Cloth Lined Wallet Card Pocket Tutorial. My Way, At Least.

[JoeSnuffie]

This is how I make cloth lined wallet pockets. I use a chasing hammer on the glues parts and folds. Which is important for good results. Be generous with the glue and make sure you don’t try to stick the pieces together before the glue is ready. I use Weldwood Contact Cement and I refill my tiny bottle from 32oz cans. For thin calf skin, get a rotary fabric cutter and keep the blade razor sharp.

1. I cut 4” wide strips from a sturdy fabric. 2 of them will be 4.5” long while the rest will be 3” long. The 4.5” long pieces will be used with the back most pocket and will extend to the bottom of the forward most pocket. This gives a nice large pocket that can hold cash, vertical credit cards, etc.
   
2. I cut 2 pieces of calf skin that are 4.5” wide and at least 4” long. These will be the forward most pockets.
   
3. I cut 2” wide strips of calf skin. I split them to .4mm. You can go thinner, but at .3mm the strips were breaking.
   

   

   
   
4. For an 8 pocket wallet, you’ll need enough to make 6 pieces that are 4.5” long. I make a couple extra because I usually ruin a piece.
   
5. After splitting I dye.
   
6. After the dye dries I cut the strips down to 1.75” wide. I started with 2” wide strips because splitting stretches them and they become uneven. I just cut along one edge, nudging the strip into place under the ruler.
   
7. After cutting them to 1.75” wide I cut them into pieces that are 4.5” long.
   
8. Using the straight edge I created in step 6 as the bottom edge, I place the pieces face down and draw a horizontal line .75” above the bottom. This is the line where I fold and where the fabric will be placed. I also draw a line, .25” in from each side, from the horizontal line to the top.
   

   

   
   
9. Cut out the rectangles in the top corner and glue and fold over when the glue is ready. Hammer it with the chasing hammer until the lines are crisp and glued together. "The areas circled in red were removed."
   
10. After folded and dried, draw a horizontal line on each side .5” down from the top edge and .25” in.
    
    
11. Cut this rectangle out. This gives you the tabs that will fold over in final assembly. This also gives you an easy way to line up the distance between the openings of the pockets. In this case, .5”.
    
    
12. On the 4.5” x 4” pieces, I draw a line on the back, top edge of the 4.5” wide side. This line is 1” down from the top. I use a skiver to thin it out to be folded over. If you’re having trouble with your skiver, sharpen it. Properly sharpened, it will cut like butter. When it stops cutting like butter, sharpen it again. I get maybe 10 thin passes before I have to stop it 20 times but this gives really nice results. I use a lot of very shallow cuts to avoid mistakes.
    

    

    
    
13. After skiving, you’ll find that the thin calf skin as stretched a little. Carefully straighten this up or when you fold it over the edge will not be straight.
    

    

    
    
14. Glue and hammer this skived edge. This will give you a .5” tall folded edge.
    

    

    
    
15. Skive .5” in on both vertical sides of the all leather pockets. These edges will be folded over in the final assembly.
    
16. If you want a crease now is the time to add them. The pieces are ready for assembly.
    

    

17. Lay the bottom most cart pocket down and place the next one on top, lining up the tabs so that they are flush against each other. Insert a card to the depth you want it to sit and, holding everything in place, draw a line at the bottom edge. After drawing the line, remove the card and add a line of between the fabric pieces. The glue should be on the line and a little below, BUT NOT ABOVE THE LINE. After the glue dries, stitch the line. Repeat for every cloth lined pocket piece.
    

    

18. With all the cloth pieces stitched together, lay the all leather forward post pieces in place and flip everything over, face down. Making sure everything is in place and lined up, apply a generous portion of glue to the tabs, and skived area of the forward most piece.
    

    

19. When the glue is ready, carefully fold the tabs over and make sure they all line up. You may have to pull apart and reposition a little so work fast. Once everything lines up, hammer the edges.
    
20. When the card pocket assembly dries, you need to mark the stitch line on the all leather forward most pocket. Insert a card just a tiny bit deeper than you measured for the others and mark the line with a creaser or folder. The reason you mark it a little lower is because the stitched leather isn’t as forgiving as the cloth and the card will rest just a tiny bit higher than you measured after you stitch.
    

    

21. Now I cut off the excess from the bottom. I usually leave 1/8” past the stitch line on the bottom and then trim it a little closer when I’m doing the final fit.
    

    

Edited December 12, 2014 by northmount
Added content from Joe

[Northmount]

You have put a lot of work into this tutorial It should help many people that are wanting to do the same. Thanks Joe from everyone here at leatherworker.net.

I'm going to "pin" it.

Tom

[Hi Im Joe]

Awesome tutorial!

[MonicaJacobson]

Thank you, Joe! This tutorial will be enormously helpful!

[Northmount]

Updated with additional info from Joe.

[scrobbesbyrigcyr]

Thanks for posting Joe.

