Welcome to HGTV Handmade: DIY Travel Wallet with Citrus Applique Design

As I always end up rummaging through a bag of important papers whenever I travel, I've been meaning to figure out a better way of organizing them for ages. Today, I'm excited to share with you a DIY project that you can use during your travels - a hand-stitched felt travel wallet with a citrus applique design. By changing the color, you get to choose which citrus fruit yellow for lemon, green for lime, pink for grapefruit, or orange. Nothing reminds me of somewhere like a fresh glass of lemonade, so I'm going to do a lemon this time around.

To make this project, you'll need 2 pieces of 9x12 inch citrus colored felt and one piece for the cover of your wallet. You'll also need a small piece of white felt, a ruler, scissors, embroidery floss, an embroidery needle, either a needle and thread or fabric glue, sewing pins, and an iron and ironing board. Additionally, you'll need to draw and cut out 3 paper circle templates - the smallest is three and a quarter inches in diameter, the middle one is four and 1/8 inches in diameter, and the largest is four and a half inches in diameter.

First, let's start with cutting out the felt pieces. Using your scissors, carefully cut out two rectangles from each of the citrus colored feels to create the wallet's outer shell. You can use a ruler to help you draw straight lines and ensure that your cuts are even. Set these aside for now and move on to cutting out the white felt circle.

Next, let's work on creating the applique design. To do this, cut out small circles from each of the three paper templates using scissors or a craft knife. You'll need eight identical triangles for this project, so make sure you're cutting enough. If you have trouble getting straight lines, try pinning down the felt with sewing pins to help you cut more accurately.

Now that you have all your felt pieces and circles cut out, it's time to assemble the applique design. Place a small circle of white felt on top of each of the citrus colored rectangles, just above the edges. Then, place one of the paper templates' circles in the center of the rectangle, slightly offset towards the center. You should now have eight identical triangles with a white circle at the center and a citrus-colored piece around it.

To create these triangles, you can cut along the diagonal lines from each corner of the rectangular felt pieces, cutting all the way down to the center where the paper template's circle is placed. This will give you eight identical triangular shapes with white circles in the center and citrus colors on either side. If you want to make them more uniform, try rounding off the edges with scissors or a craft knife.

Arrange the triangles in a pattern that suits your design preferences. You can do this randomly or create a symmetrical pattern by placing two triangles together at the edge of each other, repeating as needed. Once you're happy with your arrangement, use fabric glue or needle and thread to attach the paper template's circle to the center of each triangle.

Now that your applique is complete, it's time to sew everything together. Using a simple running stitch, sew around the edges of the two outer shell rectangles, leaving small gaps at the top for turning them right side out. Make sure you leave enough room for turning without being too tight, as this can cause the felt to pucker.

Next, flip both inner shell pieces over and press with an iron on a low setting. This will help create a crisp fold in your seams and ensure that everything lays flat when assembled. Now it's time to turn these rectangles right side out by filling them through the gaps you left earlier.

Take one of the outer shell pieces and place the largest circle where the opening is, just above the edges. Pin this in place with sewing pins, making sure they're secure but not too tight that they poke you. Then, take your inner shell piece and pin it on top of the citrus-colored rectangle, aligning the edges carefully.

Flip both sides over so the right side is facing up and press with an iron again to create a crisp fold in your seams. Make sure everything is even and smooth before sewing through all the layers together using a simple running stitch or any stitch you prefer.

Now that your outer shell is complete, it's time for the interior pockets. Fold the top edge of the inner shell over twice to create a casing for the pocket flaps. Cut two rectangles from the remaining citrus felt, slightly smaller than the inner shell pieces. Use scissors or a craft knife to cut along one edge, making sure you have enough room for turning without being too tight.

Place these citrus-colored rectangles in the case, aligning the edges carefully. Pin them in place with sewing pins and fill the pocket flaps through the gap, leaving small gaps at the top to turn them right side out. Repeat this process on the other inner shell piece.

