I am so happy to be here for Teresa’s Summer Fun with Kids Series. One thing that I am trying to get better at is teaching my children how to sew. My daughter who is four months will have to wait her turn. But her two older brothers who are 3 and 7 can learn now. If you find yourself with similar desires, my project today can help!
I’ve come up with a VERY simple pattern for a boy’s wallet. Of course, you can make it as girly as you please. For now, I’ll keep it all boy since there never seems to be enough boy projects out there.
It is designed for a child between age 7 and 10 give or take. You can certainly have younger children depending on their personality and interest. It is ideal that they can use scissors with some precision. I still was very hands on with my son Owen who is 7. He isn’t as familiar with my sewing machine as he could be. He enjoyed being my pattern tester though and he helped me work out quite a few kinks. To get the pattern, go here and retrieve it from my google docs account. Before you begin… Print off the pattern.
– You may notice that the pattern I provide you is different than the pattern pictured here. This is the pattern Owen tested for me. All the differences from this pattern to yours are improvements.
– There are directions on the pattern. Referring to this picture tutorial may help your young sewer a little better though.
Step 1. Gather what you’ll need for the project:
Leave the fourth side open for putting in money.
One word of caution on the faux snake skin wallet. The material is more oil cloth like than felt like.
You’ll need a smooth surface on the top and the bottom for sewing. Wrapping it in tissue paper can help. You just might need to do more trimming later as the wallet pieces may shift. I also DO NOT recommend using the snake skin with kids. It’s fussy and tricky even for me as an adult.
And…here is a peek at what the current pattern will make for you. There are two rows of stitching in the middle of the liner piece of felt. This helps the wallet close better.
Pretty nifty…
A fun, functional craft great for any boy.
__________________________________ One more thing… If you read Project Run & Plays’ announcement yesterday, for the upcoming season’s line up of designers, you know that I’m one of them! I can’t tell you how excited, nervous, stressed, happy, and pumped I am to participate. I have wanted to participate for some time, but have always come up with an excuse not to go for it. Not this time though. This year is a year of “why nots” for me. I know it will only make me better, and hopefully my blog better. It might mean even less blogging during the competition, but I’m just going to see how it goes. I really do have projects in the works, but they move along like molasses around here. 🙂 Have a blessed day!
love it!!! I enjoyed my visit to your sweet blog. Hugs
This is incredibly creative and relatively easy to make!
My boys will love making this ~ I think I'll have them hand sew it, though -that way it can be ALL their's.
One thing I have found to be super helpful for kid-sewing, is Aleene's No Sew Glue – which really is a misleading name; it's a basting glue that washes out, but holds fabric in place, so you don't need pins, making it easier for kids to sew 🙂 Using the basting
This is genius – and therefore you as well! I have a girls who's been asking for a wallet. Thanks for sharing!
I am looking forward to your creations. I understand about project molasses…I suffer from it constantly. There is never enough daylight to get things done first before I can do sewing and my job keeps getting in the way as well. One day it will work out for me..it may take a couple of years though.
My eldest would love one of these wallets.
Congratulations on PR&P, I can't wait for it to start.
This is really cool, I love how you added the piece with the sewing lines. Super useful for just learning to sew!
Congratulations on being a part of Project Run and Play! I'm excited to see what you come up with. =)
Oh Delia! This is too cool! I need to make one for my little guy! He loves to do anything that makes him more like his daddy. You truly are a genius. I'm sure I've only told you that a dozen times though. 🙂
so cool! I love that he was a part of the process 🙂
I made this with my 8 year old son–he was so happy and excited. The pattern and directions were amazing. Do you have anymore cool projects with the same type of pattern sheets? or know where I can find some?
Thanks!
Thank you so much for a boy project. My 6 yo. son has been asking to learn to sew. This project will right up his alley!
I have loved this pattern for years (#boymomma). Unfortunately I lost track of my copy of the pattern. I was really excited to find that it was still up and available only to find that the file has become corrupted/suffering from a version incompatibility problem (basically, the sewing guide has crept into the cutting pattern). Any chance you’ll go back and adjust it? It really is a great sewing teaching tool (for boys or girls).
Esther,
Thank you for bringing that to my attention! Yikes! I looked for the original file and couldn’t find it either. Darn. I will have to re-do it and post it again after the holidays. Thank you for your kind words and for letting me know!
Delia
Hi Delia:
When I go to the pattern, page 2 only comes up with some red lines and no instructions.
Page 1 runs into page 2 and the instructions #7 end in the middle. They are not complete.
How can I get a copy of the pattern?
So sorry about that! When you preview the file it looks way off, but if you open it with google docs it opens correctly. I hope that helps! Let me know if you run into any more snags.