September 30, 2011

 


Here we are for another merry-go-round post: eleven women blog about one topic, each from her own point of view. This month, a tutorial.

Here’s a quick and easy tutorial to make a business card holder from faux leather scraps. It looks like an owl, but you could make changes for a different animal. This eye-catching holder will grab people’s attention as you hand them a business card.

Why an owl? Well, I make animal art, so it goes well with my theme. If your business has anything to do with animals, this is perfect. Are you a pet groomer, birdwatcher, dog walker, zoo keeper, animal trainer, lion tamer? Use the pattern as is, or alter it for an animal closer to your line of work or lifestyle.

I’ve prepared a PDF tutorial with a pattern that you can download.

In this post, I’ll just give you the basic instructions. If you’re interested, go on over to my freebie page and download the instructions and pattern.

So, let’s get started!

Materials:

I used fake leather scraps which I buy online in the form of sample catalogs. Here’s a great source for fake leather pieces:

StarofSupplies

If you have fabric scraps in your sewing basket, you can cut some of the features from those. I’ve used fabric for the wings in this tutorial and the ‘ear’ linings.

I used felt to face the upper body section. It covers the back of the ‘ear’ tufts and gives a clean finish to the back of your holder.

Here’s what you need to cut:

From there, in just five easy sewing steps, you’ll have your card holder. (Instructions are beneath the corresponding photo)

1. Sew the eyes, pupils, beak and wings onto the front above the fold line using a zig zag or straight stitch.

2. Line the ‘ear’ tufts placing a fabric piece against a fake leather piece, wrong sides together. Stitch around the edges with a zig zag stitch. Do this for both tufts.

3. Fold the tufts in half towards the side marked ‘outside’. This side will be on the outside of the owl’s head. Stitch in place.

Then, attach the tufts to the top of the head. I placed them about 1/4 inch from the outside edges and they extend about 7/8 inch at the top of the head.

This is what they look like from the front.

4. Sew on the felt facing to the back of the head, stitching across the top about 1/8 inch from the edge.

5. Fold the card  holder crosswise on foldline and stitch up the sides about 1/8 inch from side edge.

Reinforce the top edges as they will get a lot of wear and tear as you put your cards in and take them out.

And there you have your owl business card holder with your cards snug inside!

If you’d like to see and try more amazing tutorials, check out the other members’ posts!

We are from different time zones, so don’t forget to come back if the post isn’t up yet.

Monika at Red2White

Ruth at Birdland Creations

Kim at Vilt a la Kim

Sara at Crafts of Texture

Mariana at Florcita

Agathe at Le Bar du Vent

Mitsy at ArtMind

Jen at Painted Fish Studio

Samantha at Vintage is for Lovers

Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

 

 

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