a kind texan

That is so cool. And by the looks of it, it is a gift others would like to buy to!

So, I had a friend that loved to play cards. By Christmas, I didn't have anything for him. That made me feel terrible, so I built him a playing card holder. Now, he can bring his cards with him any wear, without filling up his pockets. Here's how it is built. This does involve casing the leather, so for a more in-depth tutorial, follow My link. First, find a deck of playing cards. These were my friends, so I borrowed them to build this. Next, I built a duct tape case for the cards, so they would not get water damage during the casing process. Duck tape can be a pain, and my way may be different from yours. After building your waterproof case, find a plank of wood about the same thickness of the deck. Mine was 3/4 inch thick. When you find the plank that you need, grab your leather. The leather should be light, but not to light. Unfortunately, I forgot what weight the leather was. You should need about 15 inches of leather, and it must be 4 inches wide, so you know you have enough. I prefer to have a large comfort zone with my leather, so the piece I used was 9*6, as well as a 3*5 rectangle for the back, and several 1*5 straps. Snaps and a snap setter are necessary, as well as a needle and thread. Hole punchers help with the snaps, and also the stitching. There is enough space on the leather to do some tooling, so tools could be used on the leather. Dyes make the leather look better, so I used black. So, to start with, you will need to take your cards, put them in the duct tape case, and case the leather. Take the deck, place it on the plank, and lay the large leather piece over it, with the top of the deck peeking out. Now, use some water and a cloth to make the leather wet. Stretch the leather over the deck, and use finishing nails to secure it. This will take lots of nails. Use a tool of some kind, I used a butter knife, to push out the air pockets. Moisten the leather, and let the leather sit, keeping the leather moist. This will take about half an hour, once assembled. *Since I have limited time today, I will not post pictures of the rest of the process.* Now, remove the nails. Use an xacto knife to cut off the leather with nail holes in it. Furthermore, make sure that the leather has a flat base. Take the small leather rectangle, and stitch that onto the back of the cased piece. You should now have a pocket, snug when the cards and duct tape case are fit inside. Once all of that is complete, we will atatch a belt loop onto the back. The belt loop should not go past the cards. W will also atatch 2 straps that go over the cards, with snaps set on the ends. Attach snaps to the cased leather. To assist in punching holes, use a saw, and cut a small piece of wood the size of your deck from the plank. Once you are finished, make it yours by tooling the front, and dying the leather. Here are the other pictures in order. And more.. Last one..

Thanks, that was hilarious!

If you go to Cabelas, you will see these cheap little multitools with a flashlight on the side. They come with stitched cloth holsters, however I tend to be rough with my equiptment, so I needed to stitch a new one. I made the case with a 4x4 square of leather, and rounded the bottom to give it the shape of an axe head when folded. I proceded to stitch on a belt loop, and stain the leather black. I stitched up the side, and used water to form it around the knife, so it stays put. The knife sticks out enough to grab it, and is well stitched. It is by far the best I've done (partly because I didn't try to tool the leather, but also because I planned it this time.) Sadly, my camera is being lame, so I can't take a picture, but when it works, I will update the thread.

OK, so after several long months of not having a sturdy table to work at, I finally got it back. In the time that it has been over at my house, I have built a pouch for a multi-tool I got from Cabelas. It looks sweet, but my camera is malfunctioning, so i cant post any pics. After I finished, however, the great holiday of Christmas showed up. Therefor, I am building a pouch for my friend's cards. I decided to use the wet form technique, and I say I am quite surprised by the turnout. It doesn't look half bad, and holds plenty of cards. Thanks for all the help, it realy... well helped. WOW, I just looked at some of my previous posts, and boy, was my spelling bad. Sorry.

I am going to be making a knife sheath for an old WWII knife, and I was going to tool a Combat Medic Badge and a Combat Infantry Badge on it. The man who earned these saved my father's life in Afghanistan, and this is one of the few things I can do for him. The knife is a Kabar (I think) and so I should have some room to tool. Any thoughts?

The way you put it, it sounds much simpler. I will try it soon, and try to find a way to post a picture. Thanks!

Thank you, dirtclod, but i do not have most of those tools. i have never done any shaping, and my space is limeted. I am not a very skilled leatherworker, and that looks very difficult.

I need a pattern for a Swiss Army Super Tinker (http://www.swissarmy...f&product=53341), and I want it to be somewhat small. I am new to leather craft, so I have limited tools and experience. I can not post pictures, but I can put links. Thank you!