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!

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http://eclecticproducts.wordpress.com Kelli Matthews

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
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks! I’m honored to be on that list of projects
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http://www.myrecycledbags.com RecycleCindy

Outstanding job and a fantastic tutorial. I love your projects. Keep up the great stuff!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks! I saw your reply to my post on Craftster.. I was looking at your avatar/name and was thinking you looked familiar haha
http://www.myspace.com/rainbowsugar Rachel

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
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
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ro95

this is adorable!!! im definitely going to make these for all my friends birthdays, it gives so many options for personalization!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Awesome! You should send me some pictures of them if you end up making some
Morgan

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  I’m glad you love it
http://ciaraxxx.blogspot.com/ lilred

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  You should totally send me pictures of your wallets whenever you make them! I’d love to see them.
Addie

Thank you so much for this tute! I can’t wait to try it!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Your welcome!
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http://feimi.deviantart.com Katrina

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thank and you’re welcome!
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http://www.thebunnylog.com/journal Lisa

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!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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
http://www.lawood.etsy.com La Woodstock

what a cute wallet!!
thank you very much for sharing
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks! And you’re welcome I’m glad you like it
yz

mmm i wanna try! XD
haha i wonder if i can sell them ?
after i make them @_@
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Uhh, I guess you could?
  - yz
    
    really? that would be awesome! thank you very much
    - http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
      
      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.
    - yz
      
      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
    - http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
      
      It’s okay, it’s just not my permision to give.
Mike

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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
- yz
  
  >…>
  im sorry if u feel that way
  this is the reason i asked for permission in the first place.
Michelle

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.
=)
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
Lou

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.)
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks!
Chelsea

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?
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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!
  - Chelsea
    
    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!
Claire

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?
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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
http://tuba tuba

bn çok beğendim ama bunları n iglce olması çoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookkkk kötü
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  I can’t understand this.. but thanks for visiting!
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Thomas

Why?
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Why not?
Mandy!

thaaatss waayy too coooll

cantt waait to doo onee!!! ^^
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks! I’m glad you like it
Stephanie

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!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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
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Tami

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!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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!
Maluro

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??
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
- gen
  
  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
  - Laura
    
    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
kyra

hi i love your tutorial! thank you very much.
but i’m wondering if how could i make the wallet thicker?
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
tk

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?
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  I usually get the closed-end zippers, you should be able to get them from any craft store, and Walmart too.
maggie

so how do you get the tape apart?
the flathead screwdriver thing is just not doing anything.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  I use an exacto knife on mine.. veeeery carefully!
maggie

haha ok i found some that screw closed.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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!
jess

what exact glue did you use??? and does it stick to other plastics as well????? thanks!!!!! -jess
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  I believe I covered what kind of glue I used in my post..
  
  “I use the glue E6000.”
  
  Haha, yeah I hope that helps!
http://globalrecycledproducts.com c5

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!
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks for visiting!
Eridel

Thats pretty awesome. I have tons of old cassette tapes laying around. Looks like i’m going to have to try this out.
http://clothwithpegs.blogspot.com/ Pegs

WOW! I’m gonna try this out! Thanks for the inspiration!
Sarah

I LOVE THIS.
I will be making some.
:]
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks! You should send me your pictures if you make some, I love seeing other peoples crafts, too
bella

uhh that is awesome..i’m gonna have to try that.
Melissa

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  You should send me pictures of your tapes if you do this!
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http://the-hobby-horse.blogspot.com putingtikbalang

Thank you. you just gave me my first idea for Christmas gift-giving. (hugs)

Linking to your blog, if I may?
daniel

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 =)
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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!
Ashley

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
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Nakedcube

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.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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.
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http://deryabaykalorgudunyasi.blogcu.com derya baykal

You are great
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Misty

It looks realy nice, but isn’t a bit fragile on the long term use? Wonderfull idea though.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  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
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Alex

when i saw this i had to try it out eeee!
so cute, here’s how mine turned out:
Emilie

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!!!
http://robotsinmyattic.livejournal.com Steph

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!
- http://robotsinmyattic.livejournal.com Steph
  
  Finished product:
  
  http://i44.tinypic.com/25rfgna.jpg
Mallory

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.
http://oneprettything.com Rachel

This is so cool! Thanks so much for the tute, I’ll be linking.
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http://equivocalnotions.blogspot.com/ Carissa

Love it! Thanks for the tutorial
Alexwebmaster

Hello webmaster
I would like to share with you a link to your site
write me here preonrelt@mail.ru
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http://www.billiardmusic.com Billy Tea

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.
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marina

jaja me sirve para hacer la tarea de naturales
jaja
Kelly

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.
michel

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¡¡¡
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http://www.debrasvedberg.blogspot.com Debra Svedberg

Very nicely done, sweet tutorial! Now when I’m thrift-store-treasure-hunting I’m going to look for some cool retro cassette tapes. I’d also like to try an 8-track if I could ever find one.
- http://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MZHOLLIWUDKITTI MzKitti
  
  I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING! And with a VHS too! Yes we still have tons of them around here. Ima ask my parents for some 8-track tapes too! =D
http://www.brandbagsbuy.com Brand Bags

Great DIY!
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http://newsnau.ru/ Конституция

Спасибо за хорошую статейку
Chiara

Hi!You works are so beautiful!
(Excuse me for the grammar,but I’m italian!)
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F

love it, love your tutorial, love the way you explain…sweet, simple, and explaining all the important stuff( the details!) thanks a lot! F.
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  @F: Thanks! That means a lot
http://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MZHOLLIWUDKITTI MzKitti

OH EM GEEE!! THIS IS SO HOTT!!! Sorry for shouting but this soooo rocks! no you have me thinking of VHS clutch! LOL im very crafty too! My aunt taught us very young (7yrs old or so) how to make picture frams out of cardboard, fabric, glue and batting! We made so many of those darn things! LOL! Girl i love this and your lil coin purse! I have a BUNCH of tapes from the 80′s (i hope…hmmm i may have tossed them ) in storage. I love your graphics too! Im going to get my 9yr old daughter on these projects! THANKS SO MUCH!
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abc

bu allah için nece.çincemi yunancamı
Marchelle

Could you give a tutorial on doing the paints? THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL!
Marceline Bonnet

idée géniale
merci beaucoup
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Aw, thanks! I’m glad you liked it
Christa Sunderland

So cute and a very clever idea I am going to give this a try soon
- http://www.chezlin.com Chezlin
  
  Thanks!
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http://www.facebook.com/menolly22 Jennifer Cole

For the zipper. Do I need to go out and buy one? Or, can I cut one out of a pair of old pants that I no longer need? Would that work you think?
ÖmrFrk

Hello my Turksh people there is my homework . Thank Youu
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