Posted on April 13, 2008 - by Chezlin
Cassette tape tutorial
A few days ago I posted about my cassette tape wallet and how it’s held up over the past 10 months, and I promised a tutorial. Well here it is!
First you need to get your hands on a cassette tape. For my first wallet I already had those at my house, but for this one I ordered them from American Science and Surplus. These ones were screwed together, so it was super easy to take them apart. My first one was glued together, so I had to carefully pry the pieces apart with a flat head screw driver. If you have to separate your tape like this, be very careful. I cracked one in half because I was trying to rush it 
Some are glued up pretty good.
Here are the pieces together. The zipper is 9 inches and I just placed the two pieces of the tape over the inside fabric to see how big it had to be. Like so:
But you still might have to cut it down a little more than that, so it fits snug inside. I actually ended up using a piece of red felt for the inside rather than this hot pink jersey material. The felt was thicker and I like how the thicker fabric looked better than the thinner jersey.
Take some pliers and go to town on the little pieces that stick up on the inside. Be careful as you get to the pieces close to the edge, you might end up taking a whole chunk of the outside of the tape as well. I almost did a couple of times! You could use a Dremel tool to do this part.. It’s what I used for my first cassette tape wallet, but I wouldn’t recommend going that route, because it resulted in many tiny burns all over my arms and whatnot from molten globs of plastic that shot at me from the Dremel.
Now here’s the fun part.
Take your zipper and slowly start to glue it to the inside of the tape. I use the glue E6000. I’m pretty much in love with that glue, it works so well. Some people have recommended using hot glue because it doesn’t take as long, but I don’t think it’d hold as long as the E6000 has.
Anyway, as you glue it in, only apply glue to about an inch and attach the zipper, and hold it for a few minutes. Make sure the zipper foot has enough room to easily zip and unzip. Rinse and repeat until you’ve made it all the way around. If you don’t hold it down and wait for those few minutes, the zipper and tape will come apart and result in much frustration and glue-fingers. As you see here, I have quite a bit of zipper left over, so I just ended up making it go a little further onto the bottom of the tape. On my original tape the zipper ended up fitting perfectly, I don’t know what the deal is with this one! You should do this step with the zipper unzipped or else you’ll end up having to really carefully unzip the stupid thing when the glue hasn’t cured all the way.
Here it is unzipped. Glue on the other side of the zipper to the other cassette tape half.
Here are the two sides all glued in.
Slather your glue of choice all over the inside of the tape and apply the inside fabric. Press it down with some pressure and hold for a minute or two, and that should be fine.
Now, I recommend not to touch this thing until at least 24 hours have past. If you don’t you’ll regret it because if you don’t give it at least 24 hours for the glue to cure, it will probably fall apart a lot faster.
Here’s the finished product. I painted it with enamel paints 
I ended up giving this one to my little sister. She’s had a good birthday weekend. If anyone has any questions about this tutorial, please feel free to ask!
122 Comments
We'd love to hear yours!
Leave a Reply
Here's your chance to speak.
Visit My Website
April 15, 2008
Permalink
Kelli Matthews said:
What a cute project! I’m putting together some links to fun e-6000 projects on the new Eclectic Products blog and I’ll include this one for sure. Eclectic Products makes e-6000 and we’re always excited to find passionate users!
Best,
Kelli
Visit My Website
April 15, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! I’m honored to be on that list of projects
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
RecycleCindy said:
Outstanding job and a fantastic tutorial. I love your projects. Keep up the great stuff!
Visit My Website
April 17, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! I saw your reply to my post on Craftster.. I was looking at your avatar/name and was thinking you looked familiar
haha
Visit My Website
April 20, 2008
Permalink
Rachel said:
I came upon your blog after facebook told me someone commented on the table you made. And now I’m SO inspired to make a this CUTE purse!
Also, the fact that I’m also called Rachel, live in Texas, and am in my twenties spurs me on a bit for some reason. haha
Visit My Website
April 21, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Haha awesome, I didn’t realize people were discussing my stuff on facebook
I’m glad I’ve inspired you. And yay Rachels! I always meet “Rachaels” but never Rachels. Haha.
