Easy Leather Photo Wallet

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.