Bobby Pin Case and Clutch for Going to the Beach

June 2015

A while ago, I stupidly left my purse in the front seat of the car while surfing.  It got stolen, along with all of the uncashed checks I was supposed to deposit for my Mom, among other things.  Ever since then, I've tried to take only a few essential things with me when I go surfing, swimming, or running.  For this, I often use a small bag that has no pockets, which means I have to fish around for my cards, cash, cell phone, and keys.  I decided I needed something to hold all of the essentials.

Since I wasn't using a pattern and had never sewed anything but clothes before, I sewed a mini case with pockets just to see what it'd look like.  It turned out pretty cute but too small for most things... except bobby pins!

This will now live in my office drawer to hold all of my pins.  I've got a few extra pockets for other things, but there's no stiff interfacing in this, so it won't hold heavier things very well.

On to the wallet...

I didn't have a pattern for this and didn't know how people usually make wallets stiff.  I came up with this idea of recycling manila folders to slip inside for stiffness.  I don't think it'll hold up with washing, though.  I now know that I could've used heavy interfacing and have used it in future projects.  I used scrap fabrics I had, so you may recognize some of these designs from my other sewing projects.

I guess I didn't take into account enough room for seam allowance, so my card pocket ended up being too short on one end.  I think I'll take out the stitch down the middle so that it's more functional.  Also, Shawn pointed out that I should've made the pockets face inward so that cards and the cell phone don't fall out.  Genius!  Mental note for next time.  I also made sure the bill fold pocket is big enough for Japanese and Chinese money so that I could take this to Asia on our next trip.  

  

Another thing I didn't think too carefully about was how to close this.  I thought I was just going to wrap a hair rubberband around it, but that ended up looking tacky.  I'm not happy about this, but in the end, I sewed an eye onto the back and a button onto the front, and used a piece of elastic to hold this together.  I should probably open up the seam and sandwich the elastic into the wallet, but then it'll show on the outside.  **sigh**  Another lesson learned.

**Update**  This was really ugly, so I took it off, opened the side seam, and hand sewed it shut.  Still not that pretty, but much better than this mess.