What's in your wallet?

Or to be more specific, a Patchy Pockets wallet? I thought I'd do a short feature on one of my favourite makes - the handy, ever so useful, Patchy Pockets.

The idea of a handy little keepsake item came to be a few years ago and with my growing bag of fabric remnants collected from many different places and from kind people, I thought I could put my idea into fruition.

My first Patchy was for my daughter, Katie. She had some really good friends but was hopeless at keeping track of their phone numbers or addresses for when she wanted to contact them. I made her a Patchy and typed up her friends' details onto little slips of card to slot into each pocket. That was the initial good use of a Patchy Pockets - an address book!

As time went on, address and phone numbers grew and the wallet became a home to scraps of paper with email and MSN addresses hastily written down - all stored in one safe place. She now adds membership cards and little friendship notes aswell.

So, one successful Patchy happily being used, I decided to make one for myself too as there are always little bits and bobs that I can never find in my handbag. Therefore, my Patchy contains and tab of headache tablets, mini notebook and pen (I can always find it now when people went to give me their phone number), one of those tiny screwdriver sets from a Christmas cracker (never used it, but hey, you never know!), a selection of plasters and my blood type card. Usually I'll add a shopping list and any money-off vouchers when I'm heading for the stores.

Just over a year ago I made a Patchy Pockets for my friend's second child. I used soft fleece fabric in a bright dotty design with blue fleece pockets and stitched a little white felt bunny with a fluffy woollen tail to the front. I embroidered baby's name onto a felt heart to slot into the first pocket. My friend sent me a letter to thank me and to tell me that she would put her son's first lock of hair, tooth, hostpital band and photo inside as a keepsake. What a gorgeous idea. Sadly, I didn't take a photo of this one but have often thought of making something similar to sell.

So you can see, the versatile Patchy Pockets can be home to many things. I have two available in my shop at the mo, and there'll certainly be more to come in lots of different fabrics.