Introduction: Detailed Woven Duct Tape Wallets Instructable

About: I'm a DIY and photography enthusiast who loves to make stuff in his spare time. My DIY interests are pretty diverse, mostly I see something I want to make or a technique I want to learn, then start doing it un…

Yeah, yeah, it's another Duct Tape wallet instructable.

How boring, right?

The reason I'm doing this one is that I'll try to agglomerate knowledge about building all kinds of Duct Tape wallets and going into detail on a lot of aspects so that you'll be able to build the Duct Tape wallet of your dreams!

I'm going to tell you about tapes, I'm going to tell you about techniques and possibly throw in a few pieces of maker wisdom in between. Some of the techniques might be very simple, if not obvious, but the descriptions will be aimed at complete beginners. The techniques presented here are techniques I either picked up somewhere or came up with on my own and decided to be good enough or the best of the techniques I know of to achieve a certain objective related to working with duct tape. Some might take a little practice to pull off, but should certainly be worth learning. You'll never know when they might come in handy.

To summarize, this instructable will be bigger, longer and uncut!...props to those who get the reference ;)

if you just want to check out different wallets, see first (this) and last page!

Background:

'twas the year of 2011, I'm a happy owner of a real nice leather wallet, strolling around the neighborhood and when whipping my mighty leather wallet out to pay for something (I can neither confirm nor deny the purchase of surplus doomsday devices) when I notice something about my fine wallet - it was broken! To be precise, the seams on the inside were coming apart due to all the change I always carried around, it basically got destroyed from the inside out.

Drats, and I really liked that wallet, too. Took me ages to find one that suited my needs and really fit my aesthetics.

When I went home I thought about it and remembered you can make your own wallets pretty easily from Duct Tape.

A solution was in sight! I had some tape lying around, but no idea how to make a wallet. I already knew of instructables.com, so I checked and found a bunch of instructables which, combined together, gave birth to my very first Duct Tape wallet, a rather simple, silver one which I have and use to this very day! It's a bit beaten up by now, so I'll be making a replacement someday soon, but that's another story.

Anyway, the thought of making, modifying and adapting all sorts of wallets became pretty likeable. I reached a pretty decent level at making those wallets when someone asked me to make a tutorial for a woven wallet, which I did.

I took hundreds of pictures (I think it was about 500, no joke here), batch-processed them with a HDR tonemapper (I was too lazy to do all of these by hand, so try to overlook any chromatic aberrations and such) and wrote a tutorial. Having become a member on instructables I thought you might like this lengthy instructable as well!

Goal:

First I wanted to make an acceptable substitute for my broken leather wallet.

Then I wanted to learn a lot of different techniques and explore the possibilities I had for making Duct Tape wallets.

Lastly, I wanted to write an instructable detailing how to make awesome Duct Tape wallets.

Safety Advice:

This instructable invovles working with scissors and scalpels / exacto knives / cutter knives.

Those tools are sharp, so be careful and watch what you are doing and how you are handling your tools.

Also try to not tape yourself to the wall or ceiling in the process. It's pretty hard to get down on your own.

Step 1: Preliminary Knowledge: Different Tapes and Tape Types

Since many people might not know between the differences of duct tapes, I thought I'd specify a couple of different types that I have used so far and which tapes to steer clear from. I told you this instructable will be long and this is just the beginning...

Cheap, thin no-name duct tape:

  • Pro: Great for starting out and learning
  • Pro: Mine was suprisingly durable, the wallet is holding up for three years of use now
  • Pro: Definitely worth a shot
  • Con: Depending on tape, adhesive might be subpar, melt in summer or similar

Duck® BrandDuck Tape:

  • Pro: My personal holy grail of tapes
  • Pro: Comes in lots of different colors, practically any color you can think of!
  • Pro: Odorless
  • Pro: Surprisingly tough and durable
  • Pro: Adhesive is strong but not sticky
  • Pro: Easy to fold without wrinkles
  • Pro: Strong and dense mesh
  • Pro: Is easy to cut
  • Pro: Overall simply the best thing I have ever laid my hands on in terms of tape (for DIY purposes like these wallets)
  • Con: Rather thick, will result in thick wallets
  • Con: This stuff is expensive, at least around here. I pay 5€ for 5m of this tape.

