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Wednesday 29 April 2009

Mens gift wallet tutorial.

How about trying one of these little fellas?
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We see many lovely gifts for women, and the blogs are awash with crafty makes full of blooms and ribbons, but rarely anything for men.
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I have had many requests to share how I made the men’s paper wallet a while ago, so here is a tutorial to help you make one yourself. It would make an ideal gift for a guy, and you can put whatever you want in them.
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For this tutorial I used thin card, as it will be covered both sides with paper. Glues used were a strong stick glue (Tombo), and UHU for the extra strength needed in some parts. All measurements are in inches. For a closer look at the written measurements on the pics, click the pick to enlarge it.
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Ok then, firstly cut a piece of thin card 8 ½ x 5 ½ .
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Then choose two pieces of patterned paper and cut both of these the same size. These will be your inside and outside of the wallet. I love using the Wassail papers for this kind of thing, they have a natural leathery look to them without having to do anything with them.
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Glue your paper to either side of the card, then lay your covered card in front of you with the inside of the wallet facing upwards.
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Next you need to make the score lines so the wallet can fold. Mark the measurents shown on the photo below, then score down the wallet at these points.
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Now fold your wallet inwards from both ends, making sure you fold all four score lines. Don’t worry if the folds tear slightly on the outside when you fold them….
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This can happen if the paper or card is quite thick. However I actually like it when this happens as you can ink it and use it as a distressed look.
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Now flip it over so the front of the wallet is facing you. If you want, now could be a good time to decorate the front. Here I’ve just inked the edges, used a few stamps, added a few eyelets here and there and finished it off with a popper closure.
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So that’s the outside cover done. Now for the inside, for the purposes of this tutorial I will call it the “inlay”.
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Take another piece of paper and cut it 7 7/8 long x 4 ¼ wide as shown in the picture below. Add a tab ½ in wide either side and at the bottom of the paper.
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Turn your wallet back over again so the inside is facing upwards. Now glue the tabs and stick the inlay onto the inside of the wallet. Remember you will have only the sides and bottom glued down. The top is open so you can put money in it.
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Tip: be aware of where you insert closures when you decorate the outside of the wallet, you’ll see here I stuck a popper button right where I wanted the inlay to go, hence the cut-out part around the closure.
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Once you’ve stuck the inlay in, go over the previously scored fold lines so they now include the inlay…..like so…..
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Next you need to cut 2 strips of paper ¾ in wide, and as long as the inlay. Then cut 5 strips of paper ¾ wide and as wide as the inlay…..like so…..
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These strips will make up the frame for the pouches for the wallet. Turn them over face down and arrange them into a frame as in the picture. Starting from the left, I have marked the measurements at where I stuck my bars on the frame.
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Now we need to make the pouches. All we do for this is glue a piece of paper, slightly smaller than the frame, at each part of the frame. As you look at the paper I have just glued, note that I have only glued along the top, bottom and left side edge. I can’t explain that any better so heres a pic…
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Now for the second piece of paper that fits across the next part of the frame….this time glue only along the top, bottom and right side edges of the paper.
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Turn your frame over, and now you see the inside of the wallet…..and theres why you didn’t glue all those edges just now…..you can stick things in it now! Please note that how you arrange your “frame” and pockets is up to you. Some of these pockets here are more for effect, but still work to a degree.
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Now theres one frame that’s empty at the moment isn’t there….this is where you cover it with plastic. I cut up some plastic packaging for this. Just do the same as you did before with the pieces of paper, glue and fit it inside the last part of the frame. As you look at the picture below, you’ll see I have glue 3 sides, top right and bottom. This allows you to insert business cards, photos etc.
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Now then….time to stick the pocket frame directly onto the inlay. However before you do this, I did a Calvism and took the pics the wrong way around, so just rotate the frame so the plastic business card end is at the left side….then stick the frame straight onto the inlay, remembering to only glue the frames bottom and sides….like so…
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I used strong UHU glue to stick the inlay and the frame into the wallet, as constant opening and closing could cause ordinary glues to come apart.
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Now for a few finishing touches, here I have drawn false stitching on with a white pen. Do this on the outside of the wallet too.
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Now fold it closed and this will fold the insides nicely…
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Check the top opens ok….
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Lets see if the closure works…..you can use whatever you like for a closure, Velcro, buttons and ribbons, eyelets and ribbons…..anything….
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So there you go…..one mens wallet! Not the quickest or easiest tutorial, and I’m sure there are others out there that are easier….but I am just showing people how I did mine. Hopefully it will inspire you to change it or do something different with it.
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Thank you for stopping by to look, if there is anything in the tutorial that is a bit confusing, please feel free to say.
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Bye for now.... :)

