Short answer: Use nylon.

Long answer:
PVC does not flex like nylon or polyesther, so you will get wrinkles using PVC. When you use nylon you can stretch it drum tight, but afterwards in cooler weather it might slacken and wrinkle. ( 12 oz. nylon seems to be quite a bit more wrinkle resistant than 7 oz. ) A different type of wrinkling from PVC, which just wrinkles because it cannot do compound curves - and the wrinkles in PVC never go away in warm weather like they do in nylon.

http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/gYyvIExWkqU/default.jpg

PVC develops little pinholes easily, so you would have to patch it fairly often (depending on use) but patches are quite easy to administer.

I guess I have to give abrasion resistance to nylon, although it will be the coating that you use that will make the difference. I only use oil based polyurethane floor paint or spar varnish for my coatings. There are much tougher coatings, but even with poly, I would give the abrasion resistance award to nylon. A note here - I used to just coat my boats with 2 coats of poly. I now fill in the weave completely, which takes about 5-6 coats. That makes a difference to abrasion as well of course.

As for sewing, although it is a bit intimidating the first time, it's not that hard. It may not be beautiful the first time, but it's not hard.

http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/FYWJANqRUsc/default.jpg

http://capefalconkayak.com/howtoskinakayak.html

Additionally, I have built 3 folders, and I'm not sure why you would want to build one. Keep in mind that it will take about 45 min. to an hour to assemble, it's way more complicated and expensive to build, and it will probably still be too large to take on an airplane.
Cheers,

Paul M.
http://paddleandoar.com