Slim, Minimalistic Wallet Help

[lightningad]

Hey Jud, im also in a small town 6-7 miles outside Manchester! Wonder if its the same one?

I get my thread from LePrevo - its pretty cheap linen thread but it does the job.

Ian Atkinson who's videos you mentioned is also Leodis Leather who sells Tiger thread on Etsy.

Its worth getting some to try out, and Ian is certainly the most cost effective way to try it, as the thread is usually only sold on bi reels costing close to £30 a go!

You can get a really cheap diamond awl blade and handle from Le Prevo (mines from there) and as long as you spend some time sharpening it first, it should be perfect for making your holes. It also looks much better than the round holes a woodwork awl will make.

As for buying leather - we're out of luck in this part of England…the nearest is J Woods Leather in Silsden, nr Keighley. You can go and look through the offcuts pile if you want a bargain, or via mail order. Le Prevo have been quite helpful - although the time it takes them to process orders seems very slow. I have also bought some lovely veg tan from Rolfords (Northampton). The biggest problem with mail order is not seeing before you buy…and the only way around that is a long journey!

rgds

Adam

[OurJud]

Hi, Adam.

As you say we pretty much have to rely on mail order shopping for our leather goods in our neck of the woods, but I can live with that. I buy my leather from a guy on ebay and to the uninitiated it seems to be fairly good stuff for the price. I'm sure a leathersmith with 40 years experience under his belt would tell me it was crap quality, but it's about all I can afford so it has to do. As for the Tiger thread, I ordered some of it along with a pack of John James needles from Ian's etsy shop yesterday, so that's another item I can tick off the shopping list.

As I say in another post, I'm reluctant to use a diamond awl as I want to avoid that traditional diagonal stitch for a straighter, less obvious stitch line.

[JoeSnuffie]

The 1mm skives just fine so you can roll the enges over no problem. The .5mm is goat and it comes pretty thin. Also, you're correct about it being a book binding leather. I like it because the grain is much more like cow than the pig skin, though it does have a more pronounced grain than cow.

[WScott]

I have been thinking about the stitching pony you mentioned.

You might try some large paper clamps....we call them bulldog clamps from office supply store

I use them as gluing clamps after I apply thin pigskin to the jaws to avoid marring the workpiece

I will post a pic when I get to my laptop later

On another tact, if you have any woodworking skill, a pony is easily made from pallet or construction lumber

Edited February 26, 2014 by WScott

[RavenAus]

You don't need a stitching pony, I've been making things for over 10 years and never used one. As for UK suppliers, thy googling 'Le Prevo' and 'The Identity Store'. I can heartily recommend The Identity Store, they are in Matlock and have some great people, very helpful.

[OurJud]

You don't need a stitching pony, I've been making things for over 10 years and never used one.

Now that's what I wanna here! Just out of interest, though, how do you manage to saddle stitch without a pony?

I don't think you're the first to mention Le Prevo so I'll certainly be taking a look there. Thanks.

WScott, that's not to say I'm dismissing your clamps idea.

Edited February 26, 2014 by OurJud

[JoeSnuffie]

I don't use a stitching pony and I haven't had issues with saddle stitching. You just have to keep track of which side is top and bottom and be sure to thread the hole in the same order and give the threads a tug in the right direction (top thread tugs up and bottom thread tugs down). I once made a stitching pony and found that it just got in the way for the smaller items I'm doing. If it were a belt or any stretch more than 6 inches I bet it would be useful to me.

[Massive]

I made a pony years ago, the T type, it only takes a few hours if you have access to a shop, which I realize is not the case for everyone. Mine was made decades ago, and is about as subtle as a scissor jack, but it works well enough I have stuck with it.