pocket money {+ tutorial}

Our little boys both get pocket money. We don’t link it to chores (at this age), and they get a set amount per week. We are trying to teach them how to wisely deal with money. We require that some goes into their piggy bank (pay yourself first!), some goes as their givings for Sunday School (give back what He has given to us), the big boy has an amount to go to school banking (long term savings/rainy day funds) and a certain portion is discretionary spending. They can choose if they put it in their money box and save up for something big, or they can have it for during the week. Most of the time, it goes in the money box, and they have both managed to save a decent amount and buy themselves some Lego. It’s so sweet seeing the pride and excitement on their face as they clutch the box to their chest, pass it up for scanning, and slowly pull the money from their pocket and pass it over, and then carry it home themselves.

But even with most of the discretionary amount in the money box, that still leaves some coins loose until Sunday school time. I’ve been meaning to make them up a little something for ages. I thought, as well, if they were going to be looking after their money, maybe they could have their library cards in the little wallet as well. (DISCLAIMER – they don’t cart the wallets everywhere, nor are they for play. They hold money and live in their bedside table until they need to take it somewhere). And so I whipped up a pair of little wallets, with a small coin pouch, and a spot for a library card, or maybe even a gift card. They are velcroed shut for security, while still being easy for small hands to open.

{tutorial for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Please do not use this tutorial to make products to sell}

REQUIREMENTS:

Piece of fabric – 15.5″ x 4.5″

Velcro – 3.5″

Zipper – I used a 5″, but anything longer than 4.5″ works just as well.

METHOD:
Cut 2.5″ off on short end. If you have a preference to which part of your strip is the outside, and which is the inside (for example, if you have pieced your strip), this is from the end that will become the inside.

Sew in your zip, and top stitch in place, making sure both pieces of fabric line up at the sides.

Fold the newly zip-inclusive strip in half, wrong sides together. Taking the folded edge, fold it again to form a 1.5″ ‘pocket’, and pin through all but the bottom layer.

Unfold the long strip (leaving the short pinned fold in place. Attach one side of the velcro, approx. 5″ from other end (I used the fuzzy part of the Velcro for this part).

Open the zip halfway {IMPORTANT}, then fold the whole thing in half, right sides together. The fold should line up roughly with the previously pinned short fold. Pin as you prefer, and sew all three sides. For mine, I chose to pin top, middle, bottom, plus on the opening side of the zip, pinned the zip tape in place. I wanted to be sure those layers and that zip weren’t moving anywhere!

Clip all four corners, open the zip the rest of way, and turn inside out through the open zip, poking the corners to get them nice and crisp. Pin both sides together about half way between the top of the fold, and the zip, to hold everything flat and in place.

Stitch a line 2 3/8″ from the folded edge (the left in the photo above). This line will become the fold line of your wallet. Pin above the zip in the same way, and stitch 2 3/8″ from the previously stitched line. Pin the other half of the velcro above the second row of stitching – on the far right of the photo above – and on the same side at the zip & fold. Sew in place.

And that, as they say, is that! The perfect size for a few coins, and a library card. The small boys are very impressed, and feel very grown up with their new wallets. I hope you’ve found this tutorial useful, and if you use it, I’d love it if you link here in the comments so I can come check out your creations!

{linked with The Rustic Pig for Creatively Tuesdays, Ninth St Notions FOR I Made It! Monday, and Skip to My Lou for Made by You Monday}