Family Memory Game in Felt Bag Tutorial

I made my first felt bag for a set of flash cards I got at a garage sale. I can't stand having cards in a plastic bag - the bag gets wrecked, discarded, and you end up with a flash card here or there, under the couch, in the toy basket, etc. So, I made a felt bag to contain them. Otto loves it and so does my sanity.

Last year I made a Family Memory Game for both sets of our parents - they were a hit, especially with the grandchildren - they get to play a game with their own faces on it, how cool is that?! The game itself is pretty easy to make:

Supplies:
One set playing cards with colorful back
Photos - 2 of each person/couple, size 2x3
Double-sided tape
Laminating Sheets
Laminator
Corner rounding punch

Tape photos onto the playing cards, then laminate. Round the corners with the corner-rounder punch. See? Easy.

The next part is the tricky part (for my artistic side of the brain vs. wherever the heck my math side of the brain is). You will need to measure your finished deck of cards like so:


Supplies for your Felt Bag:
Felt (I use a thick felt)
Strip of cotton fabric
Snap and Snap setter

Do you have your measurements? Now you have to do a bit of math.

Add: Width" + Depth" + .75"= width to cut your felt.

Add: (Depth" x 2) + (Length" x 2) + 2"= length to cut your felt.

Now cut your felt.

Measure the length of the felt and add 4".
Cut your cotton fabric: 2.75" (width) x (length of your felt + 4")

Okay, now the hard part is over and you can get to the sewing, Yay!

First fold over the edges (1/4") of the cotton strip and press.

Center the cotton on the felt and pin.

Turn over and pin the cotton approximately 1/8" from the end. This is really important because you will be stitching from the top and the pins will be your guide as to where to sew the ends down.

Sew all around the cotton piece, 1/8" from the edge. Now go back and sew from where you pinned on the back down to the other pin to close the cotton on the other side. After you are done, it should look like this on the back:

Fold the felt, right sides together and sandwich the deck of cards in between. One end of the felt should be flush with the top of the cards. Pin (like above) to indicate the top of the deck. [If you are attaching a label/tag, now is the time to sandwich it between the side seams] Sew the sides together up to the pin.


Trim the sides of the flap down to your sewn edges so you won't have extra material "flapping" out the top.

Put the corners of the flap together and round them with scissors.

Turn inside out - You are almost done!

Center the snap and attach according to package directions.

Now admire your handywork and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!


This is my first tutorial, so leave a comment if you liked it or if I need to change anything so it's easier to understand! Thanks!