ok so i havent posted in awhile, theres a lot of new "faces" here i see :)
anyway, i have this paul frank wallet thats thick vinyl, but i wanted to make my own with cuter designs than most of the expensive paul frank ones... ive never sewn thick vinyl like that and i was wondering if its better to hand sew or use a machine, and if i hand stich it, would it be easier if id i pre-punch holes in it and just thread?
if anyone has any insight on this matter please let me know!

starbaby

Lumo-I think this ones for you!(she has really cute vinyl bags on her site)

You should do some tests and experiments to see if heavy vinyl will work on your equipment. You should get heavy duty needles that are designed foy vinyl. If you hand sew it, it would probably be a good idea to punch holes first, but the best way to find out is to try it and see what happens.

I've been thinking for a long time about duplicating my Paul Frank wallet, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyway, I made my boyfriend a guitar strap out of 2 heavy pieces of vinyl sewn together and it worked, albeit a little frustrating for this sewer. I just used the leather-sized needle for my sewing machine.

You have probably already thought of this, but you would want to sew the design to the outside vinyl piece and the pocket to the inside vinyl piece and then sew the outside and inside pieces together.

And if you use that thinner vinyl between the inside and outside piece like the Paul Frank wallet - I suggest sewing with a piece of tissue paper between the sewing machine and the thinner vinyl. The thinner vinyl stretches a lot when sewing. Then just rip the tissue paper off when done.

Did that all make sense?

Ahh yes, I've been wanting to try this too. Although I have nothing to contribute. :)

Well, I did made a very lightweight wallet out of felted wool...I copied Paul Frank's Julius monkey with light pink and hot pink.

sometimes the vinyl will 'stick' to the throat plate *the onw with all the markings on it* an the thing wont feed through. if that happens, layer tissue paper over it, so it doesnt stick to the presser foot or the throat plate.
you'll know when it happens. it'll suddenyl stop feeding through nicely, and continue stitching in the same place, or do really itty bitty tearable stitches.

Where do you get vinyl?

the fabric store :)