Between the beautiful weather we've been experiencing the past week or so, the dog that needs a couple of walks a day and my general dislike of driving unless absolutely necessary, I've been doing a lot of walking lately. And because we live just a stones throw from our lovely little downtown, I usually end up walking there. The problem is that I usually find myself down there thinking "ugg, I should have brought my library card so I could pick up that book." or, more frequently it's the kids who are thinking "ugg, mom should have brought her wallet so we could get a cookie at the cookie store!"
But with two kids and a dog (who is after all a puppy, and a SPRINGER puppy at that , no, really she's pretty darn good, but she is a puppy after all) I just cant juggle my phone and my wallet and my keys and the leash and still be able to hold hands. I know what your thinking, bring your purse dork, but really, who wants to haul a purse along on a nice little afternoon stroll. SO more often than not I either don't bring any of it (and then either a) get chewed out by my husband for not locking the doors- he's paranoid or b) get locked out of the house, neither of which is fun) or I find myself with bulging pockets and dropped phones.
So last week when a friend sent me this link I was really excited, until I realized that, as cool as it looks, it really only protects the phone, it doesn't help you hang on to it, or to anything else. But it did give me some inspiration.
I tried this first with regular old felt but that turned out to be too saggy so with round two I went with the stiffened craft felt that they sell in big 11x17 sheets at the craft store. And I'm thinking next I might try using a felted sweater, if I can find one in a color I like.
So here's the basic process. Cut a piece of felt roughly 1/2 inch wider than your phone and about 1 inch longer.Also cut a second piece the same width but shorter by two inches, this will be your money pocket. Keep in mind that this was for an iphone, which is pretty flat, if your phone is thicker you might have to play around with the size. The good news is felt is cheap, and a 11x17 sheet will give you lots of room for error!
Next cut a slit a little more than an inch down from the top. I rounded mine but you could cut yours any which way you want. Cut a piece of felt in a contrasting color slightly larger than your front piece as well as a strip two inches by 10 inches long. Set the strip aside. Stitch the three layers of the pocket together using a very small seam margin, maybe 1/4 inch at the widest.
Once you have the pocket together you need to put two grommets in, one for the pocket and one
joining the two ends of the strip so you'll have a handy little wrist strap. Grommets sound complicate and hard but really, you buy a little set that includes a tool for assembling at the fabric store, whack it with a hammer a few times and your good to go. Honestly, don't let the grommets hold you back, in fact, they're kinda fun to use and once you have the tool, you'll find all sorts of things to grommet.Last step. Connect the two pieces with a key ring and add a clasp (a carabiner would work too,
you just want to be able to hook your keys on and off easily) and your set. Ready for some fall color gazing, cookie eating, kid and dog tiring walks!