04/14/2012 - Starbucks Wallet

Part 2 of the Starbucks experiment...which required buying a bag of coffee, but the bag was perfect for the face of the wallet. The green fabric was something random I came across. It was a half-sewn choir robe (or at least that is what looked like the intention) that someone donated to SCRAP. They get lots of fabric and do not accept clothing, but some pieces sneak in with the fabric and get donated to thrift stores. That is how I happened upon this unique fabric...oh, and if you plan to donate stuff, to SCRAP, be nice and don't try to sneak in clothing...even if it is half-sewn.

Reclaimed Material: coffee bag, coffee sleeves, choir robe, plastic bag
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, ruler, sewing machine, thread, iron, parchment paper

How I did it: This was similar to the CD Cover Wallet with a few upgrades. I used the same measurements, but instead of using bias tape, I used the choir robe...the color matched perfectly. I didn't fuse the coffee bag since it essentially fused plastic and aluminum*. For the pockets, I gently peeled the corrugated side off of two coffee sleeves and cut them to size. I fused them with a few layers of plastic. I covered the outside coffee bag with the fabric so that there was a 1/4" overhang on the outside and stitched it into place, then repeated this for the smaller piece of coffee bag so that the fabric made a liner for the cash part of the wallet. Things got a little tricky with the cardboard pockets and putting the wallet together. I had to make my own bias tape to sew the two pockets together. I then stitched the pieces together similar to the CD Wallet, but then again, made strips of bias tape to cover the edges and did the final stitch work.

What I would do differently: I do love the contrast of the cardboard pockets from the coffee bag, but I would rather have used a coordinating color of bias tape because it would have been much easier. I have a bunch I bought from SCRAP...but none really matched.

*I was quite sure about coffee bags being made of fused plastic and aluminum, but did a quick search to double check. I came across some neat ideas for old coffee bags: Other uses for coffee bags.