Tesa® Extra Power Universal:

  • Pro: Second-best tape I have used so far
  • Pro: Comes in several different colors
  • Pro: Stronger, albeit stickier adhesive (compared to Duck® BrandDuck Tape)
  • Pro: Quite flexible
  • Pro: Very durable
  • Con: Odor. Any roll of this tape I had smelled like rubber for weeks or more.
  • Con: Wrinkles are hard to get rid of when folding

Tesa® Extra Power Extreme Outdoor Transparent

  • Pro: All the positive attributes of Tesa® Extra Power Universal
  • Pro: It's transparent, so you could put pictures between layers for awesome effects
  • Pro: Extremely durable, water- and sun-resistant
  • Con: Thicker than Tesa® Extra Power Universal
  • Con: Adhesive not strong enough for added thickness, tends to make hairpin-like bubbles when folding over.

Gorilla® Tape

  • Sadly, never had the chance to test it so far, but gets an honorary mention
  • Pro: Dubbed the world's strongest and toughest tape
  • Con: Hard to buy here, also it's expensive
  • Con: Might be overkill for a wallet

Scotch® Tough Duct Tape

  • Again, sadly I have never had the pleasure to use one of these tapes, but it came up in my researches as a very noteable tape line
  • Pro: Multiple sites I have visited pointed out that these tapes are indeed "all that" (who got the reference?)

Stage Tapes:

  • For wallets, stay away from any product that's marketed as a stage tape. The reason is this: Stage tapes are, as their name implies, meant for use on stage. They are made specifically for the purpose for attaching stuff to other stuff for a couple of hours or days at most, without leaving any residue. Which means that whatever you build / make with stage tape will not be made for weeks or years worth of usage.
  • Pro: Great for use on stage
  • Con: Will come apart after a couple of hours / days

Step 2: Preliminary Skills: Cutting a Tape Strip Lengthways

This one's easy:

Put the needed length of tape down sticky side up.

Determine the width of the tape using a ruler, place the ruler close to the end of the tape and make a short horizontal cut at the widths you want the stripes to be.

Turn the tape around 180 degrees (still sticky side up) and do the same for the other side.

Use those marks to position the ruler horizontally, then cut the strip in half.

It helps tremendously if your rules does not have a flat bottom side but is arced instead.

Step 3: Preliminary Skills: Folding a Tape Strip

This folding technique is primarily for folding the tape strips as needed in this tutorial, meaning the seam will be on the back side of the strip.

Step 1 (picture #1):

Take any length of tape strip you want to fold and place it before you sticky side up.

Step 2 (picture #2):

First fold over a small portion of the strip, starting in the middle. Leave a little bit of the sticky side exposed so that the seam will end up on the back of the tape, facing you. I recommend an overhang of at least 0.5cm. Make sure that the fold you made is parallel to the tape's edge.

Press that area down to push out any air pockets and get a clean, straight fold.

Step 3 (picture #3):

Grab the lower right corner of the tape strip with your index finger and thumb, the sticky side is attached to your index finger.

Position this edge right over the position where it should be attached.

Prevent the tape from moving using your other hand, pressing down the middle section you folded first.

In a cross section you should have a tilted “U”-shape of tape between your hands, the two sticky sides should not be touching each other yet.

Step 4 (picture #4):

Use the index finger of your left hand to fold the tape over by sliding it towards your right hand while firmly pressing down.

Keep in mind that your right hand should not move to ensure a consistent result.

If the distance between left and right hand is too long to close in one go, press the tape down as far as possible, then reposition your left hand and continue working your way to your right hand.

