OurJud

Love the ZerOz Wallet, but it's the planeness of the leather that makes it for me. Yours is very nice, but the tooling isn't for me.

Yes, this is right up my strasse! Love how the brown leather creates that black stripe on the inside of the spine. What thickness of leather (in mm if you can - oz mean nothing to me). This is also the kind of delicate stitching I'm hoping to achieve with mine, but the .08mm Tiger thread I bought might be too heavy. What thread have you used?

I'm intrigued, BigGriff. Are you saying you could have made the exact same wallet, but out of two layers instead of four? How? Layers is something I'm trying to cut down on with my designs, but I'd still like to make one that can carry more than a couple of cards. Eight and a few bills is my target as I suspect that will cover most people's needs. Sorry for the photo quality, but here are just two designs I've come up with so far. The first image is a front pocket wallet; cash slot in the middle, and card holders (open-ended both ends) on the back and front. The second two photos show a small bi-fold; two card slots inside, cash strap on the back. The card holders on both wallets will hopefully take four cards each.

Mmm, not sure I agree on the cash issue with minimalist wallets, benlilly. I accept that when you have to start folding your bills into threes it doesn't really cut it as a wallet, more a card holder with cash stuffed into it. But many minimalist wallets do come designed for bills too. One thing I'm noticing with the current trend of modern wallet, or smartwallet as I like to call them, is that the makers seem to concentrate on creating a capsule to hold your cards and cash as compactly as possible, but then forget about access to those things. Easy access is something I will be making priority, but combining that with a minimalist, modern design is proving difficult.

Yeah, fascinating watch and lovely wallets. As for the dogs... well, I didn't well up during the bit where you had to cut the filming for a cuddle... 'onest I didn't.

I've been doing a fair bit of research on wallets recently, especially by watching a guy on youtube who seems pretty obsessed with finding the ultimate thin wallet. His name is Steve Montelli and he's now in that privileged position - due to his channel - where people are sending him their creations in the hope he'll do a review on it. Anyway, the trend is definitely moving away from the 5" thick buldging bi-folds and towards the sleek, minimalist and modern slim wallets and it's something I am passionate about getting involved in. Now I'm not asking for anyone to design my wallet, but I would love to get a discussion going where people can throw ideas about in terms of innovation and originality. I must admit, so far my cardboard templates have been little more than variations on the classic front pocket wallet, such as the Saddleback ID Wallet, and I'm finding it very difficult to come up with a truly original design. As a little inspiration, this is Steve going through the wallets that 'made the cut' to 2014 [sorry they're not all leather]

Thanks again. I just ordered one from amazon. It's a cheapo but got good reviews so I'll see how it goes.

Thanks, Tree Reaper. I must confess I was forgetting about the thread having to go through the same holes twice.

I'm going to be having a go at stitching for the first time ever, just as soon as I have everything I need, but I have a question about awls. I've been looking at a few shops online, but they never seem to talk about the size of the awl, at least not in terms of its width. My project is a slim, front pocket wallet, so I don't want the holes to be much bigger than the 0.8mm Tiger thread I'll be using. I'd also like to use a round awl as opposed to a diamond one, as I don't want the diagonal stitch a diamond awl gives. Thanks in advance.

Now that's what I wanna here! Just out of interest, though, how do you manage to saddle stitch without a pony? I don't think you're the first to mention Le Prevo so I'll certainly be taking a look there. Thanks. WScott, that's not to say I'm dismissing your clamps idea.

:D Yeah, I'm quickly discovering that. Thanks for the edge advice, Joe.

Thanks, people. So I can add a skiver and burnisher to the shopping list? I'll be dead and buried before I'm fully equipped.

Hi, Adam. As you say we pretty much have to rely on mail order shopping for our leather goods in our neck of the woods, but I can live with that. I buy my leather from a guy on ebay and to the uninitiated it seems to be fairly good stuff for the price. I'm sure a leathersmith with 40 years experience under his belt would tell me it was crap quality, but it's about all I can afford so it has to do. As for the Tiger thread, I ordered some of it along with a pack of John James needles from Ian's etsy shop yesterday, so that's another item I can tick off the shopping list. As I say in another post, I'm reluctant to use a diamond awl as I want to avoid that traditional diagonal stitch for a straighter, less obvious stitch line.

0.5mm leather?? I didn't even know it came that thin! That stuff must be like bible paper. In my just-posted other thread I ask about folding edges, but am now wondering if it's even going to be possible with 1mm leather. When it comes to making my chosen item I have the patience of a saint and will spend hours on end doing it. What I don't have the patience for, however, is the learning process. I want my items to be perfect first time.

I have searched for an answer to this and looked at the pinned topic, but I couldn't find any reference to my specific question. As stated in my other thread, I'm planning to make a slim, minimalistic front pocket card/cash wallet and would like to know if it's necessary to fold the edges on the outer card slot panels, bearing in mind I will be using very thin leather (1mm or under). Also, do I need to stitch the open edges as well as gluing? One of the posts in a thread my search threw up mentioned that the cards tended to catch on the stitching and sometimes stick because of the waxed thread. My only concern is that if the folds are only glued, will the cards not catch on the edge of the folded flap and pull it away over time? Finally, do I need specialist glue for this, or can I use standard Bostik all-purpose?

