Alice Tea Wallet

Skip the read and get to the important stuff…

Materials:

• Main Outer Fabric – 7 1/2 x 6 1/2
• Interfacing – 1/2 x 6 1/2
• Inner Fabric (same as Outer Fabric) – 7 1/2 x 5
• Inner Fabric – 14 3/4 x 7 1/2
• 8mm Sew-on Snap Buttons (your choice of color)

The Story:

I imagine if you are here, you’re a tea lover like me. Well one of my biggest issues is getting a quality cup of tea when I’m out and about.

My partner and I often go out for breakfast on Sunday mornings and although I love the restaurant we go to, their tea selection is basic. Can’t really blame them, most people prefer coffee in the morning. I’m just a tea girlie living in a coffee world.

On those Sunday’s, I’d always think to myself, “don’t forget to snag a tea bag before heading out the door,” but then walk out the door without my tea. We’d arrive to the restaurant when it would finally click and I’d be a little crushed knowing my options were sad tea or water. I needed a solution, one that I could actually stick to!

After spending some time on Pinterest, I came across the “tea wallet”. There were a variety of designs and I picked out features from a few of my favorites to create this pattern. Let’s get to it!

Preparation:

Step 1 – Cut out your pieces. To help you visualize each of the pieces, see below. In the top left we have our main outer piece (piece A) and interfacing underneath it. To the right is our main lining fabric (piece B). The bottom left is our secondary lining piece, cut from the same fabric as the shell (piece C). In the middle is our sew-on snaps.

Step 2 – Bond piece A to the interfacing.

Step 3 – Fold piece C in half, hotdog style. The new dimensions should be 7 1/2 x 2 1/2.

Step 4 – Prep the slots out of piece B. This one is going to take some patience so here are some bullet point to help you. Before starting the below, face the fabric right side down.

• From the bottom, fold the edge up 3 1/2 inches. Iron in place.
• Flip the piece over so right side is up.
• Grab the new bottom edge, which should be your ironed fold, and fold up 2 inches. Iron in place.
• Flip the piece over so right side is down.
• Grab the top edge and bring down. You want to create a new fold 3 inches from your second fold. Iron in place.
• Grabbing your top edge again, now fold up creating your final fold 2 inches from your last fold. Iron in place.

If you did the above steps correctly, your pieces will resemble the below.

Step 5 – Take piece C and align the bottom edge with the bottom of piece B. Pin the two pieces together. Also pin the folds to keep them in place. Finally I like to create a light crease down the center as a guide for the next step.

Step 6 – Sew piece B & C together following the center crease.

Step 7 – Place piece A on top of the finished lining, right side down. Pin in place. Note I’ve added some guide pins at the top. The side pins are 1/2 inch from the top edge. The top pins leave a 3 inch opening.

Step 8 – Okay typically I would say sew the perimeter with “x” seam allowance leaving the 3 inch opening, but we are going to do this a tad different. Our top edge is going to have a 1/2 inch seam allowance, while our sides and bottom will have 1/4 seam allowance. Your final piece should look like the below. I also trimmed my corners.

Step 9 – Flip the piece right side out and iron to get all your corners and edges crisp. You’ll want to tack the 3 inch opening in place as well.

Step 10 – Sew 1/4 inch around the perimeter.

Step 11 – Attach your sew-on snaps. I like mine at the center of the sides.

You can now take tea with you wherever you go! I loved making this so much that I made 2 others. I now get to pick out which wallet I want to take making it all the more fun.

Which is your favorite? Oh, and don’t forget to share your finished wallets with me! You can either tag me @shychameleoncrafts or use #aliceteawallet so I can see your amazing wallets.