Step 5 (pictures #5 + #6):

Repeat steps 2-4 for the left side, using your left hand to pinch the corner of the tape down and your right to fold the tape over.

Step 6 (picture #7):

Carefully start folding over the overhang in a similar fashion as described previously.

Your result should look something like picture #8.

Practice this technique a bit and after a couple of strips you'll likely get wrinkle- and bubble-free results!

Step 4: Preliminary Skills: Marking the Middle of a Tape Strip

Making creases like these will come in handy when constructing certain parts of the wallet to be made with this tutorial.

Step 1 (picture #1):

Take a strip of tape you want to mark the middle of and place it in front of you sticky side up.

Step 2 (picture #2):

Touch the lower corners with your thumbs and the upper corners with your index fingers.

Fold it with the sticky side out and place the edges one over another as if to fold the tape in half.

Essentially, you are forming a U-shape of the tape with the sticky side out.

Step 3 (picture #3):

Now use your free fingers (such as your middle finger) to apply pressure on the folding edge. Do so on multiple places. If you unfold it now you will see a clearly visible crease marking the middle of the tape strip (see picture #4).

Naturally you can choose not to put the edges one over another and make the crease at another position.

Step 5: Let's Get It Started in Here With Tools and Materials!

Phew, that took a while.

Now that we know why I wanted to make this instructable, which tapes to use and what techniques are useful in making duct tape wallets, let's move on and list the tools and materials I used to make a woven duct tape wallet.

The picture shows pretty much everything you will need, but I'll list it anyway:

Tools:

  • Scissors
  • Cutter knife
  • Scalpel / Exacto knife
  • Ruler(s)
  • Cutting mat (optional)

Materials:

  • Tape #1: I used silver Duck® Brand Duck Tape
  • Tape #2: I used black Tesa® Extra Power Universal
  • Clear tape / Scotch® tape / Tesafilm® / Sellotape™
  • Old credit / telephone / membership / business / gift cards
  • Money bill(s) for measuring purposes
  • Clear foil, e.g. from a folder (optional)
  • Snap button (optional)

The woven wallets pictured on page one used about 5-6m of each of the two types of tape, so keep in mind that you're going to need quite a bit of duct tape.

Step 6: Prepare the Tape Strips

Here we are using two different types of tape.

Tape A, hereafter “silver”, is a silver Duck® Brand Duck® Tape.

Tape B, hereafter “black”, is a black Tesa® Extra Power Universal Tape.

Choose whatever colors and tapes you are comfortable with, I'll stick to these for now.

Step 1: Determine strip sizes

I measured the length and height of an average bill, which was about 8cm high and 14cm wide. As the strips we will be cutting will form the main pouch we will need to double the height to 16cm. Additionally we will need to add a couple centimeters to both dimensions as we will lose some length due to weaving and adjusting the edges later on.

I went with 20cm strips for the vertical weave (silver) and 25cm strips for the horizontal weave (black).

Step 2: Cut strips

Cut off a 20cm stripe of silver and a 25cm stripe of black tape, then cut them in half (see step "Preliminary Skills: Cutting a tape strip lengthways").

Step 3: Fold strips

Now fold them to about 1cm wide tape stripes (see step "Preliminary Skills: Folding a tape strip").

Note that all strips have the seam on the back, so there will not be any exposed tape / adhesive / seam.

I used 20 black and 20 silver stripes (though there's 24 silver ones on the picture), resulting in a ~21.5x10cm wallet. If you want it wider you will need longer black stripes and more silver stripes; higher: more black, longer silver ones.

Step 7: Weave the Main Sheet for the Pouch

Step 1: Affix horizontal strips (pictures #1 and #2)

Take the black stripes and affix them parallel to each other on another tape strip.

Using rulers to push the strips down makes this easier. Now fold that tape strip over. This will now be called “end”.

Keep in mind that all of the strips' seams should be on the same side, preferably facing down (this will save work later).

