THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT WALLET

I've been trying to find the perfect pattern for a wallet that looks like this wallet that came with a purse that I bought.  I could have made it myself, but I found this pattern
ALL YOU NEED BAG
which looked a lot like my little store bought wallet, except that the card holder is on the inside instead of the outside.

 

 The top bag is the original wallet.  I made it according to the directions, but it is too small for what I wanted.  

So,  I got out the graph paper and drew up plans for the next one.  That one is closest to the size of the wallet I was trying  to duplicate.  But it was a little too floppy.  I decided some stabilizer was in order.  DRITZ INNERFUSE  Was what I used.  But with this one I made mistakes. Dumb little things like forgetting to sew down the sides of the zipper to tack the edges down, and I forgot to sew the 1/2" away from the vinyl to make the card pocket. 

 I decided to go back to the drawing board for the third wallet, and make it a little longer to accommodate a bill so that it wouldn't have to be folded.

But with this one I made mistakes. Dumb little things like forgetting to sew down the sides of the zipper to tack the edges down, and I forgot to sew the 1/2" away from the vinyl to make the card pocket. I also forgot the little ring tab on the side.  But with this one, I decided to round the corners because the bulk into squared corners made it look lumpy.

So, back to the drawing board.  The fourth one is just about perfect.  Right up until I realized that although I did sew the half inch away from the window, I forgot to put a pocket behind it, so that meant no small pocket to hold the cards.  And the stabilizer worked great.. but I forgot to put any in the front section. 

I have drawn up plans and made templates so that the next one that I make will be perfect.  I wrote down all of the steps so I have something to follow.  You wouldn't think it would be so hard, but apparently it is for me.  Seems that I always forget something.  I bought a different stabilizer.  I got a peltex sew in that is almost the same feel as the Dritz.  The difference is the Peltex by the yard is the same price as a 14X18" piece of the Dritz.

I'm still working on my beaded shawl.  I got behind in the steps, but I am on the next to the last step and there are no beads which makes up for having 1,500 beads in the last step.

So things are going well here.  Sunny days are nice.. and so is air conditioning.

I hope that you all are doing well and getting lots of sewing done!

Teri