Pearly White Quilted Cat Wallet

A quilted cat wallet with an embroidered face

The diamond quilting is what carries the design. The face sits on top of it rather than beside it, so the stitched eyes and whiskers follow the padding and hold their shape when the wallet is handled. There is no appliqué and no transfer: the motif is stitched, not printed, which is why it still reads from across a room. It is a plain rectangle, wider than it is tall, with the quilting running corner to corner.

Iridescent white with gold glitter ears

Called pearly white, the surface behaves more like mother-of-pearl in motion: turn it and it drifts towards mint green, then pale pink, then lilac. The two ears break that cool palette with a warm triangle of gold glitter each, and the zip pull picks up the same tone. The ears are padded, not appliqué, so they give a little under the thumb instead of sitting flat. Photographed straight on, the panel reads almost silver; seen from the side it warms up and the pink takes over.

The zip runs round three sides

Because the zip travels along three edges, it opens completely flat instead of gaping at one corner. The lining inside is solid black, so whatever you keep in there stands out and everyday marks stay invisible. There is none of the stiffness of a card-backed wallet behind it.

Checked against the photographs

A safe gift for a cat person

It makes an easy present precisely because it is not fragile: the cat is the point, but the wallet underneath is an ordinary zip-around that can be carried every day. Novelty accessories usually give something up in use; this one keeps an ordinary rectangular shape and simply decorates it. If the feline theme is a step too far, the other printed and patterned wallets run to flowers, stars and leopard instead.

Living with it

A dry cloth brings the sheen back when it dulls, and that is about the whole of its upkeep. It pairs well with the slimmer pieces in the small leather goods range once cards and coins deserve a case of their own.