Simple foldover wallet: JLSleather Pattern

[ByNelson]

We all want pretty  It looks good! I'm always very much into great stitching and totally understand why you wanna nail it!

[bikermutt07]

7 hours ago, battlemunky said:

I'm wanting to hone everything....which is part of the problem. I can make completely usable stuff, I just need to make it pretty.

I understand your pain. I'm not there yet either. I had some one point out to me the best way to get there.

Pick one item. Bracelets, card wallets, key fobs, anything small. And make that over and over until you perfect it. Boring, I know. But it will get you there faster with less material.

I started out doing completely different one offs. I was always forgetting a step or doing something in the wrong order. It was wasteful.

[billybopp]

Hand sewing does indeed take a lot of practice and concentration to get really right.  Bikermutt hit the nail on the head, practice on scraps and the same simple projects over and over until you can almost sew almost blindfolded.  It's about building muscle memory.  I sew some scrap before I start any project just to get in the groove again.  

I'd advise against trying a mitered box until you are very comfortable with sewing a few pieces together flat.  Sewing a corner isn't nearly so easy as Nigel makes it look, and it introduces new angles - it's a different challenge.

Bill

[JLSleather]

14 hours ago, battlemunky said:

Thanks again for making these patterns available, they are super simple confidence builders.

You are welcome -- and thanks for using them for exactly what they are intended for!  This is the point -- a guy can get some experience, without investing a 'mint', and actually have a useful item when finished. 

Sewing isn't anywhere near as difficult as it's made out to be.  I've seen lots of folks -- some of them just kids -- who were shown how to sew and off they went.   Years ago, I bought Stohlmans book on hand sewing and the basic tools it recommends (it wasn't available in digital form back then) and went to sewing.  As with anything, practice is good.  But I was making good stitches in about 3 or 4 projects .. and I'm not that bright

Much like anything else, there will be people who will try to convince you that what they do is "so" skilled that you could only hope to ever learn it by listening to them.  The world is coated with books -- and now why-tube videos -- all on about these topics. But I have yet to see any which improved on what I found in books I bought years ago.

Hey, I 'get' it... why spend $10 on a book you don't read when there's a free video about it, right?  But it's not 'free' if it's taking hours of my time and - truth be told - these things have people doing more video watching than leather crafting!

Better, I think, to get people the general information and let them jump in.

[battlemunky]

So much good advice from everyone. Thank you all!

I'll get it figured out, I just need to limit my projects to a few so I can start developing the muscle memory.