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
ro95 said:
this is adorable!!! im definitely going to make these for all my friends birthdays, it gives so many options for personalization!
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Awesome! You should send me some pictures of them if you end up making some
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
Morgan said:
I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!
Visit My Website
April 24, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I’m glad you love it
Visit My Website
April 25, 2008
Permalink
lilred said:
WOW!! This idea is totally rad crazy. I’m in the process ofcollecting tapes to make these..they are really creative! Thanks for the tut!
happy.
Visit My Website
April 26, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
You should totally send me pictures of your wallets whenever you make them! I’d love to see them.
Visit My Website
April 26, 2008
Permalink
Addie said:
Thank you so much for this tute! I can’t wait to try it!
Visit My Website
April 26, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Your welcome!
Visit My Website
April 28, 2008
Permalink
Katrina said:
Wow! This is an awesome idea! When I need another wallet I am totally going to try this. It’s nice to have a use for all those old cassette tapes that hardly anyone uses anymore. Plus, the fact that this one has a squid on it made me happy. XD I love squids. Thanks for the tutorial, I saw you featured on the Craft Blog and just had to come and take a look.
Visit My Website
April 28, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thank and you’re welcome!
Visit My Website
April 28, 2008
Permalink
Lisa said:
Sweet!! Love it! Thanks so much for the tutorial. It actually sounds like I might be able to make this! LOL But the awesome paint job you did is definitely something I can’t do!
Visit My Website
April 28, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! Sometimes the original tape has enough decoration already, like on my yellow one.. it’s just that these ones were boring white, so I had to spruce it up
Visit My Website
April 30, 2008
Permalink
La Woodstock said:
what a cute wallet!!
thank you very much for sharing
Visit My Website
April 30, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! And you’re welcome
I’m glad you like it
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
yz said:
mmm i wanna try! XD
haha i wonder if i can sell them ?
after i make them @_@
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Uhh, I guess you could?
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
yz said:
really? that would be awesome! thank you very much
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I didn’t realize you were asking for my permission.. It’s not my permission to give, the idea isn’t mine, as I mentioned in my first cassette tape post. You’d have to ask them. That’s why I’ve never made mine for profit, because I don’t have permission. I make them for myself, friends and family, for free.
Visit My Website
May 3, 2008
Permalink
yz said:
im sorry if i offended u
but tat was the reason i asked for permission in the first place
nvm i’ll just try it out for fun then
Visit My Website
May 4, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
It’s okay, it’s just not my permision to give.
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Mike said:
I just stumbled this and think it’s pretty cool wouldn’t work for a guy too well though. One question, why would you give yz an ok to sell your idea and intellectual property for his/her own profit? yz you are an ass.
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! Yeah, it’s more ideal for a girl because we can throw them into our purses rather than having to face sitting on them and being uncomfortable.
Regarding yz, I didn’t realize they were asking for my permission.. I thought they were simply wondering if they could sell them.. which I thought was kind of rude, that’s why I commented like I did. Now that I’ve realized that though.. it’s not my permission to give, I used someone else’s idea to make my own, thats why I don’t sell them for my own profit.. It kind of irks me when people take other peoples ideas and sell them, so I try not to do that to others.
Long post! haha, thanks for visiting
Visit My Website
May 3, 2008
Permalink
yz said:
>…>
im sorry if u feel that way
this is the reason i asked for permission in the first place.
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Michelle said:
I LOVE THIS.
i’ve already made 3 today. =)
thanks you very much for adding a tute.
on question. what type of paint did you use to pain the cassette? or is it painting down then using sharpies or soemthing along those lines.
=)
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Wow! I’d love to see them!
The paint I used was the kind they use for model cars.. enamel paint I believe. I used sharpie, but just a thin yellow one for the under sketch.
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Lou said:
These are really cool – I love it when someone takes something old or vintage and re-works it into something unexpected AND useful. Great idea! (and seems easy enough, too.)
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks!
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chelsea said:
This is so awesome! I’m thinking it could be modified just the slightest bit to hold an ipod…with a hole in the fabric where the holes in the tape are for the headphones? What do you think?
