small wallet

[BroodyLeathercraft]

Small wallet I made for my sister-in-law to keep her ID badge and a couple of bucks in for the vending machine while she’s at work. The pattern I used came from weavers website. Any comments and tips/suggestions to improve the next one are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[DJole]

The bottom photo shows the "drifting" stitching line that many of us struggle with.
Take the time to make certain the stitching chisel is really vertical. I find it helps to make sure the line is pointing away from me vertically (this way-->  |) rather than horizontally (this way --> ---). 
This helps me to check that the iron really is vertical, and not leaning, before I strike it.  Some people have built jigs to help the keep the iron straight. 

Another way to manage this is to get a set of Reverse stitching irons, in the same size, and use them on the back piece. The normal irons go this way / / / , and the reverse go this way \ \ \ , so that when you put them together, they match up in direction.

 

[Tugadude]

Kudos to you for making such a handy wallet for your sister-in-law.  Small projects like that are great for learning and for practice.  First, they don't take much leather and you can literally use up otherwise useless scraps.  They don't even need to match.  Why not make it "funky"?  

As far as the work itself, there is certainly room for improvement but I can say that about most anyone's work.  Did you use chisels?  DJole seems to think so.  If you mark your lines properly and line up your chisel properly it should result in perfectly straight lines.

My suggestion is to make more wallets, similar to that one and different and give them to friends and family as you progress.  Pretty soon you will be surprising even yourself.

[JayEhl]

Hi,  far from being any kind of critic as I still consider myself an amateur.   I did notice your stitching colors is a great choice and looks nice, especially for a beginner.  I'm too ashamed of sharing my first 'stitching' work!  Ha!  The cut out for the thumb part is a little rough.  Maybe go over that again with an exacto knife to clean it up?  may be an edger to round it?  Definitely burnish it, that will help, too.    And what @Tugadude said.  Practice, practice, practice.  It's an obsession  super fun hobby and the more you practice, the more you want to learn.  And most definitely this forum is probably THE very best at providing you a school to learn from.   Good luck! and enjoy the journey!

[GrampaJoel]

For a first wallet I’d say it’s usable. Not a fancy big name quality, but definitely usable. 
So  here’s some of my observations. I noticed them because I often struggle with them.

1. your stitching iron is to large for your thread., or viceversa

2. your leather looks to soft for this style of wallet.

3.use a punch for round types of holes. ( finger hole) Then cut to connect them.

4 straight corners will always bend or droop.

5. Soft leather will stretch every time. And take away from the overall esthetic of the project if not supported with a stiffener.

not a critique, but a observation,,from a fellow leather destroyer.

[BroodyLeathercraft]

Thank you all for the comments! Working on a second one now with your suggestions. Thanks again!

[BroodyLeathercraft]

Here is a third one I made for myself. Forgot to take photos of the second but it turned out much better than the first. The first is now in an ever growing pile of “what not to do”. Beveled and slicked the thumb hole which made it look much better imo. The two pockets are 3oz veg-tan and the middle piece is a 6oz pre-dyed veg-tan. Used Fiebings pro dye for the pockets and tan kote on both sides of every piece and edge kote. Keeping the chisel vertical definitely made it easier to line things up for me. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions! If you all have anymore please let me know. 

[PastorBob]

WOW, just WOW.  What an improvement from first to third wallet.  Definitely love the contrasting stitching as well as the pattern you stitched.  Very impressive.  Lines nice and straight and love the burnished opening as well.  Nicely done.

[GrampaJoel]

That’s a nice improvement!

[Criticles]

Great improvement. I love the idea of using stitching for creating design logos. Design stitching offers a good crossover between embroidery and leathercraft. You did a good job with the logo and the stitching is more consistent and neat compared to your first prototype. What kind and how thick was the leather you used?