Last year, we launched an online course, The Zippered Wallet, which helps students tackle the challenge of making this complex project. The most challenging aspects are related to the zipper, including sizing, placement, and alignment. There are other formidable steps, such as cutting all the pieces correctly and in the right sequence, so they all fit together.
We intentionally chose a simple interior design because the rest of the construction is complex. I know what I’m doing, and I still have to re-check some measurements.
When I use a new design, I refine the details further with each repetition of the build. My second build is better, my third is better still, so is my fourth, and so on. Someone else might be unable to tell each difference, but every little improvement adds up when you look at the whole piece.
I wanted to revisit this course’s project to create a more complex interior: six card pockets, with the divider serving as a billfold, and still have room to store additional cards and coins when needed.
A while ago, I made a six-card wallet for a customer with a gusseted compartment. I aimed to modify this interior design and combine it with the zippered wallet design.
Expanding on a Design
If you’ve taken the Zippered Wallet course, you know that we include patterns for both a #5 and a #3 zipper. You can see how the wider #5 zipper changes the pattern’s measurements. The thickness expands, allowing for that much more room inside the wallet. This affects the outer dimensions and the overall zipper length. To derive your own designs, a good exercise is resizing an existing pattern.
Apparel patterns include multiple sizes, so you usually don’t have to figure out how to go from a size small jacket to a size large. When you resize the pattern yourself, you gain a deeper understanding of each measurement and its impact on the fit. If your pattern includes multiple sizes, you have a way to verify that you’ve caught all the details. You can check how you did by comparing your sized-up or sized-down version. Did you miss resizing the arms or the shoulders? All the answers are there in the next size up. This is also useful if your body doesn’t conform to the new size. Maybe your shoulders or hips are wider, but your waist is smaller. If you’ve ever tried adapting a pattern and the result didn’t quite fit, you’re certainly not alone. I’ve done that many times, and in the process of making mistakes, I learned how even small adjustments ripple through the whole design.
With our course patterns, you can replicate this sizing exercise by using the pattern with the narrower #3 zipper and modifying it to a wider #5. You can then check our #5 pattern vs what you came up with. This will help you identify any missed details, allowing you to highlight them for review in future iterations.
Once you do this, you should have more familiarity with the pattern measurements. My goal was to modify the interior to fit card slots. This meant elongating and potentially widening the piece for the more complex interior.
I understood the pattern measurements, having resized it from a #3 to a #5 zipper. I then used a similar process to add card slots to the interior and change the overall dimensions. I also had an advantage in having already designed and created the new interior for another piece, so this involved combining the two. I’ve also made many other wallet designs, so I was already familiar with fitting cards and bills into the pockets. I could then apply these requirements to the zippered wallet course patterns.
A Compact Zippered Wallet with Pockets
I created the first version that utilized the #3 zipper as its base. I reduced the width of the original zippered wallet because the cards didn’t need that much space, but added height to make it easier to pull them out. The result is a compact wallet that can be easily stored in a small bag or coat pocket. The slots can accommodate six cards, and the billfold section remains compact by orienting the money vertically. This version is designed for individuals who prefer a smaller wallet with added storage and organization.
Bigger Zipper, More Storage
I made my next version bigger. Using a #5 zipper meant the internal components could be that much bigger. This time, I retained the original width and also increased the height.
By comparison, these card slots are much easier to use because they are much wider than the smaller version. I noticed that my recipient stored multiple cards in one slot, so this larger wallet would be ideal for that use case.
Expanding Upon Multiple Ideas
Create a system for your patterns, or, more fundamentally, make patterns, period. By making patterns and not ‘winging it,’ you become intimately familiar with every measurement. I’ve worked on mine so that many parts are interchangeable without any alterations.
In this case, I was able to combine two patterns—a six-pocket design with a gusset and a zippered wallet—and create two new patterns with distinct use cases in mind: a compact version (size 3) and a roomier one (size 5). Each new pattern becomes part of your arsenal, which you can use to create more.
Even if you mostly buy patterns, doing the above exercise will help you to make variations. Some won’t succeed at first, but you’ll build more and more knowledge about how to alter them and what to watch out for. You might also find happy accidents, such as the difference between the size three and the size five zippered wallets I made.
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