with purse comes wallet

The one thing I discovered after making my purse is that my giant carryall wallet was REALLY heavy to carry in it, and I really didn't need all that wallet, anyway. Again, I set about seeking a way to make one out of the leftover fabric I had from the purse - and there was plenty!

Craftster to the rescue again, and I found myself the perfect wallet to make. 

I do have to say on my behalf, sometimes I am infuriatingly ambitious. Sometimes it's sort of cute how I think I can do things way beyond my skill level, and sometimes, like when I am actually attempting to do said task, it is infuriating and crushing. I won't lie - this is probably beyond my skill level, even though in the end, I did manage to pull it off. Not without tears and cursing and real bleeding, mind you - but in the end, I did complete the wallet, and even though it's so so imperfect, I'm pretty happy with it . I did go through three zippers trying to make it happen, though.

The back pocket:

 Inside: Zippered change pouch, cash pocket, card pockets.

 View of cash pocket (then holding cheques):

 Change and a spare car key.

 A little hiding space for my aromatherapy bottle:

And a close-up of the zipper. 

If I were to do this again - in the distant future - I would make the corners MUCH more rounded, which would allow for much easier opening of said zipper. I took lining up my zipper to the extreme and ended up with these square corners - which are not easy to unzip. However, because I know the trick, I CAN do it, so not all is lost. It really is quite functional and I'm pleased with it because this is the hardest thing I've sewn yet aside from the jacket of my husband's Halloween costume last year. The fact that I was able to finish it is a testament to my ability to persevere, and also to my stubbornness.

portable DVD player tote

Now that we've returned from our recent trip to Vancouver, WA for the Life is Good Unschooling Conference, I can start sharing things about the trip. huzzah! And Thing One will be the lovely Portable DVD Player Tote I made with many many great thanks to this awesome tutorial.

My version (Kiernen chose the fabrics since it is essentially his DVD Player):

The outside front:

 Opened - it has velcro closures

 The back pocket, which is tricky to see with this fabric. It's huge and holds cords, the remote, headphones, etc.:

 Inside the spacious back pocket:

 Which also has velcro closure:

 The two-part inside (player side):

 with DVD sleeve inside also:

 enough space for everything one needs to make one's DVD player experience a success.

I recommend this tutorial to anyone. It was easy to follow and I think my only change, just because it was what I had, was I used quilt batting on the inside for cushioning, and flannel for the fabric (weird choice, I know). Note: If you're going to use quilt batting, do yourself a favor and make it at LEAST 1/4" smaller on all sides than the fabric. It will be SO much easier to sew together, trust me! Becaue this bag is flannel, it can also double as a pillow if needed, because it's so soft. And its washable!