[JoeSnuffie]

Your all very welcome. I hope this saves someone a lot of time and aggravation.

[Macca]

Great work Joe

thanks for posting this

[Pip]

Thanks Jo.

[macimago]

Thanks. You use veg tan calf?

[SantaFeMarie]

Awesome. Thanks so much for doing this.

[JoeSnuffie]

Yes, I'm using veg tanned calf. I buy it skived and it usually comes in at around 1 - 1.2mm. This is the finished product.

[MonicaJacobson]

That looks beautiful.

[biglew]

very very nice

[thekid77]

This is how I make cloth lined wallet pockets. I use a chasing hammer on the glues parts and folds. Which is important for good results. Be generous with the glue and make sure you don’t try to stick the pieces together before the glue is ready. I use Weldwood Contact Cement and I refill my tiny bottle from 32oz cans. For thin calf skin, get a rotary fabric cutter and keep the blade razor sharp.

1. I cut 4” wide strips from a sturdy fabric. 2 of them will be 4.5” long while the rest will be 3” long. The 4.5” long pieces will be used with the back most pocket and will extend to the bottom of the forward most pocket. This gives a nice large pocket that can hold cash, vertical credit cards, etc.

2. I cut 2 pieces of calf skin that are 4.5” wide and at least 4” long. These will be the forward most pockets.

3. I cut 2” wide strips of calf skin. I split them to .4mm. You can go thinner, but at .3mm the strips were breaking.

4. For an 8 pocket wallet, you’ll need enough to make 6 pieces that are 4.5” long. I make a couple extra because I usually ruin a piece.

5. After splitting I dye.

6. After the dye dries I cut the strips down to 1.75” wide. I started with 2” wide strips because splitting stretches them and they become uneven. I just cut along one edge, nudging the strip into place under the ruler.

7. After cutting them to 1.75” wide I cut them into pieces that are 4.5” long.

8. Using the straight edge I created in step 6 as the bottom edge, I place the pieces face down and draw a horizontal line .75” above the bottom. This is the line where I fold and where the fabric will be placed. I also draw a line, .25” in from each side, from the horizontal line to the top.

9. Cut out the rectangles in the top corner and glue and fold over when the glue is ready. Hammer it with the chasing hammer until the lines are crisp and glued together. "The areas circled in red were removed."

   gallery_6780_2440_99577.jpg
10. After folded and dried, draw a horizontal line on each side .5” down from the top edge and .25” in.

    gallery_6780_2440_4775.jpg

11. Cut this rectangle out. This gives you the tabs that will fold over in final assembly. This also gives you an easy way to line up the distance between the openings of the pockets. In this case, .5”.

    gallery_6780_2440_55462.jpg

12. On the 4.5” x 4” pieces, I draw a line on the back, top edge of the 4.5” wide side. This line is 1” down from the top. I use a skiver to thin it out to be folded over. If you’re having trouble with your skiver, sharpen it. Properly sharpened, it will cut like butter. When it stops cutting like butter, sharpen it again. I get maybe 10 thin passes before I have to stop it 20 times but this gives really nice results. I use a lot of very shallow cuts to avoid mistakes.

13. After skiving, you’ll find that the thin calf skin as stretched a little. Carefully straighten this up or when you fold it over the edge will not be straight.

14. Glue and hammer this skived edge. This will give you a .5” tall folded edge.

15. Skive .5” in on both vertical sides of the all leather pockets. These edges will be folded over in the final assembly.

16. If you want a crease now is the time to add them. The pieces are ready for assembly.
17. Lay the bottom most cart pocket down and place the next one on top, lining up the tabs so that they are flush against each other. Insert a card to the depth you want it to sit and, holding everything in place, draw a line at the bottom edge. After drawing the line, remove the card and add a line of between the fabric pieces. The glue should be on the line and a little below, BUT NOT ABOVE THE LINE. After the glue dries, stitch the line. Repeat for every cloth lined pocket piece.
18. With all the cloth pieces stitched together, lay the all leather forward post pieces in place and flip everything over, face down. Making sure everything is in place and lined up, apply a generous portion of glue to the tabs, and skived area of the forward most piece.
19. When the glue is ready, carefully fold the tabs over and make sure they all line up. You may have to pull apart and reposition a little so work fast. Once everything lines up, hammer the edges.

20. When the card pocket assembly dries, you need to mark the stitch line on the all leather forward most pocket. Insert a card just a tiny bit deeper than you measured for the others and mark the line with a creaser or folder. The reason you mark it a little lower is because the stitched leather isn’t as forgiving as the cloth and the card will rest just a tiny bit higher than you measured after you stitch.
21. Now I cut off the excess from the bottom. I usually leave 1/8” past the stitch line on the bottom and then trim it a little closer when I’m doing the final fit.

Thank you for the tutorial...a couple questions if I may...1). What kind of splitter do you have? What weight calf skin do you begin with (before running it through the splitter)?

Thank you!!!