Card wallet - first project

[OmnipotentOtter]

Hi All - behold the greatest (leather) thing I've ever made!  Since its the first thing I've made I suppose its also the worst, but hey trying to stay positive here.  Here's the link to the full gallery for the project if you're interested:  http://imgur.com/a/yGKgi

 

This is a pretty simple card wallet a friend of mine asked me to make for him.  Since its my first attempt at making anything I'd welcome feedback on ways to improve.  I've tried to outline the steps that I took so that at the very least others will be able to learn from my mistakes and you can have an answer to "oh good lord why did he do that?" 

 

Step 1 was measuring the dimensions, I went with 2 5/8 inches wide by 3 5/8 inches tall.  The front (top?) card holders are 2 7/8 inches tall. The leather itself is about 3-4 oz veg tan from Tandy, and I cut it with a rotary fabric cutter.  I initially tried a box cutter/fixed razor blade but had a lot of trouble getting a straight edge, I found the rolling blade was much easier. Next time I might widen the pieces by ~1/8 of an inch and shorten the front pieces a bit, but overall I think the dimensions were about right.

 

Once the leather was cut I skived it with a super skiver . . . poorly.  But I was able to get the bulk down which I guess is the point of skiving.  Was not uniform in thickness though.  I then used a set of letter stamps I got on Amazon to tool in a nickname, then beveled/burnished the top edges of each piece after cutting and before dying - which may have been a mistake(?).  I definitely wasn't careful enough and ended up getting saddle soap in a few spots of the leather, which impacted the dye absorption in those spots.  So I guess if you're going to bevel before dying be more careful than me (or perhaps just reverse those steps).

 

After burnishing I dyed the leather and glued it together.  I then punched my holes using a four pronged straight pricking iron.  I got this pricking iron at Tandy leather at the recommendation of the guy there, he felt it would be better for a wallet than the traditional diamond pricking irons.  Not really sure that I agree in the end, so I've purchased some diamond pricking irons from Amazon that I'll probably use next time.  Ultimately I felt like the holes were super close together and since they aren't diamond shaped I'm a little concerned about the leather tearing.  Though that's perhaps not something I should worry about given that I ended up double saddle stitching the whole thing.

 

That's right, my first stitching job was so bad I had to do it twice!  What a great learning opportunity I gave myself!  If you check out the pictures in the link you can probably see why I elected to put in twice the stitching (for most of the boarder) - it took me a bit to figure out how to keep the threads from just completely disappearing into the leather.  I didn't think I was pulling it too hard, so maybe I had skived the leather down too far?  Maybe I just should have used thicker thread?  Or perhaps just need to practice more.

 

In the end I'm pretty happy with this as a first go.  Things I think I'd do differently:

1. Don't bevel the edges until the leather has been dyed.

2. After gluing it together spend more time sanding the just combined edge to make it uniform.

3. Use a diamond pricking iron rather than the straight one.

4. Use either bees wax, edge kote, or just another paint/dye on the edges to make it look nicer.  Will have to buy something for this next time.

5. Practice my saddle stitching more!

 

So that's it, hope that if nothing else you guys and gals can feel better about your own talents in the leather arena!  As I said I'd welcome any feedback or recommendations for the future as I clearly have a lot more to learn here.

 

Thanks again!

Edited January 27, 2017 by OmnipotentOtter
Wrong words

[DpMaquilon]

Looks good I bet your friend will like it!

Just a couple of things to work on that you already know I'm pretty new also and maybe don't know what im talking about but here you go.

I think you were using lacing chisels so the diamond should help out with your stitches. Try and make sure you get holes in the corners for a good transition from side-bottom-side. Things don't always work out with holes so it's better to have a little more or less spacing in the middle of the run not on the corner. Finish edges when they will not be accessible at the end otherwise I do all the edges at the end.

good job and thanks for sharing I like to try and learn from others mishaps and victories but it usually doesn't work out that way!

[Tugadude]

Congrats on your first finished project!  Everybody probably has their preference on the order of performing certain operations.  Personally, I dye the whole piece of leather before cutting.  Following the cut, you can skive the edges or not.    

I typically don't unless I am looking to really reduce bulk.  The other thing I would try is to glue up your pieces, let set and then re-cut the edges.  Just slice a smidge off.  This makes perfectly square edges with no sanding.  Then mark your stitching lines.  A wing divider if making a line or an edge groover if you want to recess your stitches.  Personally, I use an edge groover but dont take any leather off, just a scratch.  Next, use an edger on your corners to bevel them.  Then, either finish the edges or mark your stitching holes.  I like to put a round hole in the corners to allow the thread to "hinge" as was described by DpM above.  And yes, you have to fudge the spacing generally so do it in the least conspicuous place.  

If you haven't yet, look at the various videos on youtube that teach saddle stitching.  I recommend Nigel Armitage and Ian  Atkinson.

Most importantly, have fun, practice and learn!

[Tugadude]

This stop-action borrowed from Nigel Armitage shows clearly how to hinge your stitching lines...