Visit My Website
May 2, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
That’s a great idea! People would get so confused if they saw someone walking around with a cassette tape that had headphones sticking out, haha. Maybe I’ll try this out
Thanks for the idea!
Visit My Website
May 11, 2008
Permalink
Chelsea said:
Haha, I think it’ll work. I’m working on it right now. I’ll be sure to send you some pictures once its done!
Visit My Website
May 6, 2008
Permalink
Claire said:
I am planning to make one wallet like this, however when using the pliers, should you wear some kind of protective eye wear or am I just being to paranoid?
Visit My Website
May 7, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I didn’t wear anything (other than my glasses) because I wasn’t knocking off any pieces, I was firmly grabbing ahold of areas and breaking them off, so there were no flying bits of plastic. I mean, if you feel like you should, by all means go ahead, it’d probably be better anyway, I’m just pretty unsafe when it comes to crafting, haha.
Thanks for visiting
Visit My Website
May 10, 2008
Permalink
tuba said:
bn çok beğendim ama bunları n iglce olması çoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookkkk kötü
Visit My Website
May 15, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I can’t understand this.. but thanks for visiting!
Visit My Website
May 12, 2008
Permalink
Thomas said:
Why?
Visit My Website
May 15, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Why not?
Visit My Website
May 14, 2008
Permalink
Mandy! said:
thaaatss waayy too coooll
cantt waait to doo onee!!! ^^
Visit My Website
May 15, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! I’m glad you like it
Visit My Website
May 14, 2008
Permalink
Stephanie said:
lol um idk if this is a stupid question but did you buy the .50 blank tapes from the science store? And this is super dooper awesome and i’m soo happy you made a tut because everyone kept saying they would and no one did. so tytytytytyty!
Visit My Website
May 15, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I ended up buying a pack of like.. 5 old cassette tapes with self help kind of junk on it. It was only a few bucks from the American Science and Surplus.. I didn’t get the 30 second ones cuz I figured those were the tiny ones you stuck in an answering machine.. although, those would be cute for a little coin purse probably
Visit My Website
May 26, 2008
Permalink
Tami said:
so I tried this tonight (went raiding my basement for all the tapes I could find) and went to buy some zippers.
Well, at first, I glued the zipper inside out, didn’t realize it til I went to glue the other side on. Then after taking off the zipper, I did it again!
When I FINALLY got it, when I zipped it up, it was lopsided! needless to say, I give up for tonight! But it would be a PERFECT accessory for the record purse I made!
Visit My Website
May 28, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out too good for you. My very first one was pretty tricky as well. Hopefully it will turn out better if you try again!
Visit My Website
June 4, 2008
Permalink
Maluro said:
This is super nice!
I’m trying to make one right one… (except that I can’t paste it yet since I don’t have nothing to paste it with XD)
Anyway.. my question .. I have this cassette that has stickers and I trying to get rid of them so I can paint it later. But its a bit too hard!! Any suggesting of how to get rid of the labels =D??
Visit My Website
June 19, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
When I was little we used to remove stickers by soaking them in water and rubbing them off.. so that’s what I am going to suggest to you.
Visit My Website
August 4, 2008
Permalink
gen said:
try Goo Gone to get stickers off – it works GREAT on all the stickers my kids put everywhere – mirrors, windows, hardwood floors, walls, etc… – i have a small bottle (less than 4 oz) that has lasted 3 years so far. bought it at the hardware store, but probably available at the big-box stores….if not with cleaning products, check the hardware section – ask the guy at the paint counter
Visit My Website
December 23, 2008
Permalink
Laura said:
you can also try to use a hairdryer on it for a few minutes, thats what I allways do and it works perfectly fine, never tried the others
Visit My Website
June 19, 2008
Permalink
kyra said:
hi i love your tutorial! thank you very much.
but i’m wondering if how could i make the wallet thicker?
Visit My Website
June 19, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Hm! I’m not sure how you could make it thicker.. Maybe you could try to just barely glue the zipper in.. like, towards the edges of the zipper or something.. sorry I can’t help any more than that! Mine are always pretty thin.
