Yet another use for duct tape

We all know there are a million-and-one uses for duct tape.

What we didn't know, perhaps, is just how crafty one could get with the adhesive. 

Sophie Martel has a rather extensive collection of the cloth-backed pressure-sensitive tape that she uses to make wallets and handbags.

The 18-year-old Laurentian University student was inspired to create the accessories after her mom came home with a simple version of a duct-tape wallet. Since learning to bend and fold the tape into shape, Martel has been creating elaborate designs and fun patterns using different colours and styles of tape.

So far, she created about 20 different pieces — often using camouflage duct tape and sexy silhouettes on her masculine designs, and leopard prints, hot shades and bows on the more feminine ones.

Recently awarded the title of Sudbury Rep in the Miss Sudbury category of the Sudbury Youth Contest, Martel admits she has a “girly” side, evident in her designs, and a “not so girly side” evident in her choice material.

What Martel said she likes most about handmaking each wallet is the ability to be creative and include all the features she and her customers want.

“You can choose how you like it,” she said.

Since she's only been crafting the wallets for a little over a month, she is also learning as she goes.

Along with making something others can use and appreciate, Martel said creating the duct-tape wallets is simply fun. It allows her to be inventive and artistic — she's hoping others will benefit from it soon, too.

Thirty per cent of the profits she earns from the sale of the wallets will be given to a family of her choice dealing with an illness.

To order a one-of-a-kind wallet from Martel, contact her via Facebook by searching Sophie Martel. Wallets range in price from $10 to $15.

Posted by Arron Pickard