I created this all-leather version of a men’s wallet from scratch. It took a while, but each piece was individually hand cut from black cowhide remnant leather from a local upholstery shop.
I used my FAV skiver to split and skive each piece and my decision to use thinly split leather to line the pockets was to prevent the pockets from stretching out. I switched from all-purpose cement to a German made water-based adhesive for assembly and used the saddle stitch with black French linen thread.
Here is the inside without props.This is the inside too but the id flap on the left is down and the vertical yellow and rust center bits are do demonstrate the two hidden pockets under the two horizontal pockets.
I hand finished the edges and tested the final product for size…
Hard to believe I first started making wallets back in 2016!Regardless time and practice (and retirement) make all the difference in the world. 🙂
This was to thank a family friend who knows of my hobby and generously donated an old handbag with nice hardware I can upcycle into a new bag.
I split a remnant piece of black chaps leather for all the visible parts. The pocked backs (not visible) are recycled garment leather (from a skirt); hand stitched with sage green linen thread and finished with gold edge paint.
Interior has three pockets.Profile – finished with metallic gold edge paint and burnished.
I am burned out on wallets for now but here is a series of their evolution. The most basic leather with six pockets to hand stitched with hidden pockets and the addition of an ID holder. Yup if you look carefully you can see my really crude prototype of the ID holder wallet in blue garment leather suede. 😮
Open sesame!
Love the shade of blue on that crude prototype!
I’m taking a break on wallets for now, so I can do some handles and baby shoes right now.
Hand stitched with linen thread- this was another experiment – I wanted to see how my stitching skills were. I used Stohlman’s book for reference and recommend newbies follow the instructions step by step including don’t set your awl down as you sew with two needles in two hands. Yes! Make or buy a stitching pony.
I changed up the pattern a bit and added two hidden pockets; this was a step I would include in another wallet for a family member.
I also turned the leather for the interior piece in so it is visible when you look in the bill slot – I lined the flesh side of the exterior piece with a piece of coordinating suede.
This was for a family member – the deal? Use it and provide me with feedback (good & bad). One evaluator said he had a problem – the pockets stretched out. He also said it may have been his fault in that he put lots of cards in the pockets…
I used a textured cowhide, (about 3 oz or 1.2 mm thick) for the interior & extrior pockets and recycled garment leather for the pockets & ID flap. The test here? Can the garment grade leather hold up or will it stretch.
On the left and under the ID holder, I used two pockets and on the right side interior I used three pocket.
Inside the bill slot.
So far the feed back is it looks great and is sturdy. The flap and wallet close, but the carrier wants the overall profile to lay flatter. His feedback is it may come with time and use. It may be just the bulk since I lined the bill slot and added the hidden pockets – a little larger gap (middle fold area) may help with that too…
Someone asked about a slim wallet since they don’t carry cash. I created this little card carrier.
Recycled black napa garment leather is hand stitched for this simple piece. The front is an ID window and it opens like a book.The back is a funky slit pocket for gift or credit cards. I want to try and alter this to have RFID blocking.Two card slots on either side for this slim card carrier.Neon yellow edge paint to match the stitching. It seems to lay a little flatter with use/stretching…a few other tweaks and I think this can be a hit. A young woman at the grocery store complimented me on this yesterday. Yup, carrying this one too for test and evaluation.
Red edge paint all around adds a little pop of color to the black textured leather outside.Three interior pockets on either side are of red recycled garment leather; plus a little more depth for the bill holder.
The front & back of the wallet look the same – black weave imprinted leather.The four interior card slots are made of recycled black garment leather.This image is with the front & back of my new business cards. Similar to the brochures, the business card is a little version of the black suede wristlet I made.Dollar bill slot runs the full length of the wallet. Credit for this wallet pattern goes to “ducjes” a leather worker website user/member.