23 comments:

MaryNSC said...

WOW What a BILLFOLD !!
This is one thing I can say about u men crafters yawl are so CAlm and easy going and patient..
I make something I want it yesterday!:O)
This is just BEAUTIFUL!!

Naomi (Sugar Brown) said...

WOW I'm impressed. I wouldn't have thought of doing something like that. Would be great for fathers day.

Jennie -The Artistic Stamper said...

Cool tutorisl, would work well with grungepaper when it is in the shop *wink*
Hope all is well with you
Jennie x

Calv said...

Lol thats a good idea Jennie "wink", and i've not played with grunge paper yet.

I must admit Mary, it did take a little while, but i think part of that was writing the tutorial and matching the pics, i think once you've made one of these, you can quicken the process or shorten the plan somehow.

Hi Naomi :) I know i'd love one of these as a gift, i'm sure theres an easier way of doing these so the kids can make them.

Unknown said...

Great tutorial Calv, and a great lookin' wallet too!

Yvonne said...

OH MY WORD. this is a fab pictorial( love pics so easy to follow) . i will have a go at this later .. i do liek this idea. and like you say, never enough mens stuff around. THANK YOU.
Now off to see what Rottys been upto ;o)

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

Fabulous wallet Calv ;) - it's great to get some ideas for blokes' 'cards' from a bloke's perspective too.
Anne x

Unknown said...

thanks for sharing that, it's brilliant and really useful to have something different to make for a man.

Jan x

Shannon Smith said...

That's do awesome! I'm gonna show this one to my hubby! Thanks!

Ellen said...

great clear tutorial and the endresult is gorgeous.

how did you fix the popper button?

Rachelxx said...

Great tutorial Calv :-)

Michelle Frae Cummings said...

wow! That's fantastic! I love it, may try it this weekend...it would be a great fathers day gift card holder plus some pics too!
too cool

btw..I've been meaning to ask if you can make me a pair of cupcake earrings and a charm, I'll gladly pay you!

Brenda Neff said...

What a cool idea! Never seen a wallet made before. Awesome!

Nigel said...

Brilliant idea, and an excellent tutorial. I might have a go later on.

Tona said...

Excellent tutorial and you made a fantastic project! I just recently picked up some grunge paper but I think I'll try one with regular paper 1st...it would break my heart if I messed up my grunge paper lol.

Patti Smith said...

Calv this is absolutely amazing...loved the tutorial...I've bookmarked. This would make a wonderful gift but sooooo much work....thanks for sharing....

Jane Wetzel said...

what an awesome idea! Have you made one for Rotty yet?

Anonymous said...

I love this mens-gift-wallet.
I tryed to make me a pattern in Coreldraw and I am confuesed because the gap between the right folds are smaller then the left.
right side is 3 3/8 and 3 1/4
=0,125 gap
left side is 1 3/4 and 1 3/8
=0,375 gap
please help
Melium

sandra said...

Dear Calv.I can't find the way to write to you but this way.So I have request.Please stop by on my blog and there it is.
Hugs!Sandra1

Paulien van den Bosch said...

this is so cool!!!!!
You rock!!!!

~*~Patty Szymkowicz said...

WOW amazing, you are quite a paper engineer, very creative!!!

Katzele (Bea from France) said...

Wow, thanks for that !I was one who asked for a tutorial, I'm bestowed ;-)

Sonia said...

Hi Calv
I found your blog in another website.
I love this tutorial i hope one day do this.
Great job!

Greetings from Puerto Rico, **Sony**