Wallet sizes

[Riedwaan]

Hi All

 

So i completed my first hand stitching piece yesterday

It was the card section of a wallet, it look bad but better than i expected. The stitches were not all straight, but i quickly learned that a groover or marking the stitching line will help.

The big fail for me was after i was done i tried fitting a card in to see if it is functional.. Lo and behold the card cannot even fit in there.

Please share some tips and advice on how i need to measure and what needs to be considered when making cuts to ensure it is the right size?

 

 

 

 

[chrisash]

The best answer I can give is to join Nigel Armitage lessons on https://vimeo.com/ondemand/armitageleather he covers a massive amount of leather work lessons for about £3.00 per month and at present about 50 odd lessons in video to study for your £3 best value by a expert have a look and enjoy, he also has some videos for free on YouTube

[JLSleather]

Hardly worth a subscription to ANYTHING just for that.   As a rule, you have to make the pocket for something the size of the item plus the thickness of the leather.   General guideline.  But with a card, really just a matter of putting your material over the card, crease the ends/sides down, and measure the creases.  Add 1/4" each side and you're fine (1/8" to the stitch and 1/8" to the edge).

I swear -- ask what day it is and you get somebody wanting to sell you a calendar 

 

[Riedwaan]

Thanks JLSleather

 

Helpful indeed, i used a little to thick of a leather in my opinion and didn't even bother creasing the leather around the card.

I will be cutting a credit card holder later today so will apply your tip and keep you posted of the results 

Thanks for the advise, but i have watched numerous videos but nothing in my opinion replaces first hand real experience

[Handstitched]

G'Day,  I had that issue in my early days when I first started making wallets. I did make my own  cardboard templates using old wallets for ideas, sizes etc.  but over time they became a little ' frayed & dog eared' .So  what I found helpful was that I found wallet templates on line and bought them to help speed up the marking out &   cutting process with the added advantage that they don't wear out and  are just the right size . I either machine stitch or hand stitch my wallets using kangaroo leather which is about 1mm in thickness. 

And indeed, you could make your own templates using perspex if you want to go that far.... I do have some perspex that I intended to make templates with ..........but I got lazy and bought them online instead     

HS 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Handstitched

[Riedwaan]

Yeah I hope that experience will teach me better. Think making my own templates will be good as I want to do the full start to finish thing... Thank you 

[MarkCdub]

One thing to remember is that as the wallet is carried with cards in the wallet, the keather will stretch some.  So you don't want to make the card slots too much wider than the cards.  When I made my card slots, they were a little too tight and I bent my drivers license in half lol.  I try to keep all those credit card offers that send a card (I don't see them very often anymore), and use them as sacrificial to test and stretch the leather before use.  I think you can buy CC blanks, I've seen them come in a few craftsman wallets.

I just did a quick search and you can buy pvc id card blanks from many different companys.  I found 20 cards for $8 and 110 for $13.  You can buy in bulk for less per card if you need.

Edited July 18, 2019 by MarkCdub

[Halitech]

On 7/18/2019 at 7:24 PM, MarkCdub said:

 I try to keep all those credit card offers that send a card (I don't see them very often anymore), and use them as sacrificial to test and stretch the leather before use.  I think you can buy CC blanks, I've seen them come in a few craftsman wallets.

I've got a stack of those cards and expired health/Credit cards/driver licenses/point cards just to test my slots. Granted after the wallets I've made, I've made my own plastic templates so they all turn out the same way every time

[DJole]

Remember also that wet leather will stretch a bit and form to shape. I just completed a couple card slots where I over-trimmed the pieces, and I could JUST BARELY slide the cards in, even though the stitch line was just barely on the edge. But then I wet the piece down, put the cards in and shaped the leather a bit and let them dry in the slots. Now they work great.
You can also skive the leather to reduce bulk.