A Couple Of My Handmade Wallets

[reddevil76]

Recent works by customer request

[Charliewz]

Wow! Smooth work, really like the top one. Nice and clean look to it. Love it.

How do you get that color? I have been trying, but can't get my leather that color no matter what I do. And I really like that finish, not shiny. gotta learn how to do that.

Charlie

Edited May 22, 2012 by Charliewz

[Bluesman]

Those are really classy. Great work. The top one is very nice, verrrry nice.

Jon

[jayjay]

Wallet looks awesome I am struggling with one aspect of the full size wallet and was hoping you would shed some light on it for me. The interior........

Does all 3 layers of the card pockets extend to the edge of the wallet (bottom edge)?

When I finish mine the edge looks bulky? Do you you skive the side edges down to solve this or????

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

One more question I use 3/4 for the interior and 5/6 for the exterior should I be using thinner leather?

Recent works by customer request

Edited May 22, 2012 by jayjay

[reddevil76]

Thank you all.

Charlie - I didn't colour the veg tan leather. I bought it drum dyed. No credits to me on that aspect

Jay - At the edge, wherever the pieces overlap, cut away the overlap area. This way, from the side, it is only one layer.

[benlilly1]

Beautiful! I love the first one....perfection!

[David]

Especially like the first one also.

Nice clean work

Dave

[Jarrett V]

Fabrication and assembly is near perfection, Well done buddy.

[craftsman827]

VERY NICE WORK !!

Did you hand, or machine stitch ?

[Bob Blea]

I really like these, especially the first one. I've wanted to make one of these but I run into the same problems Jayjay runs into. Yours look great.

Bob

[Blazin]

First one is stellar! Very nice color as well.

[reddevil76]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments.

craftsman - I hand stitch. But not the awl method, but using punch style pricking irons from Goodsjapan.

It seems the card compartments is of interest to some here, so I will attach a pic to illustrate it. Hopefully, it is self-explanatory. The top image is an inner layer, while the bottom image overlaps it. If you need to put in more cards, just add more layers of the top image.

If there is sufficient interest, one day i hope to do a video tutorial on these biker wallets. Hopefully, we can use the tutorial as a sort of mini-fundraiser for leatherworker.net as well.

Edited May 24, 2012 by reddevil76

[benlilly1]

Thanks Reddevil for the illustrations! Yes, tutorial please!

[edgeleatherworks]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments.

craftsman - I hand stitch. But not the awl method, but using punch style pricking irons from Goodsjapan.

It seems the card compartments is of interest to some here, so I will attach a pic to illustrate it. Hopefully, it is self-explanatory. The top image is an inner layer, while the bottom image overlaps it. If you need to put in more cards, just add more layers of the top image.

If there is sufficient interest, one day i hope to do a video tutorial on these biker wallets. Hopefully, we can use the tutorial as a sort of mini-fundraiser for leatherworker.net as well.

I would be curious on the hand stitching you speak of! I didn't think stitching like this was possible with out a sewing machine! I had gave in and basically started a piggy bank for one of those expensive leather ones... But if doing this kind of quality work like you've shown is hand stitched, I would be really interested in learning if your willing to share!

Thanks

God Bless

[reddevil76]

This video isn't me, but it gives a good idea how to use the stitch punches from Goodsjapan.

After the stitching holes are punched, the saddle stitching is as per the traditional method (lots of threads and tutorials on saddle stitching on the net)

It takes some practise to make sure you are holding the iron straight while punching through.

If you are using the smaller sized irons or thicker thread, you might need a round awl to push/enlarge the holes before going in with your needle.

I use a size 5 with 1mm diameter thread and it works fine as it is.

http://www.goodsjapan.jp/servlet/the-6573/Seiwa-Diamond-Hole-Punch%2C/Detail

Buy a 6 prong for straight lines, and a 2 prong or 1 prong to go around corners.

[Chavez]

Thats 2 really nice wallets!

Would you be so kind to put more photos of the smaller one, especially the coins pocket?

I've just finished my 6-card wallet, and it turned out fine-ish, but I'm struggling to get the coin compartment to look nice for my next wallet. Yours looks amazing + there is even some space for another card!

Thanks!

[reddevil76]

Thats 2 really nice wallets!

Would you be so kind to put more photos of the smaller one, especially the coins pocket?

I've just finished my 6-card wallet, and it turned out fine-ish, but I'm struggling to get the coin compartment to look nice for my next wallet. Yours looks amazing + there is even some space for another card!

Thanks!

Hi Chavez, I would love to post more pics, but unfortunately the wallet has already been delivered to the customer quite some time ago.

I made up this part as I went along. When I have time to put out some templates, I'll post pics of it.

[jayjay]

Red thanks for the template it making more sense. So you do not overlap the edges at all just butt them up to each other? So the bottom edge of the TOP piece is flush with the TOP edge of the bottom pieace? I have a wallet that I'm about to assemble and I thank you for your time.

What oz leather do you use for the back and interior?

Edited May 24, 2012 by jayjay

[Anacott Steel]

You hand stitched that ? Now I hate you. Ok I'm kidding - that is just amazing work. Please please (i can beg more) make a video.

Don

For those that are interested in Oz to mm:

http://www.gnnusa.com/leather_thickness.htm

Edited May 24, 2012 by Anacott Steel

[reddevil76]

When assembled, it should look like this

Remember to stitch the dotted lines before putting on the bottom piece.

I use either 3-4 oz or 4-5 oz all around. And 2-3 oz for these card areas.

[Chavez]

Hi Chavez, I would love to post more pics, but unfortunately the wallet has already been delivered to the customer quite some time ago.

I made up this part as I went along. When I have time to put out some templates, I'll post pics of it.

Hi Reddevil,

Any chances of the coin pocket template? I'm starting another 6-pocket one, but planning to do one with coins after.

Thanks in advance!

[reddevil76]

Hi Reddevil,

Any chances of the coin pocket template? I'm starting another 6-pocket one, but planning to do one with coins after.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Chavez, still haven't done a template. But I hate to disappoint, so I did these pictures on the fly. Its suppose to just give you an idea, but for sizing/spacing, you gotta figure that out on your end. I suggest you cut them out on art paper or something cheap before you commit them on leather. Good luck!

[Chavez]

Thank you reddevil!

The template looks very nice. Can't wait to try it out=)

[Anacott Steel]

Hey Reddevil - im curious as to what program you have used for the templates ? I've tried to use InDesign but it's so complicated I gave up after making a rectangle !

Cheers

[JohnBarton]

A free and light vector drawing program is InkScape - you can find it via google easily. We use CorelDraw when we do patterns on the computer. You can find older versions of Corel for very little money that work perfectly fine for the needs of leatherworkers on Ebay. Look for Corel9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

I find that mocking up on paper is the trick here. We sample almost every part and element on paper and cardboard first and then in scrap leather before we commit to using the good stuff. With practice you can learn to print your patterns at exactly the right size you want. Sometimes you will need to print on two or more sheets and tape them together. Invest the time to learn to set up your printer's settings and learn and it will pay off hugely for those of you who would like to make your patterns on the computer.

Lastly, try to avoid stretching your patterns if you want to change sizes. The computer is great for making patterns BUT you can get distorted easily if you start stretching the images you make. The way to do it in my opinion is to select the nodes and move them thus preserving proportions. This last bit is surely over the heads of those of you who have never used a drawing program to set up patterns. But as you get into it this will become clear. The beauty of using the computer is that you can change shapes and sizes easily. For example the credit card dividers that Reddevil shows can easily be changed to an almost infinite number of shapes and still retain function.