Visit My Website
June 27, 2008
Permalink
tk said:
are the zippers closed-end or open-end? i’m not sure what kind to get. i haven’t looked for zippers yet, but where did you get yours? are they at specialty craft/fabric stores only, or would walmart have them?
Visit My Website
June 29, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I usually get the closed-end zippers, you should be able to get them from any craft store, and Walmart too.
Visit My Website
June 27, 2008
Permalink
maggie said:
so how do you get the tape apart?
the flathead screwdriver thing is just not doing anything.
Visit My Website
June 29, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I use an exacto knife on mine.. veeeery carefully!
Visit My Website
June 27, 2008
Permalink
maggie said:
haha ok i found some that screw closed.
Visit My Website
June 29, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I’m sorry you couldn’t get any other ones opened.. some tapes are kind of stubborn unfortunately. I hope you make some awesome wallets out of the screw-closed tapes!
Visit My Website
July 1, 2008
Permalink
jess said:
what exact glue did you use??? and does it stick to other plastics as well????? thanks!!!!! -jess
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
I believe I covered what kind of glue I used in my post..
“I use the glue E6000.”
Haha, yeah
I hope that helps!
Visit My Website
July 6, 2008
Permalink
c5 said:
This is a great recycling idea. I’m a recycling fan. I’ll try to look for old tapes to try an improvement–more like a divider–to be able to safekeep bills (banknotes) instead of being loose when you open the purse.
Great site!
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks for visiting!
Visit My Website
July 12, 2008
Permalink
Eridel said:
Thats pretty awesome. I have tons of old cassette tapes laying around. Looks like i’m going to have to try this out.
Visit My Website
July 25, 2008
Permalink
Pegs said:
WOW! I’m gonna try this out! Thanks for the inspiration!
Visit My Website
July 31, 2008
Permalink
Sarah said:
I LOVE THIS.
I will be making some.
:]
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Thanks! You should send me your pictures if you make some, I love seeing other peoples crafts, too
Visit My Website
August 7, 2008
Permalink
bella said:
uhh that is awesome..i’m gonna have to try that.
Visit My Website
August 8, 2008
Permalink
Melissa said:
i am going to go right out and buy like 5 thousand tapes at the secondhand store and make a lot of these. also, i have that same sewing machine that is at the top of the page there.
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
You should send me pictures of your tapes if you do this!
Visit My Website
October 2, 2008
Permalink
putingtikbalang said:
Thank you. you just gave me my first idea for Christmas gift-giving. (hugs)
Linking to your blog, if I may?
Visit My Website
October 16, 2008
Permalink
daniel said:
tried one of these before after seeing that one designer selling em for a ridiculous amt of money, didn’t turn out so well. so far the method with the e6000 glue is going good, but i’m just worried about how to nicely/cleanly close off the ends of zipper material at the bottom of the wallet.
i’m ok w/ sewing by hand and think i might need to do some of that to get the whole thing closed off with the zipper fabric attaching to the felt/interior material, so that there are no little gaps at the corners. not sure if i’m making any sense, if you could elaborate on how you closed off the loose zipper fabric ends itd be helpful =)
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
The way I made it look “clean” was to fold up the extra fabric tabs on the end of the zippers and glued them up inside the tape. Then when I glue in the fabric it gets covered.
Hope that helped!
Visit My Website
October 18, 2008
Permalink
Ashley said:
I saw the pictures of this a while ago and planned on making it, but when I finally got my hands on a tape, it was one of the glued together ones, not screwed together. So today I decided to dig up a screwed together one. Tips for anyone trying to do this, make sure the zipper is the right way when you glue it in, the first time I glued mine it it was backwards X_X. Also, make sure to either use an opaque tape or paint/sharpie a clear one, you can see the glue all over. Also, when putting in the zipper, start with the zipper end, not the end end, so you can lay it flat to put the fabric in, I started with the other end and it wouldn’t lay flat. But it turnd out! I’m going to decorate it once the glue’s cured and maybe I’ll get some pictures for you.
