How to Make a Small Wallet/ Card Holder

Hi, this is the first attempt at a tutorial, so feedback is encouraged and welcomed.

We will be making a small card holder that can keep two cards per side and uses a small leather loop to keep it closed, if you don't like the look it can easily be modified to utilize a brass snap instead.

As far as tools its up to you but you can begin with minimal amount of tools and acquire what you need as you go

Make your own template using a wallet and your stitching iron distance as reference to avoid messing up T slots, as a reference this piece has the following dimensions

Folded 3 inches wide and 3 7/8 tall

Supplies

A piece of leather, ~ 1 sq ft should be enough to get this going, i utilized french calf provided by another crafter Thread, I will be using .45mm poly thread manufactured by Meisi, Leather Glue I utilize Aquilim 315.

One thing i realized after a shot period of time is that the quality of the leather and tools its important, iI started this journey with upholstery leather, less than optimal for sure. Also your tools need to be sharp, just when you think is sharp enough sharpen a bit more, it will help you avoid headaches.

Tools

Maul or hammer, Pricking irons, utility knife or japanese knife, skiving knife, quilting ruler, stitching pony, I utilized edge paint but if your leather is veg tan you can burnish instead of edge paint if that is your preference.

Optional tool would be a creaser for decoration purposes, wuta is the standard for manual and there are several electric ones available in the market.

A few vendors where you can source leather and some tools

Rocky Mountain Leather Supply, District Leather Supply, Europelle, Tatra Leather, Amtan

A far as tools some recognized brands

Palo Santo, Doldokki, James Jones needles, 4z irons, Kevin Lee irons, and many more

Measure a small wallet to get baseline dimensions that would allow you to fit one or two cards in to each slot, then just use a ruler and paper to draw your template and cut with your ruler and utility knife, you can utilize a cereal box or heavier weight paper for this purpose

Ensure that you place the paper pieces next to your stitching iron as a reference to ensure your template is correct, I utilize punching irons by a maker that calls himself 4Z, there are plenty of good quality brands most of htem outside the US, in no particular order

4Z, Kevin Lee, KS blade, Sinabrooks, and plenty others I've personally only used the first 3 brands

Based on previous screw ups and disappointments i make my pieces a bit bigger than the finished size, this allows a bit of wiggle room to fit your parts better and make final cuts that ensure you get a clean edge

Once you mark your leather with an awl on the top or with a pen on the back cut away with an Xacto knife, utility knife, kiridashi, etc. I will be utilizing a japanese knife.

Ive utilized a regular pen this time, but there are silver and white gel pens that you can use on the grain side of the leather and they will rub away with a bit of water.

In order to keep the edge on a reasonable thickness i skive the edges from the back of the leather pieces, this allows me to have a thinner edge. For skiving i utilize a sharp skiving knife and a piece of granite as a base.

It's worth noting your knife needs to be really sharp, otherwise you will struggle for a while as well as probably messing up a couple of pieces.

I order most of my leather pre-split, in this case the leather i am using as around 1mm thick, but i skive the sides in order to achieve a thin edge as we are layering up to 5 pieces at the edge

Its a good idea to verify all your parts look good and have the correct fit before gluing them up, i am utilizing Aquilim 315 water based contact glue, a thin layer its sufficient let it dry for a few minutes until its tacky then put the parts together.

I normally glue the front and back of a wallet utilizing a 90 degree jig, I include a picture of it here, easily made with plywood and a couple of pocket screws. This strategy helps a bit to avoid wrinkles when you open/close the card holder, its also commonly utilized on bag flaps

I normally wait for a couple of hours before working again on the same project, but once you are ready to move ahead the next step is to mark your stitching line with a wing divider or compass with a pointy end.

For this item i mark at 3.00 mm inside of the edge and line up my irons to the inside of the line. If you are utilizing diamond irons you can aim for the line with your tips. After marking move ahead creating the holes that you will utilize to stitch. Be careful and utilize a punching board, HDPE or several layers of leather to avoid damaging your irons.

Once you finish this step you are ready to stitch

There are many videos online that explain in detail how to saddle stitch, we will not go over that here, be careful you follow the same steps over and over again in order to end up with good slants on both sides of your piece and don't rush it. Armitage Leather, Petr Nitz and others have tutorials on Youtube.

The only tricky section in this piece is the piece that holds the tab, if you look in detail its composed out of four different stitching runs. Two that are floating and two that are not.

I utilize a stitching pony some people utilize a couple of books, a self made pony or no pony at all, once you are done stitching.

Once you finish stitching make yourself a favor and find a hammer with a polished head and hammer the stitches, it will make them flatter and also helps closing the hole left by the pricking irons

Grab an awl, Qtip, knurled roller or tool of your choice and get ready to paint, sand and paint again until you are happy with your results.

In order to avoid ridges in your edges be ready to repeat the process a couple of times until you get an edge you are satisfied with. There are several brands, i utilize mostly Uniters.

Most people wait around 30 minutes to 1 hour between coats, sand and then paint again

Enjoy your work and come up with something else to practice. There are plenty of small leather good examples that will help you improve your craft without utilizing a lot of material, remember this is a journey so don't be sad if your first couple of items look a bit less than perfect, it just takes a bit more practice.

You can see some more of my work following the link below

https://www.instagram.com/le.plaisant.leather/

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial, feel free to ask questions