Step 2: Start weaving (pictures #3 and #4)

Take the first silver strip, also seam facing down, and put every other black strip above, the rest below. Push it all the way to the end.

Use clear tape to hold this strip in place for the weaving process (picture #4).

Step 3: Continue weaving (pictures #5 and #6)

Take another silver strip, again with the seam facing down, and put every other black strip below (beginning with the alternating one), the rest above it.

Push it all the way to the end again, secure it with clear tape. Continue this until you can't fit any more silver strips since the black one's are too short.

Step 8: Prepare Sheet for Size Adjustment

Your woven sheet should now look something like picture #1.

Note that I made this a bit more complicated as my seams are facing up on picture #1 instead of facing down. I had to flip it, add clear tape to that side, flip it again, remove that clear tape and then cover it with black duct tape. As your seams should be facing down you can just follow the following steps

Step 1: Flip the sheet over and line the inside of the pouch (pictures #2 and #3)

Now we will be lining the inside of the main pouch.

For that we flip the woven sheet over (note that the end, previously on the right is now on the left side) so that the strips' seams are facing up.

I used black tape, taping it vertically to not hinder inserting and extracting bills from the pouch trouch horizontal seams.

Step 2: Flip the sheet back and remove all clear tape

Well, the subtitle already says it all. Just flip it and remove that temporary tape. Do as Simon says!

Step 3: Trim it (picture #4)

I used scissors to cut away any excess tape and to have a more or less perfect weave.

Your result should now look something like the given picture.

Step 9: Adjust the Size of the Sheet

Well if you prepared it in the last step, then now it's time to follow through, is it not?

Step 1: Fold it into a wallet (pictures #1 and #2)

Take the sheet and first fold it lengthwise, then lengthwise again to simulate a folded wallet.

To explain a bit more detailed, starting from the sheet we had made in the last step:

First fold the bottom half up, then from this halved sheet the right side to the left to effectively end up with a folded sheet a quarter of the size.

The second fold should be one or two tape strips (1cm) wide. I used a stack of post-it-notes to simulate a full wallet and secured it with clear tape.

Step 2: Size adjustment (pictures #3 and #4)

As pictures #1 and #2 show, it still looks a little crooked, picture 2 shows that the lower half of the wallet is longer than the upper one, which is a no-go.

Use scissors to get it to a rectangular shape as seen in pictures #3 and #4.

Try not to cut away too much though.

Step 10: Fold the Main Pouch

Now it's time to fold together the main pouch.

Addendum: Alternative main pouch design

If you didn't want a woven wallet but a single-color one you can simply make a sheet of duct tape by overlapping strips of tape (sticky side up, about 1/3 of tape width overlap), then covering those with more tape (sticky side down).

To increase the stability of the wallet I suggest the outer layer to be horizontal and the inner layer to be vertical.

Step 1: Attach tape strips(picture #1)

Cut off two strips of black tape, slightly longer than half the wallet's height.

Place them at the outer edges of the wallet, beginning at the middle crease with half a tape's width of overhang.

Step 2: Fold the pouch (pictures #2 and #3):

Fold one of these tape strips' overhang inside the pouch so that the sticky side is facing up.

Then fold over the (here: left) half of the wallet to attach it using the tape strip.

Be sure to match both the left and right halves' edges so that they are exactly one above the other.

Do the same for the other side (picture 3).

Step 3: Clean the tape up (picture #4)

Shorten the overhanging tape to about 0.5-1cm overhang.

Make a cut along the crease down to the beginning of the wallet, then fold those two flaps over.

Step 11: Preparing the Middle Piece's See-through Window

Step 1: Get the measurements (picture #1):

First get the measurements of the folded wallet as the middle part with the window must be smaller than the folded wallet.

Mine was roughly 10x10cm, so I decided to go with a 9x9cm see-through window.

Step 2: Cut out the foil pieces (picture #2)

Pretty self-explanatory, really.

