roadking07

Very Clean Work! Do you have any pics of the back and is it lined and what machine did you stitch it on?

Great pics and tutorial Kate! I can't wait to see how you finish the wallet up. What type of pen are you using on the edges? Thanks MDH

Thanks Swivelsphinx - The leather was petite tooling calf 2 to 2.5 oz and the golden sheen in the picture is the poor lighting I took the picture in! Sorry not very good pics. The wallet is black - I used Lincoln Shoe dressing - black leather dye and the tooled design is light brown leather dye in the Lincoln Shoe dressing and I finished everything off with neatsfoot oil. The overall dimensions of the outside sliding cover are 5 1/4 by 8 in. and the strap is 36 in. while the interior wallet is 4 by 7 in. The tooled ring design actually started out as a coaster set that was precut in a circle from the original leathercrafting kit that I got years ago - I never used them and I though instead of having to cut out a perfect circle - I would just use the coaster - I tool it out and glue it on the front. I agree - it would be hard to carve perfect circles.

Yeah Moon - I have a 04 Road King Classic - do you ride?

It's been a long time since my last post - I had a customer who wanted a neck wallet basically consisting of an inner wallet with two pockets, one hidden pocket in back and a neck strap and a outer cover with a tooled symbol that would slide over the inner wallet along the neck strap to conceal its contents - here are the results

Thank you Kate

Kate thanks for posting this pattern - do you have any more detailed pictures of the interior?- I can't quite wrap my head around how it all goes together Thanks MDH

Does anybody have the Weaver Leather Price list in .pdf format? I "lost" (read - my wife threw away) mine - it got mixed in with some newpapers and other junk mail that got throw out. Any help will be appreciated. If anybody does have it you can PM or email me. Thank you, MDH

I brewed up a batch and dyed a wallet that I had made. It worked just like it was supposed to - my only question is how long does it take for the vinegar smell to go away? I did it about two weeks ago and have left the wallet outside to air out and the vinegar smell is still present. I did neutralize the wallet in a baking soda/cold water bath and then applied neatsfoot oil. Is there anything I can do to take the vinegar smell away ( I hate the smell of vinegar)? Would applying saddle soap help with the smell? Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you, MDH

Thank you everyone for the encouraging comments - I really appreciate it! I hope everyone have a has a Merry Christmas. - MDH

Here is a wallet I just finished - it is made from pigskin that would normally be used for lining - around 1.5 - 2 oz.. I wanted a very flexible and thin wallet - nothing fancy I just wanted a clean look and a place to put a few cards and some bills that would fit nicely in dress pants for work. It is thin enough to carry in the front or rear pocket and is hand rubbed with some leather dressing to darken up the pigskin from it's natural pink color. You can see the before picture with no leather dressing and the after picture that is much darker. The wallet will continue to darken with use. It is hand stitched with waxed thread and the edges burnished with the fantastic edge burnisher that I recently got from Ivan - it makes life so much easier - thanks Ivan!

This is a Fid You can get it here

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Greaybeard - the lacing is what took the longest on this piece and was my least favorite part - probably total time in terms of the lacing took 3-4 hours. I would work on while watching tv so 100% of my attention wasn't focused on the lacing. If I really focused on the lacing and did nothing else I could probably get it done around 2 1/2 hours but I like to make my leatherworking fun and not make it seem like a job( my 6-day a week job is enough for me) - so I take my time and work on it at a slower pace so it is more enjoyable. The last two projects that I have laced with this round braid - I remember telling my wife that I won't be doing this anymore anytime soon - I don't enjoy the lacing aspect of leatherworking - it is tedious and boring but it really adds to the overall quality of the piece so I end up doing it. It is the type of thing that when I start out lacing a project it seems not that bad but when I am a few hours into the lacing I remember how much I dread it. This is only the 2nd project I have ever laced - it wasn't that hard to figure out. I bought a lacing and stitching paperback book from Tandy's for under $10 bucks and went for it. At first it is very overwhelming - but once I figured out the pattern it got a lot easier. The key is making the holes just the right size so you don't have to struggle in getting the needle through the hole. I use a two prong lacing needle - seems to work good and I also bought a fid - without the fid I wouldn't be able to do it - the fid makes lacing a lot easier in getting the needle through the hole and getting the needle to pass under the existing lace. Hope this info helps - let me know if you have any questions. - MDH

Thank you I appreciate the compliments - it is amazing how much nicer the kangaroo lace looks and works as compared to the cowhide lace.

