In Part 1, I shared the dilemma that I was having with starting to sew again after many years hiatus…. .But I finally started… and this is where I left off…

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At last, I was able to get started sewing. Sewing. It’s so much fun. So relaxing. But alas, this machine was new. I definitely felt like I needed to test it. So I quickly found a piece of scrap fabric and went to test it… Oops…

“Where’s the lever to release the presser foot?” “Oh my.. it’s got to be here somewhere,” I thought. I found it and after figuring out that the needle was NOT running down the center of the presser foot, I was off. The tension was good on my scrap. Great. Heading off on a slow walk….

I had to top stitch 1/8” on several of the pieces.

What an easy way to get back into things. I’m serious. What’s easier than just straight stitching on something as nice and heavy and stays in place as great as cork does?

(But I must admit that even after having finished TWO wallets, that my hand still automatically goes to the BACK of the machine to raise and lower the presser foot, instead of to the inside of the arm, where it’s located on this particular Brother.)

I was really starting to like this product. This cork was lovely. It stayed in place. It didn’t flip around and I wasn’t turning anything under or over. I was simply straight stitching on top.

That done, I had to dig out the instructions again and put the pockets into position and stitch them on. I stitched on two, and then set the bottom one in place. You can’t stitch as much as you’d like because remember, nothing is folded under or hidden away. All stitching will be visible. Then, I made a center seam to make the separate pockets for the credit cards.

Next, on to the ID holder. I didn’t even mark that. I just held it over the spot where it was to be stitched down and secured it. I’m not used to not pinning, but you can’t pin with cork. In fact you can’t even clip some things, as they’re not close enough to the edge. You just hold in place while you sew.

That was on, and it was time to put the complicated inside to the side and work on the outside. That piece was simple.

I stitched the strap into position, though I was supposed to just clip it. I had forgotten that with cork, you don’t turn anything under, so all of your stitching will show. But, I needed to have the security of having it sewn down, so I just considered it stay stitching, which I did leave in, since the orange thread matched the orange cork so well, you don’t even notice it.

Then, it was time to stitch the front to the back. I did clip that into place, and stitched it from the outside, as my orange thread would look nicest on the outside, instead of the white thread. This did make it more complicated than had I been able to see all the pockets that I was trying to stitch down without any previous stitching I position.

But, when I was finished, it was beautiful! I trimmed things up a bit, and wahlah, it was done! No turning it inside out. No pressing. It was just DONE. I did have to trim where my two layers of cork weren’t exactly lined up, so I trimmed it to the smaller piece.

 This is the first one.. all finished…

That was on Saturday. On Monday night, I finished up the second one.

Without all the angst. Without any of the fanfare, and second guessing and talking myself into and out of things, it went much, much faster.

Since I had the pieces cut, I was able to just sit down and put it together. I even got a bit (just a tiny bit) creative on the strap and put my own small piece of contrast on the contrasting cork fabric!

Then it was done.

So, now I’m the pleased owner of two wallets. Yes, I could have been more of a perfectionist. Yes, there are things that aren’t perfect. But, guess what? They’re done and that’s fine with me!

They are beautiful and hold money, cards, and your cell phone. I did not want to adapt the pattern too much and figure out how to deal with change. Plus, the extra weight of change would make it heavy and not as compact.

All in all, I’ve discovered why everyone is falling in love with cork! Not only is it beautiful, it’s fun and easy to work with!

And we will be adding cork to the site in the next few weeks! We know you’ll love it as much as we do.

Here’s the final picture and link to the pattern:

It’s a FREE pattern thanks to Sallie Tomato - so don’t be afraid to go get it! (This part was added by Becky!)

Be sure to check out what we have for you in the store!