I took a clear folder and cut out two rectangles (squares in this case) with 9x9cm using an exacto knife.

Step 3: Preparing the window for assembly (pictures #3 and #4)

I cut off a 30cm stripe of black tape and cut it in half lengthways to use it for taping together the clear foil from the inside. Actually 30cm tape was overkill, 3*9cm would have sufficed. The reason I am taping this "from the inside" is because this method will leave no exposed sticky sides of tape which things you put into this pouch might catch on to.

I decided to use the black tape for the inside as it is thinner and more flexible than the silver one, thus preventing the inlet from looking “blown up”. This is one of the rare cases where Duck® Tape is the second choice.

I took a 9cm long strip of this tape (now 2.4cm wide) and folded it in half (see the Preliminary Skills sections for that), then stuck it to the transparent foil and put the other piece of transparent foil right above it so that both had exactly 1.2cm of the tape strip.

To make this easier you can simply take a longer piece of tape and then cut off any excess tape.

Now to make sure both foil pieces fit together nicely I used my triangle to cut away any excess on the non-taped sides to make them exactly the same size.

Step 12: Assembling and Attaching the Middle Piece

Step 1: Prepare for folding! (picture #1)

Now that we have the transparent foil in the right size and held together by one piece of tape it is time to add the rest of the necessary tape.

I wanted the inside of the wallet to be silver mainly, so the silver pieces of tape you see in picture #1 are those you will be able to see in the end.

The wider piece of those two is normal tape width, 5cm, the other one is half the tape's width, 2.5cm. All black pieces are also half the tape's width, 2.4cm.

Each tape strip is exactly as long as the side it's attached to.

Step 2: Folding it together (picture #2)

Fold the left and bottom piece of black tape inwards, overlapping them.

Next, flip the right half over so that you will get a nice pouch. This is a bit tricky, but if you don't like the result you can simply pull it off and try again.

In the end it should look like picture #2. What you see are the sticky sides of the tape.

Step 3: Attaching the see-through pouch to the wallet and cleaning it up (pictures #3 and #4)

Use 2.8cm wide silver tape strips to cover the sticky sides of the black tape you can see through the foil.

Flip over the shorter of the two silver tape strips from picture #1 to cover the tape below and the newly attached silver frame pieces.

Now you can attach the inlet to the inside of the wallet, right along the folding line, using the long silver tape strip from picture #1 (see picture #3).

Flip the inlet over to the left and use a second silver tape strip to secure the other side as well by attaching it to the inside of the wallet and covering the sticky side of the long silver strip you could see through the foil (picture #4).

Step 13: Preparing One Credit Card Slot

Step 1: Gather credit cards and tape strip, then wrap 'em (pictures #1 and #2)

Cut off a tape strip a bit longer than two credit cards are wide.

Stack 2-3 credit cards one over another, then wrap that strip of tape around them sticky-side out, making sure it overlaps while keeping it parallel (meaning: don't wrap it in a crooked fashion).

The reason we are using a stack of credit cards is that there's going to be tape added and the pouch will be flattened, so using one card would result in it not fitting properly in the first pouch. 4 or more cards would result in a pouch too loose for credit cards. My sweet spot was using a stack of 3 cards.

Step 3: Trim and add attachment flap (pictures #3 and #4)

Cut off about 0.5cm of that wrapped tape proto-pouch to see more of the credit cards.

Also take a strip of silver tape as long as a credit card's wide and cut it as shown in picture #3.

Take this credit card with the attached tape, flip it around so it's sticky side up and after you removed all credit cards in the “tape tunnel”, push this credit card with tape through from below until the lower edge of the card is out.

Then attach the tape by pressing on the edge of the “tape tunnel” above it (picture #4).

Step 4: Close off the pouches' bottom (pictures #5 and #6)

Cut another piece of tape as wide as a credit card.

Insert the previously removed three credit cards again.