To finish the interior of your wallet, you can add a few decorative stitches or embroidery floss patterns. Take some time to add any additional details that suit your design style.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome back to HGTV handmade I'm floored fair weather and I'm here to show you a DIY project that you can use during your travels this summer I always end up rummaging through a bag of important papers whenever I travel and I've been meaning to figure out a better way of organizing them for ages today I'll be showing you how to make this hand-stitched felt travel wallet with a citrus applique design and by changing the color you get to choose which citrus fruit yellow for lemon green for lime pink for grapefruit and orange for well you know I made this version with a lime earlier just to give you an idea of what you can do but nothing reminds me of somewhere like a fresh glass of lemonade so I'm going to do a lemon this time around to make this project you'll need 2 9 by 12 inch pieces of citrus colored felt and one for the cover of your wallet a small piece of white felt a ruler scissors embroidery floss and embroidery needle and either a needle and thread or fabric glue for attaching the citrus design and sewing pins you'll need an iron and ironing board you'll also need to draw and cut out 3 paper circle templates the smallest is three and a quarter inches the middle one is four and 1/8 inches and the largest is four and a half inches in diameter cut out the smallest and largest circles in your citrus colored felt and the medium circle in white felt pin the paper templates down to the felt to make this step a little easier place the white circle on top of the largest circle to make the slices cut the smallest circle down the center again and again like a pizza until you have eight identical triangles get rid of one of the slices then round the corners of each piece with your scissors arrange them like this with an equal amount of white space around each piece and this is what your applique will end up looking like next attach all of the slices to the white circle you can either use fabric glue or pin and sew them down like I did I used a whip stitch by hand but you could also use a sewing machine if you have one once you've finished that step it should look like this take the piece of felt you're using as the cover and fold it in half iron the fold on a low setting to give it a nice then open it and place it flat on your desk so the inside of the wallet is facing down then place the largest circle and the rest of the applique in the middle so the crease splits the design in half if you're gluing glue the white piece to the biggest circle then glue the whole thing to the cover of your wallet but if you're sewing you can pin the whole stack to the cover and sew through all of the layers like I am attaching them all in one step flip the cover over so you can see the inside and grab the piece of felt you'll be using for the pockets fold it in half the same way as the cover measure an inch past the crease and cut straight down along that one inch mark so you have two separate pieces place them on the back side of the cover with all of the outside edges lined up and a gap in the middle where your pockets will open then pin them down so you can sew those outside edges shut thread a needle with a long strand of embroidery floss and tie a knot at the end then start your needle on the inside of one of the top inner corners so the knot gets hidden inside your pocket sew around the outside edges of the first pocket attaching the pocket to the cover I'm using a simple running stitch but feel free to use any stitch you'd like you'll need to stop sewing once you reach this other inside corner so you can leave the pocket open for your travel documents to fit inside when you get to that point tie a knot to secure it and trim off the excess floss follow the same steps for the other pocket with a new piece of embroidery floss and your wallet is ready to go this is what it looks like when you're all finished there are also lots of ways to customize this wallet if you want to you could embroider designs onto the pockets on the inside before you sew them to the cover and you could even make the pockets smaller by separating them with another line of stitching like I did here you're only limited by your imagination when you're done you can fill the pockets with travel documents plane tickets Metro cards whatever you need quick access to on your journey I am super excited to use this wallet for my trips this summer if you are - be sure to post a picture of your finished project on social media using the hashtag HD TV a handmade I'll be back for one more video tutorial later this week so be sure to keep an eye out and thanks so much for watching youwelcome back to HGTV handmade I'm floored fair weather and I'm here to show you a DIY project that you can use during your travels this summer I always end up rummaging through a bag of important papers whenever I travel and I've been meaning to figure out a better way of organizing them for ages today I'll be showing you how to make this hand-stitched felt travel wallet with a citrus applique design and by changing the color you get to choose which citrus fruit yellow for lemon green for lime pink for grapefruit and orange for well you know I made this version with a lime earlier just to give you an idea of what you can do but nothing reminds me of somewhere like a fresh glass of lemonade so I'm going to do a lemon this time around to make this project you'll need 2 9 by 12 inch pieces of citrus colored felt and one for the cover of your wallet a small piece of white felt a ruler scissors embroidery floss and embroidery needle and either a needle and thread or fabric glue for attaching the citrus design and sewing pins you'll need an iron and ironing board you'll also need to draw and cut out 3 paper circle templates the smallest is three and a quarter inches the middle one is four and 1/8 inches and the largest is four and a half inches in diameter cut out the smallest and largest circles in your citrus colored felt and the medium circle in white felt pin the paper templates down to the felt to make this step a little easier place the white circle on top of the largest circle to make the slices cut the smallest circle down the center again and again like a pizza until you have eight identical triangles get rid of one of the slices then round the corners of each piece with your scissors arrange them like this with an equal amount of white space around each piece and this is what your applique will end up looking like next attach all of the slices to the white circle you can either use fabric glue or pin and sew them down like I did I used a whip stitch by hand but you could also use a sewing machine if you have one once you've finished that step it should look like this take the piece of felt you're using as the cover and fold it in half iron the fold on a low setting to give it a nice then open it and place it flat on your desk so the inside of the wallet is facing down then place the largest circle and the rest of the applique in the middle so the crease splits the design in half if you're gluing glue the white piece to the biggest circle then glue the whole thing to the cover of your wallet but if you're sewing you can pin the whole stack to the cover and sew through all of the layers like I am attaching them all in one step flip the cover over so you can see the inside and grab the piece of felt you'll be using for the pockets fold it in half the same way as the cover measure an inch past the crease and cut straight down along that one inch mark so you have two separate pieces place them on the back side of the cover with all of the outside edges lined up and a gap in the middle where your pockets will open then pin them down so you can sew those outside edges shut thread a needle with a long strand of embroidery floss and tie a knot at the end then start your needle on the inside of one of the top inner corners so the knot gets hidden inside your pocket sew around the outside edges of the first pocket attaching the pocket to the cover I'm using a simple running stitch but feel free to use any stitch you'd like you'll need to stop sewing once you reach this other inside corner so you can leave the pocket open for your travel documents to fit inside when you get to that point tie a knot to secure it and trim off the excess floss follow the same steps for the other pocket with a new piece of embroidery floss and your wallet is ready to go this is what it looks like when you're all finished there are also lots of ways to customize this wallet if you want to you could embroider designs onto the pockets on the inside before you sew them to the cover and you could even make the pockets smaller by separating them with another line of stitching like I did here you're only limited by your imagination when you're done you can fill the pockets with travel documents plane tickets Metro cards whatever you need quick access to on your journey I am super excited to use this wallet for my trips this summer if you are - be sure to post a picture of your finished project on social media using the hashtag HD TV a handmade I'll be back for one more video tutorial later this week so be sure to keep an eye out and thanks so much for watching you\n"