Target Hotdog Wrapper Upcycle Wallet

A week or so ago, while I was eating some hot dogs at Target, I thought about what could be made from the wrappers instead of throwing them out. I smoothed them them out, brought them home, and set them aside while I occasionally came up with ideas while researching online. After examining a couple of different paper wallet designs, I opted to go my own route with a more conventional wallet layout.

What you need:
2 - Used but clean and flattened Hot Dog wrappers
1 - Pair of Scissors
2 - Straightedges for marking, folding, and measuring
1 - Roll of Clear packing tape
1 - Marking Pen
1 - Sewing Machine with appropriate needle (I used an 80)
Thread
Patience


Here's a look at my design notes. The bottom right shows the pocket strips and the folding increments.

View of wrapper before starting:

First thing you do is laminate both sides of the wrapper with packing tape. It's helpful to do it on a surface that you can easily stick and remove the tape from.

You could totally stop here and you'd have yourself some place mats.

The next two pictures show the layouts of the pieces prior to cutting.

Initially, I thought there were only four pieces needed until I folded and recalculated the numbers and found that two additional pieces were needed for the front pieces for the pockets strips.

These are the additional pocket strip pieces. They simply splice in.

View of wallet pieces before final assembly.

Close up of right pocket strip as folded.

Close up of left pocket strip as folded. 

Finished. As this was both a prototype and the real deal, I found the sewing to be a little bit more of a challenge. However, I pressed on and finished. You can see the pockets are similar but not identical. 

Bill compartment view.

Final view of wallet standing up.

I know there are a few places that can be improved. Because the wallet was made from limited pieces of paper and it was more practical, the pockets were made up of an accordion-folded strip. This causes a thickness issue. In addition, the I ended up sewing over a few areas three times. It's all in doing and learning.

Overall, I think it came out well for being made from hot dog wrappers.