Seal the bottom of the “tape tunnel” by taking the tape strip sticky-side up and attaching it to the “tape tunnel“ with about half the tape's width of overhang. Flip the “tape tunnel” over, then flip the overhanging tape over so that the “tape tunnel” becomes a pouch/credit card slot.

Step 14: Attaching the First Credit Card Slot

Remove the credit card attached to the piece of silver tape.

Take the previously made credit card slot and place it on the wallet at a place you feel comfortable with.

Be sure to leave a little space to the left edge of the wallet as well as its middle.

I used the credit card's upper edge as a guide and positioned the slot in a way that the upper edge of the credit card will be slightly below the wallet's edge.

Shorten the excess silver tape to about 1cm overhang, then flip it over to attach it to the inside of the main (banknote) pouch (picture 2).

Step 15: Attaching Further Credit Card Slots

Step 1: Prepare another pouch (picture #1)

Make another credit card slot as described previously.

Make sure to insert at least one credit card during attachment of the slots for stability reasons.

Prepare the overhanging silver tape by cutting the part extending over the credit cards' edge into a trapezoid shape.

Step 2: Attach this pouch to above one (picture #2)

Flip the slot and turn it by 180 degrees so the overhanging tape points down, sticky side up.

Insert this overhanging tape into the already attached credit card slot above the intended position.

Push the overhanging tape in until the credit card's edge is at the edge of the already attached credit card slot.

Make sure both pouches' edges form a straight line before attaching the overhanging tape by pressing the tape above it down.

Step 3: Flip this [four-letter-word of your choice] (picture #3)

Carefully flip the unattached credit card slot into the right position.

Leave the credit card inside and push it down a few times so that the slot will be thoroughly attached.

Take out the credit card and smooth the folding edges (left, right, bottom) by pressing them down.

Repeat these steps until you have enough credit card slots or run out of space.

Step 16: Cover the Sticky Parts / Finish the Credit Card Slots

Step 1: Cover the last pouches' edge (pictures #1 - #3)

Take a piece of silver tape about the length of a credit card and cut it in half lengthways (2.5cm wide tape).

Prepare it by cutting its top half into a trapezoid shape and attaching the rectangular bottom side to a credit card as shown in picture #1.

Use the same technique for attaching additional credit card slots (doesn't really matter if you do this with or without the credit card) to attach it.

Smooth the folding edge by gently pressing it down or rubbing it with the flat side of your fingernail.

Step #2: Cover the sticky bits (pictures #4 - #6)

Remove all credit cards, then take one strip of silver tape slightly shorter than the wallet's height and cut it in half lengthways.

Use these two strips to cover up the sticky left and right side of the credit card slots as seen in picture #4.

As you end up covering a good part of the slots themself as well, thus rendering them unusable, use an exacto knife and carefully cut along the edge of each slot so that they become useable again.

Now take one strip of silver tape a bit shorter than half the wallet's width and use it to cover up the central sticky part.

I tend to put this tape strips' edge right up to the edge of the lowest credit card slot so that you get a nice, smooth finish of the lowest slot (picture #5).

Finally put the credit cards back in. If it is too hard to insert them you likely have not been cutting free the sides of slot's opening wide enough. Use your exacty knife to fix this.

Step 17: Prepare the Hidden Pouch

Step #1: Get the measurements (picture #1)

Determine the height and width of the hidden pouch.

In my case, a credit card's width will do just fine.

Step 2: Make a tape tunnel (pictures #2 - #4)

As with the credit card pouches but extended, take two or three strips of tape a bit longer than two credit cards are wide.

Two or three tape strips depends on how long/deep you want this pouch to be.

Proceed the same as with the credit card slots: Stack three credit cards one over another, then wrap the tape around with the sticky side out.

Add another overlapping strip of tape to expand the “tape tunnel”. Alternatively you can first attach the tape strips to each other and then wrap them around the credit cards.

