IPhone 6s Plus Leather Case

When I upgraded to a new iPad, I was left with a few things which were not usable anymore. So, I either had to toss it out or find new homes for it. However, one of the things I can't toss out are leather cases (mainly because they are pretty expensive.) I was thinking of a way to reuse it or recycle it.

So, I had the idea to repurpose the leather case for an iPhone 6s Plus. Truth be told this could be done from any iPad leather case to any iPhone or Android phone.

Here is the list of items you will need to make your iPhone 6s Plus leather case:

1 X Old leather (iPad case)

30 inches of Microfibre cloth (any color really, whatever is cheaper)

1 X Scissors, X-Acto knife

1 X Roll of Premium Hemp cord (any color, however, white and red will look kick ass)

1 X Candle (any will do, we need it to wax the hemp cord)

2 X Needles for hand sewing leather (long will be better)

1 X leather snaps / clasps

1 X leather punch or thin ice pick or metal punch (the last two work amazingly well)

1 X Weldbond universal glue (this stuff is gold!)

Of course, everything has to start somewhere... so, I had the idea of making the iPad case into an iPhone case... but what shape or design did I want ?

I received an e-mail from "WaterField Designs" announcing their new iPhone 6s Plus case called: "The Spinn Case" and I thought that was a brilliant design. (https://www.sfbags.com/collections/iphone-cases/products/iphone-spinn-case)

However, at $59 I wasn't going to run out and get it ASAP. I also had to change my idea of the design since some of the parts could not be found locally (i.e.: metal button )

So, I figured I need 3 pieces of leather which thankfully all come from the same old iPad leather case.

First: You'll need to cut and undo all the sewing around the edge of the leather case.

Second: Remove any foam padding and cardboard backing.

Third: remove as much glue and bad areas as possible (i.e.: edges with sewing marks, etc.)

Now, cut 3 leather pieces:

1- 16 x 6 inches

2- 3.5 X 2 inches

(*** I know I said 3 but later on I figured I needed 4 pieces because I needed an extra piece for the clasp, I'll explain later...)

You'll need to mark a border about 3/16 of an inch... to be exact mine is 4mm...

This border will be where you'll be stitching your leather... I have marked the border on the image I have supplied.

Use your punch tool to make holes about 3/16 of an inch apart all around the large piece as shown on the image and on the other 2 pieces as shown.

Well, that is a great question...

I learned how to work with leather from a few videos on Youtube...

Here are two of my favs.

I use what is called a "Saddle stitch." The video by Tandy Leather will show you how to stitch it like a pro...

The other video by Leodis Leather will show you and answer a few questions you might have such as: How much cord do you need? What needle to use? How to wax a cord? Etc...

There are a few steps you have to follow:

First:
Stitch the belt clip piece to the large leather piece. The belt clip piece is 1 inch below the edge of the large piece (try to center it as best as possible) as shown in the picture.

Second:

Install the snaps in place before stitching as shown in the picture. Here is where I found out I needed 3 pieces of the 3.5 X 2 inch leather. The snaps I used are a little big... so, I had to glue 2 pieces of leather together to make the clasp piece fit correctly. You may now stitch the clasp piece directly above the belt clip piece...

Third:

Now you can glue the microfiber to the inner side (ugly side) of the leather Let it dry a few hours.

Fourth:

Lastly, following the Tandy video you can now stitch your iPhone 6s Plus case around the edges...

The ultra soft microfiber keeps the phone's screen clean and protected. The heavy leather also gives an extra layer of bump protection and scratch protection...

Someone said to me that this case was rather "large"... Well, the phone itself is pretty large so a large case is a no-brainer...

You could use steam and other techniques to make it slimmer and fit nicely... however, that will be for another Instructable...

One note, I folded the top edge (opening) so that it looks better and I stitched it in such a way that there is some give if you pull or push your iPhone really fast from the case (as shown in the picture, there is a gap between the side edge and the top edge) I also added extra Weldbond glue around the edges and let it dry for 24 hours for extra strength...

I also decided to recycle a belt clip from an old iPod nano (G1) case. So, you can add a little bit of glue to the belt clip piece before inserting the metal clip or/ and you can also stitch it in place. This metal clip has 2 holes on the back for either screws or stitches... so, that works out perfectly...

Cheers!