Thanks. As it stands my wallet will consist of four layers, using leather at 1mm or under, and even then some of the stitching will only be going through two layers, so I should be able to get holes without going too deep with the awl as you suggest against.

Thanks. I'm off to look at the prices of fids. then.

Yes, I blame you for that last purchase I wonder if I can sneek another quick question in while I'm here. In the video on saddle stitching I talked about in an earlier post, he uses a diamond awl for making the holes. The thing is, I want to keep away from this traditional, native American syle look in favour of a more modern and sleek style. What would I use to make the holes so that I get a straighter, smaller and less obvious stitch rather than the traditional diagonal of the saddle stitch?

Thanks again, Rich. I must say you've all been very helpful and made me feel very welcome - rare for forums these days. This wallet is my second project, my first being some notebook covers which amazingly I managed to sell all of on etsy. I only made half a dozen as I didn't really expect to sell them, but there you go. I probably underpriced them grossly as I certainly didn't make any money from them (at least not that my bank balance noticed). That was a frightingly simple process to be honest - just a sheet of 2mm cowhide (bought 'ready to go' on ebay) that I cut to size, folded in half and threaded some elastic cord down the inside of the spine for the inserts. I didn't even finish / burnish the edges or bother lining the inside. This wallet, though, is proving to be a much bigger ache. I'm trying to come up with a modern, innotive and unique design, and have dozens of cardboard prototypes lying around the house, but I'm quickly discovering that when it comes to front pocket, minimalist card/cash wallets, there are only so many ways you can do it. It's also the first time I've ever done anything that requires stitching. However, it is making me appreciate why handmade goods are priced so highly. Unfortunatley, I'm one of those people who when I decide to try my hand at something, I want perfect results first time. I also want all the tools at my disposal without having to buy them. Too easy a life, maybe? I just have to be patient, buy what I can when I can, and try to resist making this until I'm fully equipped. [edit] See, no patience. After posting this I headed over to etsy and bought some of that 0.8 Tiger thread and a pack of the John James needles. Now I'm brassic!

Hi, Rich I'm in a town about 6 miles outside Manchester CC. It's about a 30 min bus ride into Manchester, but I don't know of anywhere specific. As I say, this is all new to me.

Thanks, Scott. Funnily enough I've just watched a 90 minute video over on youtube all about stitiching and the preperation thereof, by a guy called Ian Atkinson. It was fascinating and he too reccommended the Tiger thread. I think the 0.8mm stuff would be perfect for my minimalist wallet, and it's not too expensive either. Ha! Just noticed the owner of that etsy shop is Ian Atkinson! I think I can get hold of most of the stuff when I get a bit of spare cash, but one thing I'd need, ideally, and don't have the money for, is one of those stitching ponies. I've been trying to think how else I might securely hold my item without one, but haven't come up with anything as of yet.

Thanks, Joe. Thing is, I'm in the UK so no Tandy stores - at least not within a distance I'm willing to travel. In fact I have nothing nearby for this kind of stuff. More to the point, though, the oz of a leather doesn't really mean anything to me as we tend to go by mm in this country. Anyway, I've found a conversion chart and 1.75oz measures in at just under 1mm - does that sound about right? At least I now know I can use leather under 1mm for my project. Thanks very much, and your wallets are lovely.

Thank you so much, Scott, I'm genuinely touched by your offer. The fork idea is brilliant (I have one of those ). As for the other tools, I'm sure I can muster most of them from somewhere. I was looking at some artificial sinew on amazon, but it was silly priced and I think too thick and 'rustic' anyway. As I say in my OP I'm going for a clean, minimalistic look with the wallet, so would like to ask what kind of thread do I need to be looking at in terms of strength and durability, while keeping it realtively thin? Also, any advice on the thickness of the leather for such a project is still welcome. Thanks again, Scott

Hi, everyone. Brand new to leather craft. My current leather project, and only my second so far, is the design and manufacture of a slim, minimalist wallet, but I'm struggling with thickness issues. The 2mm cowhide stuff I used for my first project (notebook cover) is fine as the outer shell of the wallet, but when I start doubling this up to create the card and cash slots, things start to get too bulky. I've been looking at some leather from my seller on ebay, listed at 1mm and under, but being new to leather craft I'm struggling to visualise what this looks like and what it can be used for. Is this stuff simply the skin of the leather, or does it have some flesh and stability which would stand up to usage as a wallet? Basically, what I need is some leather that when doubled up to create cash and card slots, would be thin enough to machine sew (my mother's basic, every day sewing machine gets through the 2mm cowhide OK) and yet be strong and durable enough to be used as a wallet. As for why I'm not hand stitching, it's because I don't have the funds to buy the materials (hole marker, saddle stitch / hole puncher, thread) I suppose this first effort will be a prototype and probably not withstand much abuse, but I would still appreciate the advice. Thanks in advance.