Swoon Pattern Review of Eloise

Back in January, I announced the release of Eloise, Swoon's first wallet pattern, in this post and shared a pic of a halfway completed Eloise. I must confess I still have not finished that Eloise! Haha I am the worst for starting a project, setting it aside, and promising to come back to it.....I rarely finish such projects, because I always want to start from the beginning! I have, however, finally made an Eloise! Last month, the lovely Brianne from Ali Cat & Co. hosted an Eloise sew-a-long and I was inspired to finally make Eloise from start to finish. Thanks to Brianne's wonderful daily breakdown of the project, I tackled the project with determination and finished it during a very busy week. Here are some pics of my completed Eloise, along with my review of the pattern.

Front view (trifold flap)

I love the floral print I chose! And I think the purple polka-dots compliment it well! A great thing about Eloise is you can use a fat quarter for the exterior fabric! I always love projects that use fat quarters!

Back view

I am in the process of getting my own logo and new labels, but since I still have so many of my old ones I still use them for my personal projects. And a label just adds such a professional touch!

As you can tell from the above pics, Eloise is a zip around wallet that has a trifold compartment attached to one side. You can actually make the trifold by itself for a smaller wallet or you can leave off the trifold compartment, especially if you do not have a lot of cards. The complete Eloise has so many card slots; 18 total, I believe. See for yourself!

Card slots in trifold compartment (ten total, two not being used)

The trifold compartment has ten card slots and a bill slot. This is a great place to store your frequently used cards. Trifold is secured with a magnetic snap.

Inside the main compartment, are eight more card compartments, four on each side. There are also two bill slots, one on each side behind the card slots. Right in the center is a great zipper pouch, perfect for holding your cell phone and keys! Things you definitely don't want to loose!

Honestly, with all this room, you may choose not to carry around a bag! But if you do, you can now make an Eloise to match each of your Swoon bags! :)

Supplies needed for Eloise include the following: one fat quarter of quilting cotton for exterior, one yard of quilting cotton for lining fabric, 1/4 yard of double sided fusible peltex (this is wicked stuff!), 1/2 yard of craftfuse, one magnetic snap, one 18inch #5 zipper (you can purchase these at Wawak.com), and one regular 8 inch zipper.

Eloise is definitely NOT a beginner pattern, but it can be accomplished by the determined, patient sewer! The pattern provides clear instructions and excellent visuals. And if you need more help, I encourage you to visit Ali Cat & Co.'s blog and follow the daily sew-a-long instructions, which are still available. Along with breaking the project down into very manageable steps, Brianne provides some excellent pics and videos to guide you. I encourage you to check them out. And join the wonderful Swoon Patterns Group on facebook where you can get more help and encouragement for all your Swoon Sewing and where you can meet other obsessed Swoonies! ;) Hurry on over and purchase Eloise today!

Happy Sewing!

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