Cathe Holden’s Inspired Barn | Creative Lifestyle

Easy Leather Photo Wallet

Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Cathe Holden

Today I made fun and very easy project using a beautiful image from where else, but the Graphics Fairy! This time, a Victorian postcard image, (sans the dog.) This project is so easy that you could probably figure it out by photos only. There are so many ways to modify this idea with other great Graphics Fairy clip art.

I played with iron-on transfers on leather again. I am repurposing leather furniture swatches, but you can also find leather in your closet (old purse or jacket possibly?) or at the thrift store in the form of a coat or bag. And you don’t have to use leather, or even sew for that matter. Copy images onto cardstock for pretty photo mats!

I modified the dog postcard by removing his precious little face and changing the wording in the ribbon. You can access these modified images by clicking on the artwork above to retrieve the JPG file and reduce to whatever size you find best to work with.
Click on photos to enlarge for detail.

{1} I printed out the image onto Avery T-Shirt transfers for DARK fabrics. (No need to flop the image, you end up printing sort of a decal that you peel and stick.) {2-3} I then trimmed out each image.

{4-5-6} Following the product instructions, I peeled off the backing of each piece, laid them on the smooth side of the leather, covered with the parchment (supplied with the transfers) and pressed in places, (do NOT slide the iron around.)

{7} Once the images were pressed onto the leather and cooled, I trimmed them out. {8-9} Using the slowest setting on my sewing machine, I stitched around the inside of the circle design. {10} Then, with an X-acto knife, I cut out the inside of the stitched circle area.

{11-12} I positioned the two image pieces side by side with a gap in the middle (for the fold) on top of another larger piece of leather (suede side up) and stitched all around the borders of the two images leaving the inside edges open (to later slide in the photos.)

{13-14} I made a seam down the center of the wallet between the two images to score the leather for easier folding.

{15} After trimming out the final sewn piece neatly, I slid clear sheets of film into the pockets. {16} I used PVC plastic from a greeting card box.

I added my photos and tacked them inside the wallet with small pieces of tape to keep them in position.
Now I can carry my precious family in style in my purse, or place them up on my shelf at home.

23 Comments | Tagged graphics fairy free clip art images, Iron-on transfer dark fabric, iron-on transfer leather, leather swatches, Photo Wallet, picture frame, printing on leather, Victorian Post Card

The $22.50 Gamble: Wire Dress Form

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 by Cathe Holden

After a nice long morning walk in town with my friend, Rose, I swung into an antique store on the way home. Not a store I frequent, a little more on the “mantique” side, but I hadn’t been in a while, and I’m always looking for something fun to craft with.

Leaning against a shelf in one space was this wire thing. I knew I’d seen wire like that before, on dress forms I’d viewed on eBay. I brought the flattend pile of wire and small box attached with string to the front and asked the dealer if he would cut the string so I could see what was what. The tag was labeled circa 1940 and the box included dress form parts with an instruction book tucked inside. There looked to be enough of the wire mesh there to make something, even if I couldn’t actually assemble the dress form. And how could I resist the gamble, only $22.50.

Once home, it took only 15 minutes to form this cool cage of wire around my other vintage dress form by pulling and pinching the mesh.

All joining snaps snapped and although the stand is not complete, it’s pretty darn cool as-is and now my home (or studio) has a new sculpture -once I find just the right place for it.