I thought i'd have a go at making this Amy Butler card holder - a free pattern from her website. I'm quite pleased with it but her instructions were over complicated and quite flawed so this is my third attempt! The first ended up in the bin, the second is passable if you look through half closed eyes in the dark.
If you decide to make one, the adjustments I made were as follows:
If you decide to make one, the adjustments I made were as follows:
1) Cut out all sections of fabric, but do not cut out ANY interfacing. (I don't understand the difference between American brand interfacings, so I just used heavy iron on).
2) Sew the fabric sections together as described in the instructions.3) When you have your two sections - fabric and lining each sewn together, then cut out ONE piece of heavy iron on interfacing to fit the fabric side MINUS whatever your seam allowance is around the edge (mine is 3/8). So instead of three bits of interfacing you just have one big one which you iron onto the wrong side of the fabric.
4) Cut out an extra bit of iron-on interfacing for the middle section of the wallet minus the seam allowances and apply ontop of the original layer. This will give extra body without bulk and saves you having to insert another piece (as per instructions) later on.
5) Proceed to sew together as per the instructions, except step 7a.The reason for the interfacing change is that if you use sew-in as Amy suggests, you would never be able to fold the finished product because the edges and seam joins would be far too bulky. Also, the card holder doesn't need thick sew-in.
The key is to keep the edges as light as possible whilst adding body to the main section so that the whole thing isn't "floppy".
The key is to keep the edges as light as possible whilst adding body to the main section so that the whole thing isn't "floppy".
I have received two awards, one each from Dragonfly and SummerFete. Thank you lovely ladies! I am running short of time today (thanks to aforementioned cardholder obsession) and would like to spend some proper time blogging about these awards in the next couple of days.
7 comments:
Your stitching is SO neat!
I'm envious of the time you've had to make things...I've not had time to do anything of late, other than washing!
How frustrating - but what a beautiful result - it looks wonderful and I like the lining that you've chosen for it. I've had a similar nightmare using that very fabric (the Amy Butler one) while making a make-up bag that kept going wrong (my own pattern though, so not even someone else to blame). It always seems to be the smallest projects that cause the most trouble. x
When I first saw the photo I thought that looks like a fun and easy project - then I carried on reading and have decided I'm not going to try! Your end result is beautiful - well done for persevering.
Oh lordy! I hate to think i've put people off - that's not very inspiring of me at all! It's not that difficult honest!!... I now want to customise the design into a zippy purse affair. It was a very useful excersise and that fabric is just begging for more! I reckon you could get 4 or so wallets out of a couple of fat quarters too!x
Thanks for sharing those pointers. I tried to make a card holder on a whim recently - one of my sewing-for-myself at high speed sessions - needless to say, it was a complete disaster. I even set the snap halves completely out of line. Maybe I'll give this one a try instead!
I also have this pattern and I agree that the insturctions were a bit dodgey. Much harder than the item warrented. I will try yours too. Have you tried any of her bag patterns?
Very, very nice, Julia!! Your finished holder is lovely--love those fabrics! And I think your pattern changes are very sensible and gave you an excellent end result--great work! I've made some fabric wallets after my own patterns with mixed results, finally getting down to a good pattern. But I find a fabric wallet just doesn't "wear" as well as that one made of different materials--leather, faux leather, mircofiber, etc. so tend to just make them as gifts. This card holder seems very useful though--I like it! Thanks so much for visiting :o) We're off on holiday next week...but I hope to post while away! Happy Days ((HUGS))
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