Burgundy Buttero wallet and keychain

[CastleLeatherWorks]

Finished this customer project this weekend. Tried something different and went with dye for the edges instead of the Uniters/Fenice paint I usually use. I’m a pretty happy with the results just wish I could have got some better pictures. 

Wallet is fully lined 0.6mm burgundy buttero hand stitched with 0.45mm black waxed linen thread spaced at 3.38mm edges are finished and angelus jet black alcohol dye.

From the raw edge I planed first to square everything up then sanded with 200/600/1000/2000 grit sandpaper burnishing with tokenole in between grits to keep the fibres down then dyed and burnished once more then a light coat of wax was applied. I feel like my edges could have came out better but I think for my first attempt it was a success. 

comments and critiques always welcome 

[battlemunky]

As usual, nice work Sir!

[ThatTallChick]

Absolutely stunning piece!

Please pardon my ignorance, I am new to leatherworking. Two questions:

1. When you say "fully lined" is it lined with more leather, or else, what have you lined it with? It's just so seamless, the only thing I can think is that you've placed two pieces of leather, flesh side together and sewn them to be "one piece" so that you can't see any of the flesh, only the grain; is that correct?
2. If that is correct, how did you get the bottom center to stay as one without stitching? Is it just glued there, and then burnished?

[CastleLeatherWorks]

50 minutes ago, battlemunky said:

As usual, nice work Sir!

thanks brother !

34 minutes ago, ThatTallChick said:

Absolutely stunning piece!

Please pardon my ignorance, I am new to leatherworking. Two questions:

1. When you say "fully lined" is it lined with more leather, or else, what have you lined it with? It's just so seamless, the only thing I can think is that you've placed two pieces of leather, flesh side together and sewn them to be "one piece" so that you can't see any of the flesh, only the grain; is that correct?
2. If that is correct, how did you get the bottom center to stay as one without stitching? Is it just glued there, and then burnished?

Thank you !!

please ask as many questions as possible. my knowledge very is limited as im self taught and i pretty much just regurgitate what i see online lol...

yes when i say fully lined i mean that its 2 pieces of leather glued together so no flesh is showing.

the bottom center is just glued (as well as the rest of the wallet) with weldwood contact cement. i haven't had any problems with my wallet panels coming apart on this section

although i have been think about stitching all the way across so i might have to start just as a fail safe.

[ThatTallChick]

15 hours ago, CastleLeatherWorks said:

please ask as many questions as possible. my knowledge very is limited as im self taught and i pretty much just regurgitate what i see online lol...

yes when i say fully lined i mean that its 2 pieces of leather glued together so no flesh is showing.

the bottom center is just glued (as well as the rest of the wallet) with weldwood contact cement. i haven't had any problems with my wallet panels coming apart on this section

although i have been think about stitching all the way across so i might have to start just as a fail safe.

Okay good to know, thank you! Also, how did you apply your dye? It looks so clean and solid, like one solid colour!

[CastleLeatherWorks]

Just now, ThatTallChick said:

Okay good to know, thank you! Also, how did you apply your dye? It looks so clean and solid, like one solid colour!

very carefully and with a Q-tip.. if you're not careful the dye will seep over the edge so practice is recommended.

so after i worked my way through the different grits of sand paper making sure my edge is as smooth and flat as possible

i re-sand with 2000 grit and apply the dye to the open grain before re applying the tokenole and burnishing with a canvas to seal it up.

there is probably a better way to do it..

i seen some makers on instagram finishing their edges with dye so this was my attempt... i think with some more practice i can refine and simplify it

[ThatTallChick]

48 minutes ago, CastleLeatherWorks said:

very carefully and with a Q-tip.. if you're not careful the dye will seep over the edge so practice is recommended.

so after i worked my way through the different grits of sand paper making sure my edge is as smooth and flat as possible

i re-sand with 2000 grit and apply the dye to the open grain before re applying the tokenole and burnishing with a canvas to seal it up.

there is probably a better way to do it..

i seen some makers on instagram finishing their edges with dye so this was my attempt... i think with some more practice i can refine and simplify it

WOW! Okay I had no idea buttero just came that colour, so I got a bit confused- that's really neat, I'll have to look more into this buttero stuff, it comes in so many colours and I have so many questions- I wonder how they get it these vibrant colours, they're so solid!

Your edges look great, I definitely have to pick up this tokenole I keep hearing so much about, and try burnishing with canvas instead of the wood edge slicker. I was using pieces of jeans for a few test pieces but found it was dying my leather blue (I feel like that may mean it wasn't authentic denim but who knows). Very awesome, thank you so much for answering all my questions!

