Wallet Sewing > Technique For Bi-Fold Wallets

[Csr111]

Hi Everyone -

I'm working on making bi-fold wallets, but when i get the the bottom crease, as pictured in the example, i'm not sure how to sew the curve.

Basically i'm working with two sides - the outside and inside (with card pockets). Since the inside piece some what smaller than the ousited pice (to facilate bending) i secure the left and right edges of the inner piece to outter piece by either sewing or gluing, then finish sewing the entire circumference. However, when i get to the center, using the method above, because that area is cureved, I have a hard time adjusting the leather to get it flat enough for: 1. the stitches to lock properly and 2. for the material to not bunch.

The only method i can think of is to begin sewing from right to left, for instance, across the bottom until i've passed the curve. Then at that point, i would pull the inner half and outher half in line as to create the small curve and align left edges (inner and outer halfs) then begin sewing again. This means i would not be able to secure pieces before sewing, but just begin and manual adjust once i get back the curve, which until "the adjustment" would remain flat and able to be sewn correctly.

I hope i've not confused you all too much and hope your able to understand my problem. Let me know if you have any ways that you've found to easily sew this area .

Thanks!

[Ryan Barto]

On the picture that you attached, the inside piece of leather that is creating the bill pocket is not actually being stitched to the outer shell in the space where you have highlighted. They do this because they are sewing it on machine, and I'm not sure if there is a good way to machine sew that spot with the inner pocket being slightly smaller than the shell. The stitches you see in the picture at the highlighted area are only going through the outer layer of the wallet. To do this on a machine, you'll need to notch out that section so the stitches don't catch the inside pocket in that area, or fold it up, as they do in the picture.

Now if you are stitching by hand, I like to make my stitches in that section only on the outside shell. First I'll attach the card pockets to the inner layer. Then I'll stitch the shell to the back, gluing the two sides first, then gluing the bottom from the corners until I have the gap (or pucker) that is needed to allow the wallet to close. When I stitch I start at one side (top corner), go down the side and across the bottom until I have stitched to the point where the card pockets stop. On that last stitch, I make sure that the needle that was coming from the outside of the wallet to the inside only comes through one layer, essentially exiting from between the layers rather than through both. I'll then stitch only the outer shell across that pucker, until I come to the point where the other card pockets start, and I'll start going through both layers of leather again and finish up the side. It is a lot harder to explain than what I thought it would be. Sorry if this is confusing at all. I'm attaching pictures to show what I mean, hopefully you can make sense of them.

[Csr111]

Thanks, Ryan.

I guess I should have mentioned that while sewing it together i'm also edging it with thinned leather. I've attached pictures of the exact style that I'm looking to produce. As you can see the leather edging passes though the center bend while only being stitched to the outter half. Here however by the time I'm ready to sew, its already curved, as i've secured boths halves together with a few strategically placed stitches and double-sided tape. This makes it hard for me to stitch properly or without that area of leather edging getting bunched. So i'm thinking that instead of securing the two halves together before hand, that I just simply being the binding process from right to left until I pass the middle area, then adjust the left edges to align, which will then cause the curve (however it's already sewn) then i can just continue sewing/edging the rest of the boarder.

Hopefully the new pics will help.

Everyone else - please chime in. I know there are many of you out there with loads of experience that could help out.

Thanks!

Edited April 5, 2013 by Csr111