This is some recent work for a client that wanted a hair barrette with the celtic symbol "Triquetra" on it. The Triquetra has many different meanings depending on what circle you are in. In Christian circles wikipedia says "The symbol was later used by Christians as a symbol of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This appropriation was particularly easy because the triquetra conveniently incorporated three shapes that could be interpreted as Christian Ιχθυς symbols." - that definition is good enough for me. This piece is made from 5-6 oz. veg tanned leather and and finished off with 1/8" kangaroo lace. She was ecstatic when she received her custom hair barrette. I get great satisfaction making these leather pieces - that's why I do what I do - but when a customer literally jumps up and down with excitement and makes a certain shrill of pure happiness and joy - it makes all the hours of hard work well worth it.

I appreciate everyones comments - thank you very much- but I can't take complete credit for design - the tooling that I did came from a design that I have seen a member on this site use - Steveb. For those who have not seen his stuff - you should take a look -his stuff is great God Bless and Have a Great Thanksgiving.

Hey Corter great work - I love your clean style. I have another question about your pockets - how do you make them lay flat all the way down the wallet - to make it look like one piece of leather from the edge? Thanks.

Thank you very much everybody - your comments all mean a lot and are very appreciated! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Like the title states - I needed something for work to hold the business cards - I didn't take to much time on this one - just quick and simple. It is hand stitched with waxed thread (I don't have much choice when I don't have a leather sewing machine! ha ha) and this one is just the natural leather with some leather dressing applied - no dye. Thanks for looking - everybody have a great Thanksgiving!

This is a wristband that I just finished for my Father-in-law; it is a early Christmas present, I was going to wait to give it to him at Christmas - but there is no sense in letting it sit at my house for a month when he can have it now. The bottom layer is around 4 oz. black latigo leather hand stitched to a custom tooled top layer of 2 oz. leather finished off with a home brewed dye job.

Thank you everyone for the compliments - Madmax - yes the mexican basket weave and the round braid is the same thing - this was my first time doing it and at first I thought I was way in over my head, but as I got going I developed a pattern and rhythm that worked for me - it still took a long time with the stitching on the outside and the lacing. I learned how to do it from the paperback lacing book from Tandy's - it was around 4 or 5 bucks. In terms of the wallet lining - my wife picked out the fabric at some fabric store and I cut it to fit the wallet just inside the lacing holes (I didn't want to have to make holes in the fabric for the lace to run through) and I attached to the flesh side of the outside piece of leather with a fabric glue that comes in a spray paint can. Underneath the pockets is a another layer of thin leather so that is the same dimensions as the outside of the wallet but has a rectangle cut out of the middle of it it so the fabric will show and it gives two slots under the pockets for bills or receipts. Each pocket has a total of 7 pieces of thin leather (actually it is from a piece of calf remnants from a bin at the local Tandy's) - one is a backing piece and is the length of all the pockets put together and then each pocket is layered on top of each other. I stitched the bottom of each pocket before putting the next pocket on top of each other. I start from the top then work my way to the bottom. Then when it is all together I put one more piece of leather underneath the backing piece so there are no visible stitching marks from stitching each pocket. Hopefully you understand what I am trying to say - it is kind of hard to explain without pictures. Then I laced the inside edge of each pocket with the 1/8" kangaroo lace. Then as I lace around the outside I combine the outside piece of leather with the thin piece with the rectangle cut out and the pockets on top of that. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I finally finished - this one took a while. This is the first wallet I have made from scratch - all the stitching in red on the outside is handstitched - that along with the mexican basket weave is what took so long. My wife has got compliments almost everytime she takes it out of her purse to pay for something. I was inspired by Kevin King's "Los Cruces" wallet in terms of the design on the outside - I like to give props where props are due - Kevin makes some great stuff. Let me know what you think - as I am still new to leatherworking - this is my 3rd complete project, if there is anything that you think I can improve on please let me know. Thanks for looking.

Hey Ivan - is there a discount for fellow Leatherworker.net members? If anybody else is interested - we could possible do a group buy.

I agree - I did have the border on the BW stamp on the retainer but it was too wide so I had to cut off that part and go with the bastketweave only - oh well - you learn something new on every project