Wallet No 2 - First Bi-Fold

[lightningad]

Its not perfect, but then it was designed as a prototype! I wanted to make a lined bi-fold with a coin purse, as i always have more metal money than paper!

The edges need finishing and i need to give it a coat or two of leather balsam.

I'm not overly happy with the closing mechanism as its a bit fiddly in use.

However, i am definitely improving in the stitching arena.

I have been using this for a day and though it does have flaws i'm really pleased. Thought its better to actually use it for a bit before designing any alterations.

Its made from 2mm veg tan Columbo side (from LePrevo) dyed with a coat of Eco-flo Briar Brown - stitched with linen thread and lined with a nice purple satin. I wanted to make the wallet without any metal hardware, and this is the result.

[Domino]

Nice design. I'd have been tempted to improvise and find a small round nail to make the ends of the catch slots - those punch holes look a bit big to me. With the two flaps and main crease there's a lot of smooth folds, good to hear you plan on reflecting that smoothness in the edges.. I do like it, I kinda wish I'd gone for the columbo side now when I ordered my leather from Le Prevo, there's a lot of character in that leather.. I've got some purple violene dupion silk I planned on using for a wallet lining. It's a very similar colour to yours, but has a red weft so changes colour in different light.. Now I'm gonna look like I'm copying you - must be a Northern English taste, I'm in Burnley

The lining looks loose, did you test gluing it down and decide against it?

Edited April 12, 2012 by Domino

[lightningad]

Thanks Domino,

the reason i used punch holes rather than a nail is i wanted a round cut to prevent the knife cuts from tearing and getting any longer with use. A nail or awl hole would not give that kind on edge and so i steered clear of those.

The Columbo side is really nice...I was nervous about getting it because its my first bit of "proper" leather. I had used a couple of tooling bellies i bought dirt cheap in Tandys sale, but its pretty crappy stuff. I phoned Le Prevo and spent 15minutes chatting with the guy who selects the leathers. He was extremely helpful and knowledgable and gave me a really good explanation of the differences with the leathers. Call him - you wont regret it.

As for the lining, i used strong double sided sellotape to hold the lining in place so i could trim the edges a couple of millimeters from the outer edge of the leather, then it was sewn between two layers of leather all the way around. Its loose inside out of choice. I prefer the look, and i think its a little easier on the liner if it can move to accommodate its contents and the folding of the wallet (of course i could be totally wrong about that!).

That violene sounds interesting!

I don't think there are many original ideas anymore, just variations on older designs - plus i'm convinced northerners have a well developed sense of design!!

[Domino]

The Columbo side is really nice...I was nervous about getting it because its my first bit of "proper" leather. I had used a couple of tooling bellies i bought dirt cheap in Tandys sale, but its pretty crappy stuff. I phoned Le Prevo and spent 15minutes chatting with the guy who selects the leathers. He was extremely helpful and knowledgable and gave me a really good explanation of the differences with the leathers. Call him - you wont regret it.

Yeah, I do like Le Prevo, but I'm just about to set off to check out J Woods Leather - they are just 20 miles away, and I'd prefer to not have to order any more leather through mail order. What's the odds I won't need a wallet when I get back

[lightningad]

its a good place to store your next leather wishlist and maybe a couple of homeless moths!

and thanks for the link - wasn't aware of that company.

Edited April 12, 2012 by lightningad

[lightningad]

just about to set off to check out J Woods Leather - they are just 20 miles away, and I'd prefer to not have to order any more leather through mail order.

I'm interested to know what your opinion of this place is...

what are the prices / products like?

is it worth a drive out?

[Domino]

I'm interested to know what your opinion of this place is...

what are the prices / products like?

is it worth a drive out?

It was for me.. I ended up spending £80 without even trying.. £57 for a 3mm 1.25 sq meter shoulder and the rest on bits I picked up from the offcuts mountain.. I managed to stop myself on that pretty quickly, I could easily have spent the £80 just on offcuts.. Mountain is definitely the right word for it though.. Waist high and at least 10ft deep by 20ft wide.. I had to climb on it to check some pieces towards the back and I literally only checked the top.. Who knows what was lurking if I started digging.. There was some really nice maroon hair on hide that I left as it would have taken me over budget - there was a lot of unusual offcuts even some shiny silver leather, and more normal stuff - I even saw some pigskin in there. The bits in the offcuts were a large range of sizes. There were even what looked like at least a side of black goat, so there was plenty to choose from. I'll be going back with a bigger budget next time

Here's the three offcuts I picked out..

The brown is about 1 1/2 sq ft, the black about 6 sq ft and the blue about 4 sq ft.. So looks like £2 per sq ft for stuff on the offcuts pile.. You just pick pieces and he tells you the price afterwards. That's why I put the hair on hide back, I picked a piece that turned out to be £20 a bit much for an impulse purchase that may or may not have got used..

It is a warehouse rather than a showroom, so I didn't bother looking at all the hides etc they had.. I asked specifically for a small 3mm tooling shoulder, we pulled out a roll that had maybe six hides in and the smallest one looked fine to me, so that's what I got.

[lightningad]

Great, thanks....sounds worth knowing about. Although i'll have to wait a while...gotta buy a chuck for the lathe tomorrow and thats about £100 !!

[Chavez]

Thats a very nice looking bifold.

I've just screwed up my first wallet insides - using 1-1.2mm veg tan kip side for 3 card slots=) I seem to have trouble stitching a few layers of 1mm leather together, but using my 4oz shoulders for anything apart from the outer cover would make this wallet too thick =( Gotta try again this weekend.

Oh, and leprevo are good=)

[lightningad]

thanks Chavez.

I know what you mean! i've just finished a different billfold today that has some sections with 3 layers of the same 2mm leather used on this wallet - because i punched the holes with an awl in each piece separately, relying on the overstitch wheel to mark the holes, i did find the odd place where the holes werent quite lined up and did take some pulling to get the needle through.

I am definitely getting neater with my stitching on every wallet i have made. I'll get some new pictures up once i finish it properly.