How-To: Fabric Gift Card Pouch

I sometimes feel like a gift card is a little bit impersonal, but so many people like to receive them, and they're so much easier to send long-distance, so I end up buying quite a few of them. Last night I was getting ready to put one in a card and send it off, when I came up with an idea to personalize it a little bit. The gift card pouch pictured here took only minutes to make, and I didn't have to buy any new materials for it.

I always have bits of fabric on hand that I've applied Wonder-Under to, just in case I want to do a project like this, so I was able to pull from that supply for my gift card pouch. In addition to the fused pieces, which are used for the outside, the lining, and the decorations, I used scraps of quilt batting (in this case, Warm & Natural).

First, cut 4 rectangles of my background fabric and 2 of batting, each sized 3-3/4" x 2-3/4". Set 2 of the fabric rectangles aside to be used for the lining. Fuse each of the other pieces of fabric to a piece of batting.

Cut your embellishments out of a contrasting fabric that already has Wonder-Under applied to the reverse side. In my case, I used a circle template to mark and cut circles in several sizes. Place those contrasting pieces onto your previously fused fabric/batting pieces and iron in place.

Using a decorative thread (I used Madeira rayon), embellish the surfaces as desired. Decide which embellished rectangle you want for the front of your pouch, and cut one end off at an angle. You could create a fancier edge, but I was trying to keep it simple. Zigzag that edge with decorative thread. This will be the top edge of the pouch front. If you want the edge to be completely smooth, you can use a satin stitch (a slightly rough edge doesn't bother me, so I just used a narrow zigzag).

Now fuse the 2 remaining fabric rectangles to the backs of your other pieces, completely covering the batting. You now have lined front and back pieces. Place one on top of the other, lining sides together, and zigzag or satin-stitch around the 4 raw edges. You're done!

In addition to the gift card, I was able to tuck a few other small goodies into my pouch. The next one I make will be about 1/4" bigger in both directions so I can use it for artist trading cards. The pouch pictured here almost worked for that purpose, but it was just a little too tight.