Make sure the pouch leaves some space in all directions (see picture #4).

Step 3; And a bit of silver lining, please! (pictures #5 and #6)

Take a piece of silver tape as long as a credit card's wide and cut it in half lengthways.

Insert the credit card from the bottom of the “tape tunnel” with the sticky side up, push it through until the lower credit card's edge is just over the upper “tape tunnel's” edge, then attach the tape.

Remove the credit card and flip the silver tape over to get a nice, silver edge for the pouch.

Seal the bottom of the “tape tunnel” the same way you did with the credit card slots.

Your hidden pouch should now resemble picture #6.

Take a silver tape strip as long as the opening of the pouch and insert a part of it
(~1-2cm). Make sure it is attached properly. Shorten the overhanging tape so that it will not cover the see-through part of the inlet, then attach the hidden pouch with the opening facing leftwards.

Step 18: Attach the Hidden Pouch

Take a silver tape strip as long as the opening of the pouch is wide and insert a part of it (~1-2cm) to attach it to the side that does not have silver tape yet.

To make this easier, you can angle its edges a bit like a trapezoid. Make sure it is attached properly.

Trim the overhanging tape so that it will not cover the see-through part of the inlet, then attach the hidden pouch with the opening facing left.

Your attached hidden pouch should look a like picture #2.

Do not cover the sticky parts yet as we are going to need them in the next step(s).

Step 19: Prepare the Change Pouch

This is similar to the hidden pouch, but with the opening pointing up.

Take three tape strips a bit longer than two credit cards are wide.

Stack at least three, better yet, five credit cards one over another to ensure enough room for change/coins, then wrap the tape around them sticky-side up.

Take one silver tape strip as long as a credit card's wide and attach it as seen in picture #2 (cover the edge).

The overhang should be ~1-2cm.

Seal the bottom the same way you did before (business as usual).

Step 20: Attaching and Refining the Change Pouch

Step 1: Attach it

Put down the change pouch right on top of the hidden pouch.

Be sure to get it right the first time because one the tape sticks to itself, it's over.

Also mind that the overhanging silver tape should not be pressed down as we will need it shortly.

Step 2: Add flap, refine the pouch (picture #1)

After you have attached the change pouch, cut out a pattern as seen in picture 1 so that the change will be easily accessible.

Naturally you can go for different patterns as well.

Next, attach a fitting strip of silver tape to the overhanging silver tape from step 1 with the sticky side up. This will become our flap to close the change pouch.

Step 3: Prepare your female snap button (pictures #2 and #3)

Place the female part of the snap button at a position you are comfortable with. I chose the center of the pouch, a bit below the pouches' opening.

Now take a short piece of silver tape and cut it according to your pouch design.

Secure the button as seen in picture #3.

Carefully cut the button hole open with an exacto knife. It's better to remove a little less than too much tape.

Step 21: Covering the Sticky Parts; Finish the Flap

Step 1: Covering the sticky parts (picture #1)

Use short and thin (~1-3cm wide) strips of silver tape to cover the cutting edges of the change pouch that were made in the previous step

Next, use longer, normal tape strips to cover up the rest of the sticky parts.

If necessary, re-cut the hole for the bottom button (picture #1). Make sure to not cover the button with too many layers of tape as it not not close anymore.

As you can see my change pouch came out a little bit crooked and wrinkled since I was not paying enough attention, but you can get it really smooth if you try.

Make sure to not tough the flap in this step.

Step 2: Determine male snap button position (picture #2)

Place the upper button part on the lower button part (close the button).

Then flip the overhanging tape flap over to mark the place where the upper button part should be placed. You can use a pencil or similar to mark the position, but refrain from permanent markers or poking holes if you do not want to add another layer of tape to the flap.

Step 3: Attach the button and cover any sticky bits left (pictures #3 and #4)

Take a silver tape strip as long as that overhang is wide and cut a small “X” at the place where the male snap button is / will be (barely visible here, just zoom in).

