mikesherman Report post Posted March 23, 2023 This here is a mid wallet I'm working on...assembly design is mine. I'm sure the 'Eagle Eyes" among you will recognize Jim Linnell's sunflower pattern. I got it years ago, but this is the first time I've tried it. Those same sharp eyes will see a couple of tooling mistakes, but I'm trying to ignore them for now, as this is my first attempt at this pattern; I'm sure I'll have to tweak some things a bit and do it all over again. I'll post an update when it's done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
purplefox66 Report post Posted March 23, 2023 (edited) Beautiful worK Edited March 23, 2023 by purplefox66 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hags Report post Posted March 23, 2023 Very nice, keep at it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PastorBob Report post Posted March 23, 2023 I love sunflowers! Nice job. basket weave stamps can be a booger sometimes. Thanks for showing us your progress. Please make sure to share the finished project. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraulein Report post Posted March 23, 2023 Beautiful work! Wish I could tool like that. Can't wait to see the interior finished ~Frau~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikesherman Report post Posted March 23, 2023 So here are the pics of the sunflower wallet in it's final form (unfinished, sad story to follow.) Sadly, this is as far as I will go with this design, as it has some fatal flaws. No sense in throwing more time and materials at it... First off, the horizontal lazy pockets are super awkward and create a huge amount of bulk in the wallet. They also cause the cards to stack up in a way that I can only image will actually damage the cards. No bueno. Second, the outer stitch line for the pocket nearest the wrap around closure would project straight thru the tooling area. Lining the wallet would solve this problem, as the wallet at that end could be stitched to the lining; but, lining increases the bulk of the wallet. I'm trying to avoid bulking up wallets with extra unnecessary material. I could also reduce the tooling area, but I really like the idea of being able to cover the entire shell with contiguous tooling. Not a deal breaker though, so if I can work out the pockets problem I'll revisit this issue. I also learned that however carefully I cut, it never seems to be quite precise enough. I'll have to learn to leave some ease at the edges and trim everything down later, but this approach introduces some other challenges that I'll have to work out...namely, how to place stitch lines, hardware and tooling windows accurately if I don't actually know where the edges of the project are? Regardless, I learned a lot from this experience, and I still enjoyed cutting up some leather and trying to turn it into something beautiful. Thank you to everyone for taking a look. If anyone has some ideas as to how I might work out these problems, I'm all ears! Thanks much - Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraulein Report post Posted March 24, 2023 That tooling is way too beautiful to throw away! I would pull off the interior and scrap that and try to redo it with a more traditional pocket design. I've done a wallet with that same shape and also ran into the issue of that stitch line going through where I didn't want it. I ended up lining it and that worked really well. My advice would be to find a really thin lining leather to help with the bulk. I used this pigskin from Springfield Leather Co https://www.springfieldleather.com/Lining-Smoothcell-Brown-SqFt Hope this helps and please don't give up on that design, it's beautiful! ~Frau~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikesherman Report post Posted March 24, 2023 Fraulein - thank you for the feedback...I haven't tossed it yet, as I'm considering the very thing you suggested. I figure I may as well try to line it and see how it works out. Fingers crossed! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted March 24, 2023 yea you can fix that go for it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraulein Report post Posted March 24, 2023 Best of luck to ya! Please post pics when you finish! ~Frau~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrampaJoel Report post Posted March 24, 2023 18 hours ago, mikesherman said: So here are the pics of the sunflower wallet in it's final form (unfinished, sad story to follow.) Sadly, this is as far as I will go with this design, as it has some fatal flaws. No sense in throwing more time and materials at it... First off, the horizontal lazy pockets are super awkward and create a huge amount of bulk in the wallet. They also cause the cards to stack up in a way that I can only image will actually damage the cards. No bueno. Second, the outer stitch line for the pocket nearest the wrap around closure would project straight thru the tooling area. Lining the wallet would solve this problem, as the wallet at that end could be stitched to the lining; but, lining increases the bulk of the wallet. I'm trying to avoid bulking up wallets with extra unnecessary material. I could also reduce the tooling area, but I really like the idea of being able to cover the entire shell with contiguous tooling. Not a deal breaker though, so if I can work out the pockets problem I'll revisit this issue. I also learned that however carefully I cut, it never seems to be quite precise enough. I'll have to learn to leave some ease at the edges and trim everything down later, but this approach introduces some other challenges that I'll have to work out...namely, how to place stitch lines, hardware and tooling windows accurately if I don't actually know where the edges of the project are? Regardless, I learned a lot from this experience, and I still enjoyed cutting up some leather and trying to turn it into something beautiful. Thank you to everyone for taking a look. If anyone has some ideas as to how I might work out these problems, I'm all ears! Thanks much - Mike I would suggest that you might save your wallet by pulling the pockets and re-doing them. Forgive my finger drawing. But maybe it will help. you might try using a thin leather, and instead of four pieces of leather, use just two. Folding them in half will give you the pockets. using a double sided tape on the folded pocket on the snap area/side would close the long side. Then all you would need to stitch would be the ends, and the wallet would be usable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted March 24, 2023 1 hour ago, GrampaJoel said: I would suggest that you might save your wallet by pulling the pockets and re-doing them. Forgive my finger drawing. But maybe it will help. you might try using a thin leather, and instead of four pieces of leather, use just two. Folding them in half will give you the pockets. using a double sided tape on the folded pocket on the snap area/side would close the long side. Then all you would need to stitch would be the ends, and the wallet would be usable. I think that's an end around on the weak side. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted March 25, 2023 On 3/24/2023 at 7:01 AM, mikesherman said: Sadly, this is as far as I will go with this design, as it has some fatal flaws. No sense in throwing more time and materials at it... We've all been there...done that. I've even thrown my projects across the workshop after I've made a boo boo...or 2 or 3 or 4 Just re-do the interior, apart from that, it looks great. The basket weave is very well done and a nice rich colour too HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikesherman Report post Posted March 31, 2023 (edited) GrampaJoel - I'm still trying to wrap my head around the diagram...but I am considering tearing off the pockets and using an earlier, working design for wallet guts...I'm pretty committed to using veg tan for the guts on this project, and this 3 oz is the thinnest I've got for now. chuck123wapati - LMAO, seriously... Handstitched - I'm thinkin on it...Thank you for the kind words! Edited March 31, 2023 by mikesherman to edit stuff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
