How to Make a Vintage Boxing Glove Wallet

When I saw these vintage boxing gloves on Ebay, I immediately knew I wanted to try and turn one of them into a one-of-a-kind wallet similar to the ones people make out of vintage baseball gloves.

The idea is to break it down and cut the leather into usable pieces to make simple card wallet while still showcasing that it came from a vintage boxing glove

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To break it down, I started by using this leather wrapped stitch remover to remove all the old stitching.

It worked pretty well but was kind of slow.

What I ended up finding worked best was to cut the first stitch and then use a weeding tool to pull the thread through the holes.

Once I got into a rhythm it went pretty fast and before I knew it, I had all the pieces apart.

I decided to use the front of the glove for the majority of the wallet pieces.

But before I could start cutting pieces out, I had to cut my signature wallet template out of some card stock.

The wallet will consist of 4 pieces – a front panel, a front middle panel, a front full panel and a back panel.

You can cut these any shape you want, but for the overall dimensions, I’ve found that 4 inches by 2 and 14/16ths works great.

Once I had the template cut out, I simply positioned the different pieces in different spots of the glove that I thought would look cool.

The main feature is the “Everlast” logo on the front panel.

I used some weights to hold the leather flat while I traced the template outline with my scratch awl.

Then I cut the front panel out with my trusty leather wrapped X-Acto knife.

The inside of the glove has this cool air vent pattern, which I thought would look cool for the back panel of the wallet.

To make it easier to get the cards out of the full pocket, I always add two features to the back panel.

I use this half-moon type punch for the top to make it easier to grab the cards or cash.

And then I use 2/3rds of an oval punch to create a slot to push the cards out with your thumb.

For the oval punch, I use a magnet attached to my arbor press to hold the punch in place and it works great!

Not surprisingly since it’s vintage leather, but the leather was pretty dried out in places, so to bring it back to life, I used some of my homemade leather conditioner which is 1 part cocoa butter, 1 part beeswax, and two parts oil (I used canola oil).

I have an Instagram video on how I made it and here’s the link in case you want to make your own - https://www.instagram.com/p/CJcG9F_jRWk/

To apply the conditioner, you simply put some on a cloth or heavy-duty paper towel and then just rub it into the leather…that’s it!

The vintage leather was very thin and wrinkled, so to give the wallet a little structure, I used a piece of new leather for the front full panel which is essentially the “core” of the wallet.

To help the cards slide in and out of the wallet easily, I used Tokonole and a glass slicker to coat all the unfinished sides of the leather.

Next, I moved onto gluing all the pieces together using some of Tandy Leather’s EcoWeld adhesive.

EcoWeld is super easy to use, you simply apply some to both surfaces, wait for them to get tacky and then stick them together.

Again, because the vintage leather doesn’t have much structure, I used some mini spring clamps to hold everything in place while the adhesive dried

I had a few spots that the leather overhung the edge which I simply cleaned up using my X-Acto knife

To help the adhesive stick to the finished sides of leather I used an edge rougher to scrape up where the adhesive would be spread.

I really wanted to incorporate the yellow trim from the original glove, so I decided to add a couple strips on each edge of the front panel.

With everything glued in place, I moved on to the stitching.

I started by using my wing dividers to score a stitch line.

Then I used my pricking irons to punch the stitching holes.

To ensure the spacing between each hole stays consistent as I work my way down the line, I always make sure to place the stitching chisel point furthest to the left in the last hole of the previous set of holes I punched.

With all the stitching holes punched, I moved on to the stitching.

I made a video and an Instructables dedicated to leather stitching where I go in depth into the process of how to do this saddle stitch and others – here’s the link in case you want to check it out - https://www.instructables.com/Leather-Stitching-How-To-Three-Ways/

But at a high level, what I’ve found is easiest is to just pick a sequence and then stick to that.

For example, I always start using the right needle to stich from the back and then stitch the left needle from the front into the same hole but in front & under the right needles thread.

If you continue this sequence, you’ll get a very nice-looking stitch pattern in my experience.

Once the stitching was done, I worked on finishing all the edges.

I start by sanding all the edges flush with some 220-grit sandpaper.

Then I spread a small amount of Tokonole on the edges with my finger and then use an edge slicker to burnish the edge.

Once that dries, I use a set of Micro Mesh sanding pads to sand the edge up to 12,000 grit.

Then I add one more thin layer of Tokonole to the edge again before polishing it up with a piece of canvas.

And with that, the wallet was done!

Thanks so much for following along with this project! I’d love to know what you think. Leave a comment below and don’t forget to watch the video on my channel!

See you on the next project!