Library Card Holder Tutorial

Hannah got her very own library card last week. To celebrate the momentous occasion, before this week's trip to the library (and when I say before, I mean like 45 minutes before story time was to begin), super-ambitious-Mama decided to make a holder for the card. It needed to be pretty enough so that Hannah would want to carry it, large enough that it (and the card) would not be easily lost, and have something to attach it to our library bag.

So I got out some clear vinyl I've been hoarding, and went to work. Hannah helped by choosing the ribbon and putting her card into every photograph I took. This turned out to be a good idea, because my worktable has a glass top, on which you can't see the clear vinyl, so the card makes it a little easier to see what' going on. Thanks, Hannah!

Materials needed are two scraps of clear vinyl (ours was from an old bag), about 24 inches of ribbon, and coordinating thread.

Cut two pieces of vinyl about an inch larger than the card on each side. Mine were 5 x 3.5 inches. Cut one piece shorter on the narrow end by about an inch.

Start with the shorter piece of vinyl (the front of the pocket). Finish one narrow edge by folding a piece of ribbon over the edge. Sew with a zigzag stitch.

Now take the longer piece of vinyl. Cut a long piece of ribbon for the handle. Mine was about 12 inches long. Attach it to the top (short side) of the vinyl.

Line of the bottom edges (short sides) of the two pieces. Attach the pieces together by encasing them with one lenght of ribbon. Sew with a zigzag stitch.

Finish the top edge of the longer pieces (the one with the handle) with a lenght of ribbon. This will leave the handle turned the wrong way.

Fold the handle up toward the top and secure with a zigzag stitch.

Finish the two long sides with two pieces of ribbon.

If you look closely, you will see that I didn't turn under the edges of the ribbon. This was mostly because I was trying to finish the thing in 15 minutes. You could make a very nice finish by doing this. In my case, after we got home from story time, I added a little bit of fray guard to the ends of the ribbon.

Hannah was so proud of her library card and its very own bag, that I could get her to hold still for a picture. You get the idea... I think she fancied herself a grown-up library lady with her very own custom purse.

And here it is, attached to our library bag, so we know where it is. The best part, it's on display for all to see that Hannah has her very own library card!

P.S. Did anyone notice the title picture says "weewarrens.com"? Get ready to change your bookmarks because we bought the domain name, and are working to change the site over in the next few days!