Friday, September 10, 2010

The Lunch Money Cuff Tutorial (she: Christie)

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On to today's post...please welcome Christie!
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Hello Or So She Says fans!  I'm Christie from A Lemon Squeezy Home.  I am a stay at home mom to 3--a job I wouldn't trade for anything.

I have an etsy shop where I sell mostly glass tile pendants.
I am excited to be here!  My tutorial today is fast and easy to make.

My son has just started first grade this year, and we let him buy his lunch once a week.   Instead of him having to carry his wallet, he can just wear this cuff that holds his lunch money (or keys, notes, etc.).  I remembered when I was young seeing a watch with a detachable face that held money.  I thought it would be fun to be able to make something similar that would hold money.  I did do some research and saw that these types of things are sold online, but now you can make your own with some cute fabric!

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*I made mine to fit my 5 and 7 year old.  You can adjust the longer measurement to fit your child’s wrist.  Just make sure to leave some room for the velcro.

What You Will Need:

-two pieces measuring 8.5” x 3” of the lining fabric
-two pieces measuring 8.5” x 3” of the outer fabric
-3” zipper (if you don’t know how to shorten a zipper, here is a good tutorial for doing so on about.com)
-2.5” strip velcro
-two 1” x 4” pieces fusible interfacing
-glue stick

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(*I learned how to do this type of zipper following this tutorial found here on U-Handbag.  It was a lot easier than I had imagined.  Thank you for the great tutorial, Lisa!)

Iron the fusible interfacing down about 1/2” down from the top and centered, onto the wrong side of one lining piece and one outer piece.  The interfacing is ironed on where the zipper will be placed. 
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Place the lining and outer fabric with the interfacing on top of each other, right sides together.

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On the back of the lining piece, mark a line in the center horizontally, and 1” down from the top (the interfacing is on the back of this piece, at the top).

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  Mark a 1/2” x 3” rectangle, using the markings you already drew to make the rectangle centered.  See picture for reference.  (To explain this better:  You will draw a line 1/4” away on either side of the line that was 1” down, and then 1.5” marks on either side of the horizontally centered marking).

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And sew around the rectangle, as follows:

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(view on the front outer piece)
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Stick in your seam ripper or cut a small slit with your scissors in the middle.  Now cut a line through the middle, but at the ends cut diagonally to create little triangles:
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Now tuck the lining fabric through the slit.

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It’s gonna look a little crazy right now.

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Iron it so it looks like this:

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Take the glue stick and rub on the fabric part of the zipper. Place the zipper in the rectangle—the glue will hold it in place while you sew. 
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Use your zipper foot and sew all the way around the zipper.
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So you have this now:

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Getting close! 

Take your other outer piece and place right sides together with the zippered outer piece.  Place the other lining piece (the owl fabric in the picture), right side together with the other lining piece (that has the zipper with it).  See the two pictures below for a guide.
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Pin them all together, and leave a 3” – 4” gap for turning.

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Sew 1/4” seam around the edge.  Clip corners and turn. 
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Tuck in the opening and topstitch around the entire thing.
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Place the rough velcro strip on the top and sew on.  The soft side goes on the other end of the cuff, on the back.  
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If you don’t want your money to go clear to the ends by the velcro, you can sew a couple lines indicated by where I am pointing, or around there.
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You are done!  
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Thanks for having me over today!
~ Christie
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25 comments:

Jodie said...

Where did you find that great owl fabric?! Love it!

Farmer's City Wife said...

Those are great!! Finally... a sewing project I might be able to handle.

Thanks for this! :)

Christie @ A Lemon Squeezy Home said...

Jodie, the fabric is Riley Blake fabric:). I found it at a local Utah store, Pine Needles. You can order it online as well!

amelia said...

thx for the tutorial..
i love ur great idea.. :D

Mariel said...

Very, very, very clever & cute! Thanks for sharing!

Kate said...

Super cute! My little ones are too little for lunch money...but I am sure they could find some small treasure to carry around in one of these! Thanks for the great tutorial!

casserole said...

Isn't that cool!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-zippered-lunch-money-cuff/2010/09/10/

--Anne

Steph said...

Love how you used a glue stick to keep the zipper in place. Makes zippers less intimidating!

Paula said...

I love your blog!

Have a nice time!
Paula

Jessica said...

Im going to bookmark this for next year! Such a cute idea!....now to get her to EAT school lunch.....

Erika said...

Thanks for the great tutorial! My cousin has been asking me for a wrist band to wear while she runs for a while and I just haven't gotten around to figuring it all out. Now I don't have to! Thanks!

Sabra said...

You're brilliant! I really want to make these. And the fabric is PERFECT.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

I just clicked over from Lemon Squeezy and I'm so glad I did. Your blog is fantastic! I would love to link to this if you didn't mind.

Carpenter's said...

OMG!!! This is such a cute idea and I love the look/idea! Thanks for sharing!

Mao Mao said...

I'm on my way to the sewing machine to do one for my little princess! Tks.
www.maomaocrafts.blogspot.com

SophieLuck said...

great idea and great post!

one note. since you already have a zipper inserted at that point, you can just sew the entire way around both fabrics and flip through the zipper, rather than leaving that bottom portion open to turn through! even easier! :)

great project!

piecemealquilts said...

Very nice! I found your project on Sew, Mama, Sew! - I think it's one of the better ones they've featured.

Jill Dater said...

This would be great for a runner too.

Mrs. Rogers said...

That is so great! My boys will love those! Can't wait to make!

Goofy Scrapper said...

Oooh, I can't wait to try this out. I thought the idea was fabulous and posted a link from my blog. I'm anxious to try it out myself! TFS.

www.goofyscrapper.blogspot.com

Caroline ~ TrilliumDesign said...

What an excellent idea!!! I'm so making this for my tweenage daughter and her friends for xmas.

andy said...

I made several for Christmas gifts for all ages. I also sewed all the way around and turned the back thru the open zipper. Find the 4" zipper in the doll notion sections. Embellish the cuffs with buttons, ephemera, zipper pulls etc. So fun. Great for parking meter money laced around the visor with elastic.

andy said...

I made several for Christmas gifts for all ages. I also sewed all the way around and turned the back thru the open zipper. Find the 4" zipper in the doll notion sections. Embellish the cuffs with buttons, ephemera, zipper pulls etc. So fun. Great for parking meter money laced around the visor with elastic.

Kristin L said...

Here's one I made: http://kristinlaflamme.com/musings/?p=1904. Thanks for a great scrap project!

Carolyn said...

These are awesome. Why would I want to waste it on a child. I'm making one for me. mwahahahahaha. Ok that might have been a bit much but you get the picture.