strap.

 

 For the dragonfly wallet, I shifted the coin pocket left so most of a sashiko dragonfly could be seen.

 I made the red wallet first. At a recent estate sale this summer, I found this unfinished kit for the Winslow Wallet. I bought the package because it contained two magnetic snaps. Spendy little items when you buy at retail so this was a huge score.  The fabric was cut out and interfaced. It just needed sewing.

The original pattern was not included nor did it come with the strap. I just like detachable straps on small wallets. I made my own pattern from the cut out fabric pieces. It was pretty straight forward.

After finishing, I liked it. For a little thing  -  5 1/4" w x 4" tall, this wallet has a lot of segregated storage. 

I had time to make another. I picked out an airplane fabric and then realized it was directional. This just means some sewing geometry because this wallet starts out flat and then is folded and once you fold it, some of the airplanes would be upside down doing aerobatics badly, unless you cut and piece it just right.

Then I spied my dragonfly print, skipped right over to where my Yoko Saito fabrics are stored -- right next to my completed sashiko dragonfly piece.

This dragonfly sampler was meant to be a small pillow. I have no use for small pillows so it was sitting until a lightbulb moment happened. 

I bought this sampler at Sewexpo back in 2014. I finished it, left it at a friend's house (lost) and made a second one. I did recover the first one eventually - which means I can make another of these purses - yay!


The sashiko sampler was on flimsy blue fabric. I used the unmarked section meant for the pillow back to double up and treated this fabric as one, with interfacing added. I serged the edges before turning for extra durability and securing any stray sashiko threads that might work loose.


Now, if I can recall where I stashed the recovered first sampler.....

Pirating Bag Hardware

This is where I get most of my bag hardware.

$1.00.
Bought on the last day (half price!) local estate sale.
It was marked $5, but my winning personality got me from $2.50 down to a buck.

Samsonite laptop carryon.

When I pirated the 'Detour ' label, I found out how tags are stapled into the seam allowance so they don't  shift.

Pencil Girl loves to rip out zippers.
I can't stand it.

Normally, I don't ever take zips out.
But these were double close heavy duty zips.
Nice pull tabs too.
I pulled out my unpicker and ripped those babies out.
Two of them - perfect for bags.

In my hurry, I ripped a hole in one of the zipper tapes. Still usable.

There were about six other zips in this bag - all single pull - I didn't bother with those.

I thought about pirating this strap holder plastic thing. It's there to keep the strap straight.
The weird brown color makes it unusable for most things.

Nice swivel hardware.
The plastic mesh was cool until you touch it - eeuw.
I left the mesh.

For $1.00, I spent 20 minutes (zips) to get
2 double pull zips.
2 sliders 1 1/2"
2 D rings 1 1/2"
2 swivel hook attached to 1 1/2" D rings.
1 swivel hook
D ring 3/4"
2 plastic buckles with interesting pull tabs

New? One of the swivel hooks is around five bucks.

Fifty cent purse.
I liked the purse handle.
Even though it's short.

Most of the time you just need a pair of scissors  to pirate a bag. This time I used pliers for the zipper pulls.

The other trick is to pull hardware immediately. Get rid of the bulky bags.

Stash your hardware for when you need to sew your own awesome purse.