A Couple Of Wallets

[BAD HIDE]

Cool I will let her know!

I do have to ask why you used a dremel drill for the holes? Is your leather too tuff? Is it too bulky? I hand stitch all of my projects and have only found one or two items that required a drill to make my holes. I usually do the following:

1. I cut my groove.....the distance from the end is usually determined by the thickness of the leather piece finished.

2. I will then use my stitch marker at 7spi and mark my stitches all around.

3. I load my project onto my stitch horse......grab a beer and sit on the couch.......I will then turn on Fox News

4. I use wax white cotton thread and cut about 1.5 yards of thread and start my stitches.

5. at the end of the stitches....I will usually drop some glue at the very edge of the last stitch and once it dries I will trim it off.

6. Once I am done stitching....I will use my marker and go over my stitches again. This will usually cause them to settle into the groove.

7. Once the project is done, if I haven't done so, I will either put some protectant on the thread or the entire wallet, depending.

Anyways, this is the way I have learned to do it.

Good luck!

I think if I watched fox news while stitching, I'd be more prone to stab myself. And if you're a gamer geek, FTW means "for the win"

I'd definately go for an awl, and pick up Al Stohlman's book. it'll save you a lot of trouble. If you still want round holes, there's 4 hole round lacing punches which are much faster than dremels, and if you want to mimic awl pokes, get a 4 prong diamond chisel punch. I still use the later on thin leathers that would be too hard to use an awl on. I'd also go for thinner leathers, you want a handmade wallet that doesn't feel homemade - the thinner the wallet, the more you can stuff in it without it getting super fat and uncomfortable. I make backs out of 4 oz and liners out of 1-2 oz, with folded over top edges - still loads more rugged than store bought wallets made entirely out of 2 oz and fabrics.

Edited October 19, 2010 by BAD HIDE