Penny Inn Sew Along - Week 3

Now it's time to get into the magic of this pattern.  If you've never made it before, you need to pay close attention when it tells you to sew to a specific spot, and this is the perfect time to pull out the disappearing markers/Frixion pens, or tailor's chalk.

These are a few of my favorite marking items!

This week, we need to work on finishing the outside, plus getting started on the inside.  There are 9 major sections left, so we're going to go for broke and get this done in the next 2 weeks!

Step 8: Putting the outside all together

It's time to finish the outside.  Pay close attention to marks and your sewing. If you sew past a line, it's better to rip and resew now than to try to make it work later.  Get friendly with the seam ripper, hopefully you won't need it, but most of us will!  Be sure to flip your extra bit out of the way when you get to step G!

Cutting into the flap to install the lock can be nerve wracking, but just take your time and start small!  You can always cut bigger, but you can't add it back in.  I sometimes end up installing the bottom piece crooked/off centered, so my favorite fix is to add an 'accent' of vinyl behind the lock that covers the bad slits and reinforces the good ones.  A shot of fabri-tac or other glue holds it in place, and I can pretend I meant to add the accent piece.  ;)

Step 9:  Making the strap band

If you aren't adding a strap, you will still want the band on there!  It is a nice touch and gives the back of the wallet some fancy-ness.  ;)

Step 10:  ID pocket

This is pretty self explanatory, just make sure you do NOT iron the plastic!  Covering the vinyl window with a sticky note helps protect it somewhat, but just try your best to keep the iron away from it...  the good news is that it is usually pretty cheap if you screw up, the bad news is that if you screw up and melt it at the end, you'll have to either live with it (done that) or rip it all the way back to this step to replace it (or give up and go have a good cry...and then rip it back. )  If your clear vinyl was somehow creased/wrinkled from perhaps mysteriously ending up at the bottom of a stack of vinyl, you can carefully flatten it out with an iron on low heat and a pressing cloth.  Don't use a lot of heat or you will have a shiny new slick spot on your ironing board/pressing cloth.  Putting it between several heavy books also works, but takes longer.  You might get the same results running hot water over it and then squishing it flat with something like a quilting ruler, but I've never tried that method.

Step 11:  Card Pockets A

There are some good tricks for making card slots, one is it use an index card, draw your measurement lines (don't use your frixxon pens, ask me how I know!), and then use that to iron your creases.  I have a hot hemmer ruler that I use to measure my folds.  The only other tip I have for this is to keep a few old gift cards (empty of course) and use that to check your pocket depths and how straight they actually are BEFORE you sew them.  Make sure you start with your folds the right way, otherwise you'll end up with one pocket super short like I've done several times... (..they still mostly work)

My Hot Hemmers...you can iron on them!  They do tend to stick to the interfacing a little, but fabric doesn't move around!

Remember, DO NOT iron the ID pocket plastic!

If you've made it this far, go ahead and congratulate yourself, over halfway finished!

I meant to get this up earlier, so we're going to start a race to the finish line!  Check in on Thursday for the next few steps, and next week will be the amazing finish!

So far my own Penny Inn is still in the conceptual phase, but by the time I finally have a chance to cut into my fabric, I should be able to put it together in just a few days!  (or so I hope!)  ;)  Don't forget to share your progress pictures in the FaceBook group!