Tea Towel Wallet

A tea towel wallet is a lightweight and beautiful way to carry all the essentials! With a zippered pocket for cash, and five smaller pockets for credit cards and IDs, you can take everything you need with you, securely and in style.

Take two pretty tea towels, add beautiful embroidery designs on the outer and inner sections, and you have a lovely and useful wallet unlike anyone else's. Read on to learn how to make a unique tea towel wallet!

First, to prepare the fabric for the outer shell of the wallet, draw a 12" wide by 9 1/2" high rectangle on the fabric. Using an air-erase pen or other marking tool, measure and mark the center of the top and bottom of the shape by measuring and dividing by two and draw a line connecting the marks.

Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. Position the design on the right side of the shape to the right of the line you just drew (this is the embroidered area of the front of the wallet).

I positioned the template with the edges of the design at least 3/4" from the center line and at least one inch from the top, bottom, and right side of the shape. Poke a hole in the center of the template and mark the fabric. Also, mark the horizontal and vertical axis points.

Remove the template and draw lines connecting the marks.

Spray a piece of medium weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric and embroider the design.

When the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.

Cut out the shape.

To prepare the fabric for the inner zipper pocket, draw a 6" wide by 9 1/2" high rectangle on the fabric. Measure and mark 2" in along the top and bottom edge of the shape starting at the top and bottom right corner.

Draw a line connecting the marks. The area to the left of the line is the embroidered area. Create a paper template of the design and place it within the embroidered area at least 3/4" from the line and at least one inch from the top, bottom, and left sides of the shape.

Mark the fabric, hoop the fabric with stabilizer, and embroider the design just as you did earlier. Trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.

To add the zipper to the pocket, first measure one inch up and down along the line starting at the top and bottom edges of the shape. Draw a 1/2" horizontal line at each mark extending to the right of the line. Measure and mark the center of each of the 1/2" long lines and draw a line connecting the marks.

Next cut slits in the fabric along each of the 1/2" lines and then also cut along the line you just drew (the line connecting the center marks of the 1/2" long lines).

Along the long cut, fold the fabric in to the wrong sides 1/4" and press. Place the zipper on the wrong side of the fabric (the right side of the zipper facing up) with the edges aligned with the folds. Pin in place and zigzag stitch around the entire outer edges of the fabric around the zipper. Trim the excess zipper just under the bottom seam.

To prepare the fabric for the back of the zipper pocket, lay the embroidered piece on top of the fabric, right sides together, pin in place, and cut out around the shape. Sew a 1/2" seam along the left edge only. Turn the fabric right side out and press the seam. Top stitch a 1/4" seam along the folded edge (right edge) only.

To prepare the fabric for the inner lining of the wallet, lay the embroidered outer shell piece on top of the fabric, pin in place, and cut around the shape.

Remove the outer shell piece and lay the inner lining piece flat with the right side facing up. Align the zipper pocket along the left edge of the fabric and pin in place. Tack the pocket in place by sewing a 1/8" seam along the top, bottom, and left edges. Do not sew along the right edge as this is the opening for the large pocket.

To prepare the small credit card pockets, cut five pieces of fabric to 4 1/4" wide by 2 1/4" high. Cut along the outer edges of the towel making the existing hem the top of the fabric pieces.

Fold the bottom and side edges of each piece over 1/4" to the wrong side and press. Place the first pocket near the top edge of the right side of the inner lining (opposite side to the zipper pocket) about one inch from the top edge of the fabric and about one inch from the center (or spine) of the inner lining. Pin in place and sew a 1/8" along the bottom edge only.

Align the second pocket on top of the first pocket with the top edge of the second pocket about one inch from the top edge of the first pocket. Pin in place, and sew a 1/8" seam along the bottom edge of the second pocket.

Repeat this process until each pocket is in place. Then sew a 1/8" seam along the right and left edges of the pockets. I also zigzag stitched along the right and left edges of the pockets to create a decorative look.

Cut two pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing to 5" wide by 8 1/2" high. Lay the outer shell piece flat with the wrong side facing up. Then, lay the interfacing on the fabric, fusible side down, with 1/2" of space left between the outer edges of the interfacing and the outer edges of the fabric. Press in place according to the instructions on the interfacing packaging.

Align the outer shell piece on top of the inner lining/pocket piece, right sides together with the embroidered side of the outer shell aligned on top of the zipper pocket side of the inner lining. Pin in place.

Also, cut a piece of decorative cord to 5" long. Form into a loop, tape the ends together, and insert the loop in between the fabric in the center of the right edge with about 1/4" of the raw ends extending out past the outer edge of the fabric.

Sew a 1/2" seam along the top and side edges of the fabric; leave the bottom open for turning. Turn the wallet right side out and press the seams. Also, turn the fabric of the opening in 1/2", press, and pin in place. Top stitch a 1/4" seam along the entire outer edge of the wallet.

To add the button for the closure, fold the wallet closed, fold the loop over to the center side edge of the front of the wallet, and mark the inside of the top of the loop. Sew a one inch button at the mark. And your wallet is complete!

Take the necessities with you in a fabulous tea towel wallet, made even more personal with embroidery! It's eye-catching and functional, and a pleasure to carry.