Floral Stripes Universal Add on Wallet Panel - ChrisW Designs Pattern Testing (and a Hack)

Sometimes you need extra features on a purse or tote bag, and the new release from ChrisW Designs is a GREAT way to add in more pockets and features to any bag! The Universal Add on Wallet Panel can be added directly to your lining (or outside) during the construction of your purse, I started doing mine without any bag in mind, so I hacked it to be a stand alone clutch.

The pretty vinyl kind of disguises all the features

Ikea hand for scale, it's actually pretty close to 'real' hand size!

Very little of the backing of the vinyl shows, so you don't really need to use HTV or anything to hide it!

The pattern itself has card slots (4), a clear ID pocket, a coin snap pocket, a slip pocket behind the snap pocket, a zipper pocket, and a flap to keep everything inside! It only uses a small amount of supplies, so it's great to use with scraps. I used a gorgeous floral stripe vinyl from Knitorious, Oly fun fabric for the card slots, some green grunge fabric inside the zipper pocket, a rose zipper pull from Wizardry, Stitchery, and Crafts, and some zipper tape from my extensive collection.

I filled it with business cards, because they were close by...

Sneaky little pocket

For my modifications, I skipped the step where you sew the piece to the lining fabric of the bag and trim it out of the way, instead I went on and did all the steps. I also cut a second solid piece of the main panel (just the outside measurements and none of the slots or holes), a piece of decovil lite that was about 1" smaller than the outside measurement (both height and width smaller), plus a piece of vinyl that was 9 x 3", and fused a piece of SF101 to the 9 x 3" piece. For the way I did it, you need a pretty sturdy machine if you are doing all vinyl! I have a Brother PQ1500sl that powers through a lot of layers, but I did have to go back over a few spots when my layers were insanely thick! I fused the decovil lite (centered) to the wrong side of the back piece, and let that cool while I made the handle.

Don't leave the clips on too long or you will get little dents that take forever to relax!

For the grab handle, I folded it in half the long way, then half again to hide the long raw edge (ended up as 9 x 3/4" piece), and sewed along both long edges at about 1/8". I positioned it down lower on the back, so it was below the flap areas and I would(hopefully) not have as many layers to sew through. I attached it with the x box stitching for security, but you could probably make it a little shorter and keep it away from the edges to reduce some of the sewing bulk, or even use rivets to attach.

The trickiest part of my hack is that you really have to pay attention when you stitch the front to the back, so you don't catch the flaps! I put glue around the edges of the back panel, and a little in areas in the middle where I knew it could be attached. I started on the right side, at the line where the long flap is attached, sewed down, across the bottom, and then back up until I got to the small flap attachment line. Then I did a few stitches above that small flap, up to the big flap attachment line. After that, I started again just above the large flap, stitched up to the top, across the top, and down to the top of the flap on the other side. 

My hand for scale, pretty much the same size as the Ikea one...

Have I totally confused everyone? If anyone needs more pictures/instructions, feel free to comment and I can try to do a step by step picture version for that part!

Zipper pocket!

I may go back and edge coat the entire thing, to give it a little more finished look, but I just didn't have time while I was rushing to get it all done enough for pictures. This really is a quick sew, especially if you use a scan n cut or similar machine to cut the pieces, but I just did it all by hand. I can't wait to see what everyone else does with the Universal Add on Wallet Panel, I bet there will be some awesome ones out there!

I just love this vinyl.