Something new, butterfly wallet

[TomSwede]

Hey you all!!

I realize I'm not holding up pace as I usually do with both leatherwork aswell as posting stuff to the board. My excuses for that. I have my reasons so let's just hope I can clean up my act and pick up pace with the new year. Things look good but my situation in life is complex at the moment so I am a bit on and off and the off moments is when I have time for leatherwork.

Well, anyways..this is a wallet I got comissioned to do for someones wife as X-mas present. It is a simple bifold type with a few pockets and zippered coin pocket. Couldn't find a good looking zipper so went with a long lasting one instead.

All stitching is by hand. Liner came off, can't find a good glue for this and contact cement just seem to bleed through making bad looking liner so had to go without that.

Colouring technique is same as I made a tut for on the Laila purse back in June. Butterflies are tooled at the contours and I just used the stylus to outline the wing patterns to create a texture and colours were brushed on with diluted cova colour white and the orange is the yellow/red Fiebings pro oil dye mixture wich I also have a post on how to create.

Leathersheen finish on butterflies and Fiebings leatherbalm for the rest as topfinish.

Not happy with corners and the connecting splice for the braid and really, I do not now exactly how to do this properly so it is a bit of trial and error for that part. Braid is the simpler style of mexican basketweave/roundbraid.

Inserts is goat and the creditcard insert was made by having durable fabric pieces stitched in betwen two layers of goat wich the cards reside in. Kinda like pockets.

This was because too many layers of goat would disturb the thickness of the edgebraid to much.

Any critics welcome as usual!!

Tom

[vera]

It was pleasant very much!

Accept pupils?

[TomSwede]

It was pleasant very much!

Accept pupils?

Thank you Vera!!!

Maybe I should learn the corners and braid splice before teaching, lol ;-) but I'd be glad to help out in any wich way I can.

Just send me a PM!

Tom

[vera]

I liked colour of a background

[MADMAX22]

Good one Swede, I like it.

It was pleasant very much! Accept pupils?

LOL Vera I think you need to be a master after looking at some of your art work.

[TomSwede]

Good one Swede, I like it.LOL Vera I think you need to be a master after looking at some of your art work.

Thank you Madmax!!

I agree about Veras craftmanship after a quick review of her stuff!

Some very nice work you do Vera!!

The background colours are done with the now discontinued Tandys mahogany antique stain with very rich application wich is applied on top of a prevously applied red Fiebings red pro oil dye. I let the stain dry completely and and take a damp cloth, smear it around and just play with it until I'm satisfied.

Stain is applied with sponge to get nice streaking.

Tom

[vera]

Thanks for a lesson.

[JustWakinUp]

I found it Tom !

That thing looks killer man, the stain is perfect!

[Tina]

Soon I can pick your stuff out in a crowd:-)

Love your rustic style bro, it's unique

[TomSwede]

Thank you Mark!!!

I'm glad you liked it, I was kinda worried that I wouldn't make it on time but once the stitching starts it comes together faster than I thought.

Thinking ahead is the key to a wallet for sure, not like a bracer where the only concern is what type of motif I'm gonna use and how that will interact with backgrounding and bordering.

I get alot of interest in this stain from people that are interested in my work. I just hope I can use the tehnique just aswell with the eco-flo stains.

Tom

[TomSwede]

Soon I can pick your stuff out in a crowd:-)

Love your rustic style bro, it's unique

Thanks alot Sis!!!

Yeah, there's a red line going through all my work, one thing leads to next..leads to next and like with this one it's just a mash of stuff you've allready seen from me before.

Tom

[freak]

Those butterflies and letters look fantastic mang... I like the look of the inside.

Very Nice !!!!

[tcthipyuth]

Sawasdee [ Hello ] form THAILAND

' Nice job '

Can you show step by step about how to color leather [ this one ]?

thank you

[Kani]

Sawasdee [ Hello ] form THAILAND

' Nice job '

Can you show step by step about how to color leather [ this one ]?

thank you

I am also interested. I really like this piece.

[sodapop]

done good once again tommy boy...the butterflies look excellent...its all real purdy bro..no doubt it put a smile on her face when she seen it!!