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Actually, the very first tape I made was glued together. I think I even mentioned it in my post as well. The screwed together ones just make it easier hehe
Yeah, I don’t like doing clear tapes because of the glue issue, that’s why I’ve only ever done opaque ones
You should send me those pictures! I’d love to see them.
Visit My Website
November 19, 2008
Permalink
Nakedcube said:
So I decied to make this today and I have come across some useful hints, I didn’t read all the comments cause there are just too many, but here they are. One is I broke a plastic knife in half to help push the zipper down and around the corners/edges while gluing. Also as I held it in place with the knife, I let a warm hair dryer run over it which helped keep the last piece I glued stay and not move before I glued the next section. I am thinking that maybe for the next one I can sew the zipper to the fabric and then glue the whole piece inside. What do you think? I am thinking it will work ok if I use a thicker fabric, like a wool felt.
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
When I made mine I just held it together with my fingers for a few minutes till the glue would stick..then I’d glue down the next half inch and repeat.. so it took me quite a while haha
I’ve seen people sew up a wallet and then just glue the tape onto the sewn wallet, so I’m sure that it would work for you as well.
Yeah, I like how it looks with the thicker felt as well.
Visit My Website
November 20, 2008
Permalink
derya baykal said:
You are great
Visit My Website
November 23, 2008
Permalink
Misty said:
It looks realy nice, but isn’t a bit fragile on the long term use? Wonderfull idea though.
Visit My Website
December 1, 2008
Permalink
Chezlin said:
Nope! Not fragile at all. In fact, I posted all about how well my wallet has held up for 10 months.. and that was in April.
http://www.chezlin.com/2008/04/cassette-tape-wallet-then-and-now/
I still use this wallet to this day
Visit My Website
December 14, 2008
Permalink
Alex said:
when i saw this i had to try it out eeee!
so cute, here’s how mine turned out:
Visit My Website
December 21, 2008
Permalink
Emilie said:
Freaking awesome project!!!! I love it… its perfect for christmas presents… I love the idea of painting them… I did a couple old school nintendo designs on them and am in love
thanks for sharing this!!!
Visit My Website
December 23, 2008
Permalink
Steph said:
I just made one of these as a Christmas present for one of my friends.
I painted Gir, hearts and Tacos on the outside in acrylic and ink and sprayed it fixative afterwards. Used some black scrap fabric from an old sweater and it turned out awesomely.
Thank you!
Visit My Website
December 23, 2008
Permalink
Steph said:
Finished product:
http://i44.tinypic.com/25rfgna.jpg
Visit My Website
January 3, 2009
Permalink
Mallory said:
I tried this last night and made a horrible mess with the glue. The e6000 likes to keep squirting glue long after I’ve stopped squeezing. Any tips for not getting it on the zipper teeth? I’m going to try again tonight, with a stiffer fabric and a sturdier tape.
Visit My Website
January 22, 2009
Permalink
Rachel said:
This is so cool! Thanks so much for the tute, I’ll be linking.
Visit My Website
February 12, 2009
Permalink
Carissa said:
Love it! Thanks for the tutorial
Visit My Website
March 3, 2009
Permalink
Alexwebmaster said:
Hello webmaster
I would like to share with you a link to your site
write me here preonrelt@mail.ru
Visit My Website
August 15, 2009
Permalink
Billy Tea said:
Hi Chezlin! I love this idea.
It is my ‘female companions’ birthday soon and I made one of these for her.
Using a Black cassette, Red Zip and Green inner material.
It took me 4 hours!
I made a few mistakes but got there in the end.
I hope my female friend likes it!
Thanks for sharing your idea.
Visit My Website
November 17, 2009
Permalink
marina said:
jaja me sirve para hacer la tarea de naturales
jaja
Visit My Website
November 20, 2009
Permalink
Kelly said:
My daughter found these on a website and they were 43 dollars. I knew we could make these, so we searched the internet and found you!!
thanks so much for the tutorial. We can’t wait to get started.
Visit My Website
November 23, 2009
Permalink
michel said:
i loved that idea please change it to spanish because i do not talk english very well. Please send to my mail new ideas about of recycle¡¡¡