That Time I Sewed Manicure Wallets For Christmas

Several years ago, at the first American Sewing Expo I attended, there was a booth of painted glass nail files. They were lovely, but I didn't bring any home with me. The next year I went, the booth was gone, and I haven't seen it since. I was incredibly disappointed, as I'd come to think they would make a great gift for my girlfriends.

This year, I decided to poke around for glass nail files online. I stumbled onto some sets for a good price. They include a small file, a standard size file and a pedicure file. Upon their delivery, I thought they were so pretty that I was inspired to sew something to go with them and make a manicure themed Christmas present for the ladies in my life.

It took some Googling, but eventually I stumbled on the Snappy Manicure Wallet: a free pattern from Noodlehead. It was exactly what I'd wanted. Not too big with a zippered pouch and little pockets for a small selection of polish bottles.

Most of the supplies came from my stash. I only purchased some black ShapeFlex interfacing, 5 zippers and a half yard each of the skull and cherry blossom fabric. All the other fabrics, white ShapeFlex interfacing, fusible fleece, 18 pearl snaps, elastic and 1 zipper were all on hand already.

Making 6 all at once was both tedious and time effective. Each new step was interesting; a nice break from fitting garments and hand stitching my wool coat. Well, at least it was for the first few. By the time I had got to the 4th repetition, it was less fun.

It may look like a complicated project, but honestly the instructions are incredibly well written. Each piece fits properly and there really isn't anything to struggle with.

Even still, I managed to create plenty of hiccups for myself along the way. Skipped stitches, broken and bent needles....All of these things were totally avoidable if I hadn't been a lazy seamstress.

I'm not entirely sure if I measured the snap placement correctly, but I really didn't like the way they looked as instructed. So, I pried them off and used an evenly spaced three-snap combo closer to the flap edge.

It took me quite a while to add snaps to all 6 wallets, but then again, I mis-measured several having to pry them off and start over.

I have recipients in mind for 5 of the 6 wallets. I'll hang onto the extra one for now. I'm sure something will come up and I'll find a place to send it.

Here is how I plan to gift the manicure wallets, With a set of glass nail files and a bottle of polish tucked into the pockets.

Sewing for others is not something I do. But, every now and then, I am inspired to break my own rules.

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