Natasha Navigates Life: DIY Wristlet {Vera Bradley Inspired}

I feel like a total cheapskate doing this (I know I am), but I made my own Vera Bradley-style wristlet. It doesn’t have quilting, mostly because I suck at it, but it’s just what I need! It’s a little bigger and I did mess up on some stuff, but I honestly would rather carry this with its cosmetic flaws than go and spend money on the real deal. Besides, you can’t tell unless I point them out and make them obvious! What’s that? I’m not alone? Okay, well I’ll gladly tell you how I made my wristlet!

I started out by making a template with bright pink poster board. It’s about 8 inches x 4.5-5 inches. Way bigger than what I need, right? But it’ll help to make sure I have all the same size rectangles when I’m cutting. I ended up cutting 4 pieces of my zebra canvas, 5 (I think) pieces of my pink and purple fabric, and then a strip for my gusset that was about 1.5 inches wide, and a strip for my strap, and I have no idea what size it was; I just eyeballed it.

I started out by constructing my inside zipper pocket and card slots using this tutorial

Then, I attached my zipper to my outer pieces (with the card slots and zipper pocket pinned in place) using this tutorial.

At that point is where things go my way ;) I started with my strap, and folded it in half and pressed it. Then, I opened it and pressed both edges to the middle (sort of like making bias tape), then I stitched it all the way around. Finally, I added a tiny snaphook I found in my stash. Isn’t it adorable?

At this point, this is what you have for the body of the wristlet:

Before I add my gusset, I wanted to make the wristlet look a little prettier, so I pinned down and topstitched the edges next to the zipper. That tutorial may or may not have said to do that, but I wasn’t paying attention and I’m lazy so I didn’t go back and reread. And I wonder why none of my projects go the way they’re supposed to…

Next, CAREFULLY I pinned down one side of the gusset strip all the way around. This takes some patience (which I don’t have). When you’re stitching, watch your corners, and don’t get pricked by the pins!

Pin the other side all the way around (it’s easier than it sounds when you take your time), and stitch.

At this point, I turned the whole thing right side out, and ended up getting stabbed because I forgot to remove a pin from the side with the card slots (Note: I forgot to sew down the bottom of the card slots, so I can only use the bottom two, but it worked out for me).

I also added a small tab of pink/purple fabric to cover the raw edge on one side where the zipper and gusset meet. I pinned my strap underneath and zigzagged back and forth over it a few times.