Quilted Fat Quarter Wallet Tutorial

Fabric can be purchased here!

I made a wallet using the fabric I created on Spoonflower.com yesterday. (Fabric can be purchased here!) The wallet is extremely useful because it can carry your phone, credit cards and cash. Even better, the wallet can be made from a single fat quarter (although I chose not to out of interest of contrasting fabrics) and is extremely easy to make!

So here's how I made it!

Quilted Fat Quarter Wallet Tutorial

Marterials

• Fat Quarter of fabric, contrasting fabric is optional
• Batting or fleece for quilting
• Light fusible interfacing
• Iron on Velcro or other closure
• Sewing machine, scissors etc etc.

Step 1: Cut Fabric

Cut two 8.5 in. x 21 in. strips out of your fat quarter. (If the fabric is squared off and is an exact 21 in. by 17 in. then this is cutting the fat quarter in half.)

Cut one of these 8.5 in. x 21 in. strips into three pieces. Make two cuts that are 8.5 in. long, and another that is 4 in. long. (You should have two squares that measure 8.5 in. x 8.5 in. and one rectangle that is 4 in. x 8.5 in.)

Cut the second 8.5 in. x 21 in. strip into 3 pieces. Make one cut that is 3.5 in., 3 in. long and the last one that is 2 in. long. (You should have a rectangle that measures 3.5 in. x 8.5 in., 3 in. x 8.5 in. and 2 in. x 8.5 in.)

Out of your interfacing, cut a square that is 8 in. x 8 in. and a rectangle that is 1.5 in. x 8 in.

Out of your batting or fleece, cut a square that is 8 in. x 8 in.

Step 2: Iron and Quilt

Iron your 8 in. square of interfacing to one 8.5 in. square of fabric. This will be your outside fabric. There should be a quarter inch of a gap between the edge of the interfacing and the edge of the fabric, this is to cut down on the bulk in the seams when sewing.

Pin your 8 in. square of batting (fleece works just as well) to your 8.5 in. square (the one that you just interfaced) and quilt it down. As you can see in Figure 1, I only quilted a small portion of the batting as a decorative feature. If you do not quilt the entire thing, I suggest using a basting stitch where you did not quilt to make it easier to turn later.

Figure 1.

Iron your 1.5 in. x 8 in. rectangle of interfacing to your 2 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle of fabric. This will be your closure. Set it aside for now.

Step 3: Rolled Hems and Sewing

Take your 4 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle, 3.5 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle and 3 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle and create a 1/4 in. rolled hem on each of them. To create a rolled hem, fold over 1/4 in. and iron. Fold over this 1/4 in. a second time and iron it again. 

Top stitch the rolled hem, as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Once hemmed, lay your 3 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle on top of your 3.5 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle, as seen in Figure 3. Measure 2 1/4 in. away from either edge and stitch the top rectangle down to the bottle rectangle.

Figure 3

Take your 2 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle and fold it in half so that it is 2 in. x 4 1/4 in. with right sides facing together. Stitch along the sides with a 1/4 in. seam allowance. This should leave an opening on one side, as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4

I forgot to take a picture of this part (because I skipped this step by accident! Whoops!) so bare with me.

Flip this piece inside out and iron it flat. Top stitch along the edge. 

Step 4: Putting it all Together

This would be the time to add any closures that you need. I used iron on Velcro so I was able to do this as the last step, but if you are doing snaps or buttons you may want to do it now before we sew the wallet together.

Figure 5

Lay out your pieces as seen in figure 5. The 4 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle should go on one side while the two pieces you stitched together should go on the other side of the 8.5 in. x 8.5 in. rectangle without interfacing or quilting. Lay your closure strap on top, right side facing down. Basting them in place is optional but helpful.

Lay out the main, quilted fabric on top, right sides facing together as seen in Figure 6 and pin.

Stitch around the edge with a 1/4 in. seam allowance, but leave a 2-3 in. gap so you can flip it inside out.

Figure 6

Clip your corners, as seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7

Flip it inside out. Iron it out. Top stitch around the edge. This should stitch closed the gap you left open to flip the wallet inside out, but if you feel more comfortable you can use a ladder stitch to close the gap.

Figure 8

At this point, if you have not added a closure yet use some iron on Velcro. Its my favorite for quick projects like this!

Done!

Your wallet is done. Admire it. 

Looking back on the pattern, I wonder if I should have done the pockets differently. They are nice and clean, but I felt like they should be a bit thicker (and less flimsy) to house my giant Samsung Galaxy S2. If I were to make this pattern again, I think I'd cut the fabric for the pockets twice as long and fold them in half to create the pockets instead of using a rolled hem. Maybe for another day!