Adventures in Seam Ripping and Swearing like a Sailor

I had great noble goals yesterday of making myself a wallet. It seemed relatively simple to make a pattern for the fold over kind with a slot for money and slots for cards. Of course I had to make it a little more time consuming by making it quilted, but I was really happy with how it was turning out. Of course, it couldn't be that simple...


Here's the machine quilting part which was actually a lot of fun.


I didn't run into any problems until I was sewing the last two pieces together... It's hard to tell here but there was some serious bulkiness from the layers when I turned it right side out. I foolishly used interfacing wanting to make it as sturdy as possible, but with all the fabric layers from the added pocket and card slots, it was just too thick... not to mention I used a light weight corduroy for the interior. I wouldn't stay closed on its own and when held shut, the inner pocket stuck out awkwardly above the outside of the wallet. I had intended to sew around the outer edges to secure the inner seams, but it was just too thick so the raw edges were left showing inside the wallet.

So after a day of making the pattern and sewing it, I took it apart again, one stitch at a time... I tried to thin out some of the interfacing in places where it was causing difficulties and I lowered the inside part which ended up causing another problem... raw edges showing on the outer part. Ah! So.. I took it apart again. And it's still apart as there's still more I have to seam rip before attempting to fix it. I don't want any of the raw edges to be showing so I'm re-sewing both the back and front separately and then I'm going to sew them together again. If that doesn't work... it's a lost cause and I'll have to start again using thinner material and with some adjustments to the pattern.

I'm sure this was way more than anyone wanted to hear about making a wallet, but it was such a huge disappoint when I thought I had planned it out fairly well. And when you spend your whole day working on something that you end up taking apart, it's more than a little frustrating. Jake had to listen to all the cursing and feet stamping that went along with this frustration. I know there's some lesson to be learned in this, but mostly it just reminded me how much I hate having to use a seam ripper.