BENGALURU: The hardest part about small change, is not finding it when you need it the most. Ever got mad when you thought you spotted coins around home or in the handbag, but when the time came to pay a toll or buy a toffee, you struggled?
I remembered making a Christmas tree ornament a few months back with felt. And thought of putting it to use again. The felt sheets are soft, more of a cloth variety and easy to work with like fabric. And so I made a coin purse. I hope to make more of them, just to tuck them away in corners so I can stash away not just coins, but buttons, beads, twist-ties and more.
Materials
Scissors, felt sheets, embroidery skeins, embellishments such as sequins or cloth flowers,thread, marker pen, a pair of magnets or press buttons,velcro tape, a hot glue gun.
Method
■ Start by cutting a piece off the felt sheet, about five inches wide and 10-12 inches long. Fold this sheet into three-folds, in such a way that the upper flap is about half an inch or one inch lesser than the second fold. This serves as the flap of purse.
■ Where the second fold meets the first, mark with your pen.
■ Round off the corners of the flap. Use a matching coloured embroidery skein, and stitch up some cloth flowers on to this flap. Make sure you spare enough space to do the Blanket stitch.
■ You may use extra sequins like the flower stamen that you get from craft stores.
■ Start the Blanket stitch along the flap. Once you have finished with the flap, move to join the first and second folds on the edges using the stitch.
■ You need not use the stitch on the bottom of the purse.Once you have rounded off the Blanket stitch on one side of the purse edges, move to the other side. Your purse is almost ready.
■ Here is where you get those small magnets out, or maybe press-buttons or velcro tape. Magnets that I had were self-adhesive. So it was just about peel-and-stick. You may use the hot glue gun or super glue if you have no self-adhesive magnets.
■ Stick one magnet under the flap, and the other to pair with it on the purse. Use this to hide your coins. If lying around your living room, it makes for a cute decor piece. It makes for a good pull-out for your vanity bag. Or a gift for your friends and colleagues.
(http://www.imprinthandmade.com)