EDC Leather Lighter Keyring Case

In the world of everyday carry essentials, few items are as versatile and indispensable as a trusty lighter. Having the means to light a fire quickly whenever you need to is not only practical in survival situations when one wants to get warmth or cook food, but also in daily scenarios like when lighting up a barbeque for example.

Another essential that many people never leave their house without is a keyring. So, why not combine these two elements, and make a stylish leather lighter case, to make carrying the means to make a fire easy and intuitive?

This project is also a perfect learning opportunity when starting to work with leather, as it teaches you the basic working methods needed to manipulate leather. We will be going over all the steps, from making the initial paper pattern to the final finishes. As the amount of leather used is very small, the cost of the project is also very small.

So without any further ado, let's get started!

3 oz natural vegetable tan leather (it's important that it's vegetable tanned and not chrome tanned)

An eyelet for the keyring, as well as tools to install it

Leather dye

A sharp knife

Two round-tip needles

Thread

Pricking irons

Nylon or wood mallet

Cutting mat

Wood to make the mold

Clamps

Water to moisturize the leather before molding

Tokenole

Slickering tool

Leather conditioner

As usual, I made a video about the project:

Start by tracing the outline of your lighter with a thin pen to get a base for the cutting pattern.

As the lighter will stretch the leather around it once it's inserted in the case, we need to consider that and add 6 millimeters of extra material to the sides of the base drawing.

For the bottom, the amount of extra material you add will define how closely the top of the case will match the top of the lighter. Six millimeters will give a perfect fit, but I went with 3 millimeters to make it easier to grip the lighter when removing it from the case when needed.

Finally, if you wish to add a metal eyelet for the keyring, don’t forget to add it to the template.

If you’re making a case for a Cricket Original size lighter, I made a free PDF template that you can print out on an A4 sheet of paper, to get a 1:1 sized cutting guide.

Cut out a rectangular piece of leather that's big enough to fit the paper template.

Fold the piece of leather in half and mark the outline of the case on one of its sides using the tip of an awl or a leather marking pen.

Make a rough cut around the outline. We'll be making the final trim later, right now we're just making it easier to apply glue in the right places later on.

You can use some leather dye to give some color to the natural leather. I like to use the Fiebings Pro Dye, as penetrates the leather very deeply and gives a uniform result.

Depending on how much dye you use, the tone of the final color can vary a lot. In the last photo, the two pieces were treated with the same Golden Brown color but the one on the right received more dye and is thus much darker.

Add glue on one of the edges, fold the leather piece in half, and clamp tightly. Make sure that you don’t apply glue too far in the case where it’s not needed.

Now it's time to cut out the final shape in the leather. The curves can be cut with multiple straight lines using a really sharp and thin blade, adjusting the cutting angle after each cut.

Mark out the location of the future stiching holes.

Using pricking irons, punch the holes needed for the stitching.

An iron with five or ten prongs can be used for the straight lines and an iron with a single prong for the corners.

Note: Do not over-punch the prongs into the leather - the smaller the holes the cleaner the stitching will look.

To make the lighter case more durable as a keyring, use a metal eyelet to protect the interior of the keyring hole with metal.

First, use a leather punch to make a hole where needed. Then, to set the eyelet, use a press (like the one on the photos) or a simple setting tool.

If you used a silver leather marker, remove it by rubbing the leather. Otherwise, it will be seen behind the threads later.

The saddle stitch technique can be used, as it will give us a very clean result.

First, thread both ends of a thread with a round-tip needle.

Then, the stitching can begin. For that, you need to proceed in steps:

1. Widen the hole with the first needle
2. Put the right needle through the hole from the side of the sheath that will be seen more
3. Pull the same needle with the thread (now on the other side) away from yourself
4. Put the second needle through the same hole so that the needles are on separate sides again.
5. Repeat

As it's a pretty long process, you can listen to some music or a podcast to make time pass quickly :)

In the end, if you're using a synthetic thread, you can burn the ends and press them into the stitching. Otherwise, a double knot will do the trick.

Apply some dye onto the edges, to make them match the rest of the leather surfaces.

A burnishing agent (like Tokenole) can be used together with a slickering tool to burnish the edges of the leather. This will make for a shiny and durable finish.

Use a flat-headed screwdriver to open up the inside of the case. This will make sure any leather surfaces that got stuck with the glue inside the stitching line get separated.

Then, turn the screwdriver 90 degrees, and glide it along the interior borders of the case to stretch the leather near the stitching lines.

Finally, insert the lighter.

Your leather lighter case is now ready to be used!

This quick and simple project is also a perfect gift idea that has that personal touch, as it can be varied easily by using different kinds of leather, different dyes, or perhaps even paints, to suit one's personality. Also, you can experiment with different colored threads, or by changing the dimensions of the paper template and letting some of the plastic shell peek out of the case or not.

I hope you learned something new and that you enjoyed this Instructable.

Thank you for reading so far, and have a wonderful day! :D