One of the things I’ve really been wanting to try was making a wallet with the Cricut Maker. A few days ago I began scouring the internet for patterns. I wanted something free and simple to try things out. When I came across the MakeSupply company’s website, I was pretty much in business. They offer free templates you can download and even videos on putting them together. I downloaded a Bi-Fold wallet template, converted it from PDF to SVG images, and uploaded it to the Cricut app.
I have real leather to work with but I pulled out some faux leather instead. This is my first wallet, after all, I didn’t want to waste more expensive materials. Faux leather is pretty thin and the machine easily cuts through it with perfect cuts.
I watched their tutorial for basic assembly instructions and took all my pieces to the sewing machine. The faux leather material will easily go through my sewing machine and I’m pretty sure it’s more than powerful enough to handle real leather as well. I’ll find out for sure once I’m ready to dive into the real stuff later.
I’m used to working with things pretty flat when I sew. The one interesting part of making a wallet is that you have to make your inside pieces smaller than the outside to account for the bends in your wallet. With this thin material I didn’t need to leave so much space, but I wanted to stay true to the pattern before I started making my own modifications.
When the wallet is opened you’ll notice the gap between the two pieces. I guess when I think back to all the wallets I’ve had I remember seeing the hole in the bottom and sometimes it was hidden with a liner, but I never really considered why it was there.
Once the wallet is closed the gap collapses to almost nothing. If this was a thick real leather, there probably wouldn’t be much space left at all.
After a few zips through the sewing machine, the wallet was put together. I shoved some cards and money into it to make sure everything was sized correctly (and, of course, to Instagram it) and it came out perfectly!
Yesterday, I got the new knife blade for the Cricut and I plan on making some templates with thicker materials. Stay tuned!