[Doug61]

Nicely done.

 

 

Doug

[fernandopolania]

Beautiful work.

[mike02130]

1,  You used .6 leather x 2 = 1.2 mm, correct?

2,  Is that center piece just hanging there with glue?  No stitching at all? 

3,  Are there no hidden pockets behind the card holders? 

4,  Where are you thinking about stitching across? 

5,  Is there a reason that you didn't carry the stitching around the top corners?

5,  Did you line the card slots?

Lately I've been dicking around making some wallets with Buttero and Arlan chevre (sounds fancier than goat).  It's pretty dainty work.  I use some Saphir Medaille d’Or wax and spit shine it and then buff with a horse hair brush.  It really brings out the color on the Buttero.

On 3/23/2021 at 8:15 AM, ThatTallChick said:

please ask as many questions as possible. my knowledge very is limited as im self taught and i pretty much just regurgitate what i see online lol...

yes when i say fully lined i mean that its 2 pieces of leather glued together so no flesh is showing.

the bottom center is just glued (as well as the rest of the wallet) with weldwood contact cement. i haven't had any problems with my wallet panels coming apart on this section

although i have been think about stitching all the way across so i might have to start just as a fail safe.

 

[CastleLeatherWorks]

15 hours ago, fernandopolania said:

Beautiful work.

thank you !

 

11 hours ago, mike02130 said:

1,  You used .6 leather x 2 = 1.2 mm, correct?

2,  Is that center piece just hanging there with glue?  No stitching at all? 

3,  Are there no hidden pockets behind the card holders? 

4,  Where are you thinking about stitching across? 

5,  Is there a reason that you didn't carry the stitching around the top corners?

5,  Did you line the card slots?

Lately I've been dicking around making some wallets with Buttero and Arlan chevre (sounds fancier than goat).  It's pretty dainty work.  I use some Saphir Medaille d’Or wax and spit shine it and then buff with a horse hair brush.  It really brings out the color on the Buttero.

 

1) yes the leather i used is 0.6 buttero

2) the center piece IS just hanging there its glued with weldwood contact cement. the span is only 3/4 of an inch so its not that big and i haven't had any issues with separation. I have considered stitching all the way across and might implement that into future works.

3) there is hidden pockets behind the card slots.

4) the section you mentioned that is unstitched between the card slots. ( answered this in the previous question #2 )

5) i don't stitch around the top corners because i have heard from some other makers that the friction of going in and out of the pocket has worn the thread and they have failed...i might implement in the future because i do like the look and im considering switching from linen to poly thread. plus i usually paint my edges after i stitch so it would be in the way. this is one of a handful of items Ive made with dyed edges.

6) the card slots are not fully lined to keep the bulk down and because buttero has enough body at .6mm to stand up on it own. i have fully lined some projects done with chevre because it gets kinda floppy at the thinner weights...also just the main bill compartment is fully lined (i might have to make a note of this in future posts as to not confuse people.. when i say fully lined im only referring to the money slot)

Do you ever post your work? theres only a handful of us on this site who do this kind of leather work and i want to see it all LOL

[MsEdna]

Edges look great! I, too, have tried to paint my edges with alcohol dye. You are absolutely right about practicing  . Even is I use a Q-tip, the dye will bleed into the grain side if not careful. Besides, I have tried it on natural leather, painting with a light brown color. Problem is, it will turn out very dark. Not sure how to solve that problem. If you want to switch to poly thread, I can recommend Vinymo.

[CastleLeatherWorks]

On 4/30/2021 at 3:41 AM, MsEdna said:

Edges look great! I, too, have tried to paint my edges with alcohol dye. You are absolutely right about practicing  . Even is I use a Q-tip, the dye will bleed into the grain side if not careful. Besides, I have tried it on natural leather, painting with a light brown color. Problem is, it will turn out very dark. Not sure how to solve that problem. If you want to switch to poly thread, I can recommend Vinymo.

thank you @MsEdna i will have to check out vinymo.

yes i to have found even when i use a light brown dye on my natural veg tan edges it does darken quite a bit. maybe edge paint is the answer if you want lighter edges.

[MsEdna]

On 5/5/2021 at 12:03 AM, CastleLeatherWorks said:

thank you @MsEdna i will have to check out vinymo.

yes i to have found even when i use a light brown dye on my natural veg tan edges it does darken quite a bit. maybe edge paint is the answer if you want lighter edges.

I try to avoid edge paint whenever possible...we don't get along well 

[JayEhl]

Dig this collaboration.... Love this board!!!