Attach this tape strip, making sure it fits nicely, then see if it works well by closing the lid.

If all works well, add a few layers of silver tape on the outer part of the lid to reinforce it.

Otherwise, try again, then reinforce the outer part of the lid.

You can now cut the lid into any form you would like it to be. I chose the plain rectangular one for this wallet.

Step 22: Finishing Touches

I used thin silver tape to frame the change pouch flap and to cover up any potential sticky edges.

Next I used strips of black tape to 'frame' the whole wallet, masking the exposed edges of the weave and silver tape pieces at the sides.

As a little bonus I also ran two very thin black tape strips along the middle of the wallet, left and right of the see-through middle pouch.

I refrained from continuing this strip around the back of the wallet as the opening and closing of the wallet would likely wear that part down fast, exposing sticky tape.

Anyway, good job in making it so far!

Thank you for bearing with me, my lengthy explanations, lame puns and even lamer references.

But you've done it, now you are the proud owner of a woven duct tape wallet!

I hope you'll have fun with it :D

Oh, right:

If you are looking for ideas and different designs for wallets, check the next page. You might find something that piques your interest there.

Step 23: Wallets Galore!

Using the techniques I have taught you in this tutorial you can make a multitude of different wallets, some samples being shown here.

Most wallets shown here were experimental, always focusing on a different aspect and trying out new things.

Your imagination is the only thing holding you back from creating the wallet you want!

Well, maybe a lack of tape, but that is but a minor, temporary setback.

Wallet #1 (pictures #1 - #3):

A wallet made from cheap, thin no-name tape.

Main pouch for banknotes, three credit card slots, a pouch for change and a clear middle part for pictures.

This is the wallet I have been using for three years now without a single reason of complaint. It shows a few signs of wear and tear, but still is in full working condition, which is more than I can say of my leather wallet which got this stone into rolling.

Wallet #2 (pictures #4 - #5):

A really simple wallet, actually my very first one, made from stage tape.

If you have read the page about tapes you should know it didn't hold - it took two days before first pieces of tape started to come loose.

Never, ever use stage tape for duct tape wallets, it's a waste of time and money.

Anyway, this one featured a main pouch for banknotes, three credit card slots, a hidden pouch behind the small change pouch and the small change pouch, which was closed with a simple flap.

I deemed this unsatisfactionary and started researching alternative closing mechanisms which were more secure.

Wallet #3 (pictures #6 - #8):

A tri-fold wallet which was my first test for checkered wallets. It had a main banknote pouch, several credit card slots, a slot with see-through window and an additional small pouch next to the main pouch.

Aside from being tri-fold, this was my first wallet which used a snap button for secure closing (can be noticed on pictures #7 and #8).

Wallet #4 (pictures #9 - #12):

I threw my accumulated knowledge at this wallet, which was made before the wallet I now use.

It has a snap button strap to close it and a see-through slot on the back for tickets or ID.

Inside it features the obligatory main pouch, albeit separated into two slots (see picture #11 or #12), a snap-button-secured, foldable change pouch with lots of room and hidden pouch behind, on the left there are credit card slots with another hidden pouch.

Finally, there's the middle part with see-through windows and a separator.

While this wallet is extremely functional, there were two things that turned out to annoy me:

First and foremost, the slots of the see-through middle part opened to the top, which made it easy for things fall out. This was a design flaw fixed in later wallets, and a no-go.

Second, that wallet turned out to be far too thick for my tastes.

Wallet #5 (pictures #13 - #15):

Essentially the same design as wallet #1, my preferred design, with a couple of small tweaks such as the design of the change pouch for more aesthetically pleasing looks.

The special here is that it's made from semi-transparent tape, which means that even if closed/folded, you could essentially see the inside.

It's a nice little gimmick, originally intended as a test to see if this tape works well so that I might lather take some paper, print a design on both sides and then insert it in between the layers of semi-transparent tape.

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