[CitizenKate]

Very nice, Tom! The carving is some of your best I've seen yet.

Kate

[Crystal]

Beautiful, Tom! The butterflies are excellent. And as always I am a fan of your lettering.

Crystal

[leatheroo]

lovely butterflies!!! i usually love your reddish background but i must say in this case i really like the look of the butterflies on the natural leather..they really stand out! I too have trouble finishing a lacing project...never did learn how to finish properly...its in a book somewhere...one day soon..

[hidepounder]

Looks really nice Tom! I like the detail on the butterflies. I know how difficult it is to get all the little pieces cut, skived and sewn together...it's a lot work! I've been using a PVC backed denier nylon for linings...just so I could glue them without bleedthrough. Works very well...might see if you like it. Great job!

Happy Holidays!

Bob

[TomSwede]

Those butterflies and letters look fantastic mang... I like the look of the inside.

Very Nice !!!!

Thank you brother Freak!!

Sawasdee [ Hello ] form THAILAND

' Nice job '

Can you show step by step about how to color leather [ this one ]?

thank you

Thank you tcthipyuth!!!

Link to a lesson at the bottom of this post.

I am also interested. I really like this piece.

Thank you Kani!!!

Here is the link for a how to do this colouring:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2886&hl=

Tom

[TomSwede]

done good once again tommy boy...the butterflies look excellent...its all real purdy bro..no doubt it put a smile on her face when she seen it!!

Thanks Darryl!!

I sure hope she likes it. Her hubby ordered it and he was very happy with it.

Very nice, Tom! The carving is some of your best I've seen yet.

Kate

Thank you very much Kate!

Beautiful, Tom! The butterflies are excellent. And as always I am a fan of your lettering.

Crystal

Thanks alot Crystal!

Lettering is always a pain but the key is to work very slowly and not loose the temper with it.

[TomSwede]

lovely butterflies!!! i usually love your reddish background but i must say in this case i really like the look of the butterflies on the natural leather..they really stand out! I too have trouble finishing a lacing project...never did learn how to finish properly...its in a book somewhere...one day soon..

Thank you Roo!!

I know what you mean about the butterflies on the natural leather but I think the overall reddish antique look goes better for the whole piece but this was not my call to make. Customer was awed by this colour and required it.

Just gotta practice more with that splice!

Looks really nice Tom! I like the detail on the butterflies. I know how difficult it is to get all the little pieces cut, skived and sewn together...it's a lot work! I've been using a PVC backed denier nylon for linings...just so I could glue them without bleedthrough. Works very well...might see if you like it. Great job!

Happy Holidays!

Bob

Thank you Hidepounder!!

The colouring of the butterflies took really much more time than I'd ever thought but it was all worth it and yes all those small pieces to fit together kinda got to my nerves a bit. Luckily there is contact cement and with edgebraiding one does not need to worry about the cement bleeding out at the edges.

Thank you for the tip on the liner prob!!

Tom

[craftsman827]

WOW ! Just GREAT Tom.

Beautiful . Love the last photo of your work bench, with the wallet parts.

[Kevin King]

Bad@$$...Seriously killer work brutha!

As far as glue for the lining...I use 3M90. Spray both sides, wait a sec, stick em together.

KK

[TomSwede]

WOW ! Just GREAT Tom.

Beautiful . Love the last photo of your work bench, with the wallet parts.

Thank you Craftsman!!!

He he I love the benchpic too, this time around I did not clean up after the different steps so I couldn't resist buncing it up and take a pic. It's a lot more than one can think of when you see a finished item to complete things made out of leather.

Bad@$...Seriously killer work brutha!

As far as glue for the lining...I use 3M90. Spray both sides, wait a sec, stick em together.

KK

Thanks Kev, means alot to me!!

I have looked for that glue but not found it yet but I found another brand but it just doesn't work very well.

Wish I had put some more effort into the closing strap but I got some unexpected and very appreciated company for a few days that delayed me a little bit.

Like I said in the initial post, things are a bit upside down in my life at the moment.

Tom