Free Pattern- Tea Bag Wallet

Maddi and I love herbal teas and when the weather turns cold and miserable, she prefers to drink tea at Uni, instead of bottled water. The cafeteria offers green tea but not some of our other favorites, so she needed something pretty to pack her tea bags in........therefore I designed her a Tea Bag Wallet and now its a new free pattern for you to try as well:

She can throw this in her handbag and have a selection of her favorite herbal teas on hand, helping her to keep focused and relaxed during those long hours of study.
To make this Tea Bag Wallet you will need:
- 17cm main outer fabric
- 17cm lining fabric
- scraps of fabric for stars
- 10cm white homespun for stars
- iron on pellon (6 1/2" x 8 1/2")
- 1 x button
- 3 1/2" piece of hat elastic
- quilting cotton
- matching cottons for top stitching
- general sewing supplies

To get started, you will need to make three star blocks for the front of the wallet. The following instructions are for ONE star block only:

From the white homespun cut:
- 4 x 1" squares (A)
- 1 x 2 1/4" square cut diagonally twice to yield 4 triangles (B)
From your chosen fabric scraps cut:
- 4 x 1 3/8" squares cut diagonally to yield 8 triangles (C)
- 1 x 1 1/2" square (D)

1. Arrange the cut pieces according to the following diagram:

2. Sew a (C) triangle to one short side of each of the white homespun (B) triangles, pressing seams towards the dark fabric.
3. Sew the remaining (C) triangles to the opposite side of the white homespun (B) triangles, pressing seams towards the dark fabric, to make 4 flying geese units which should measure 1" x 1 1/2" when complete.
4. Sew one of these flying geese units to two alternate sides of the (D) square, pressing seams towards the square.
5. Sew a white homespun (A) square to either short side of the two remaining flying geese units, pressing seams towards the white homespun square.
6. Sew one of these units to the top and bottom of the centre unit, pressing seams open to alleviate bulk, to complete your star block which should measure 2 1/2" square. Make three of these blocks.

From your main outer fabric cut:
- 1 x 5 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle
- 1 x 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strip

7. Sew the three star blocks together to form a row which should measure 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" when complete.
8. Sew the 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strip to the bottom of the star blocks, pressing seam towards the strip.
9. Sew the 5 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangle to the top of the star blocks, pressing seam towards the rectangle. Your wallet front should now measure 6 1/2" x 8 1/2".
10. Fuse the piece of iron on pellon to the back of the wallet front with a hot iron and quilt as desired. I chose to stipple my wallet front using a co-coordinating quilting thread.

11. Position the button, in the centre of the bottom strip, just below the star block seam (as pictured above) and sew securely.
12. Fold the 3 1/2" piece of hat elastic in half and with raw edges together, position in the centre of the back of the wallet, leaving a small tail beyond the raw edge (as pictured above). Sew across the elastic, three or four times, using a scant 1/8" seam to secure into position.

From the lining fabric cut:
- 1 x 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle (main lining)
- 2 x 6" x 6 1/2" rectangles (pockets)

13. With wrong sides together, fold the pockets in half to yield two strips 3" x 6 1/2" and press.
14. Top stitch 1/4" along the fold, using matching thread.
15. Mark the centre point (3 1/4") of each strip, using either a hera marker or chalk pencil and pin pockets to the main lining.
16. Sew down the marked line in the centre of each pocket, using matching thread.

17. Sew around the three raw edges of the pocket, a scant 1/8" to secure to the main lining.
18. With right sides together, pin the lining to the wallet front and sew around all four sides, leaving a 3-4" opening on one side for turning.
19. Clip corners and turn wallet to the right side, pressing out corners. Press the wallet well and ensure the seams of the opening are pressed inside.

20. Top stitch around the wallet, a scant 1/8" to secure (this will close the opening).
21. Slip tea bags into the pockets, fold wallet in half and secure the elastic loop over the button to complete your Tea Bag Wallet:

I hope you enjoy this free pattern, its a great rainy day project.  Maddi was thrilled with hers and it comfortably holds eight of her favorite tea bags; quite enough for a day at Uni. I made one for myself also, to throw in my bag for craft days and visits with family and friends and can see a few more being made in the near future. They would make lovely gifts and you could add a few boxes of herbal tea to make it extra special.
Time to put the kettle on :)