bunny wallet

last weekend, i needed some time to re-charge.  i had an evening at home all by myself and i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it:

when i first saw this bunny wallet in the zakka sewing book i laughed out loud.  how could you not?  it totally looks like the bunny is cracking up too and trying to hide it!  i’ve been needing to replace my “card wallet” for awhile.  i had this handmade origami one that i’d bought a few years ago, but paper can really only last so long and this one was on its last legs.  i use a separate card wallet for all of those weird cards i only have to use occasionally (tax exempt cards for when i make work purchases, frequent buyer cards, etc.) so they don’t junk up my everyday wallet all the time.

and look how nicely they fit!  i took a few tips from martha mcgyver (button eyes, adding in a third row of pockets, making them all card-depth so the cards don’t get lost in too-deep pockets) and made a few substitutions of my own.  i think my favorite change was making it a magnet closure instead of a snap.

i wasn’t sure if i had any snaps in my stash, but i know i have some tiny, strong magnets that i got from somewhere random that have been looking for a good, safe (not swallowable) purpose.  and the bunny’s nose and paw-circle were exactly the right size.  although i learned the hard way that when sewing near magnets, the needle tends to get closer and closer as you sew and… needles can’t sew through magnets.  i finished sewing the circles by cranking the wheel (carefully) by hand.  but it was worth it.  i love the tidy look of the hidden magnets and i think they’ll last longer than snaps which tend (in my experience) to eventually start to pull and stress the fabric.

also, i was too lazy to figure out how to enlarge the pattern 200% without a copier at home, so i just eyeballed the shape of the bunny.  he’s a wee bit wonky, but i like him so very much!  (any of you common thread quilters recognize his ear and the red/orange stripey pocket and his paw?  love those fabrics and was so tickled to have leftovers!)

this project was a little time consuming and pretty detail-oriented, but when i was done, i felt my crafty soul refreshed and rejuvenated and… i have a bunny wallet that makes me smile every time i look at it!