DIY leather wallet

Prices in stores for business wallets look respectable, and everyone wants to own an elegantly made item. On the other hand, in almost every home there is an old item made of genuine leather that is a pity to throw away. You can give her a second life! You just need to make an effort - a few hours of work with your hands and a new leather wallet will please your eyes and lift your spirits.

So what might suit us? An old leather jacket or a folder for papers. It is best if the leather is natural; there are more problems with artificial leather.. If there are no suitable things, then you can look for suitable pieces of leather online or in an atelier. They don’t cost much, during the experiment we found a suitable option for only 30 rubles, and we took it out ourselves. Pay attention to the thickness of the workpiece; the optimal option is 1.5-1.7 millimeters. Color to taste.

The old jacket needs to be cleaned and prepared; they have abrasions that are noticeable to the eye. Often applying any liquid and natural oil with a swab solves this problem. If you are satisfied with the dried specimen, then take it to work. There should be no problems at all with the purchased piece.

Necessary materials to sew a wallet

We proceed from what every person who likes to work with their hands has in their home. If you don’t have any, you can buy them at your local hardware store or craft and craft stores. You can make something yourself. Go:

• Roller knife. Its price is less than 200 rubles. You can get by with a shoemaker's one, but the disc does not crush the workpiece and cuts faster.
• A sharp knife, preferably a stationery knife.
• Thin ruler and writing pen.
• Cardboard from any food box.
• An awl or thin punch.
• Rolling pin.
• Beeswax or candle.
• Manicure scissors.
• Tortsbil is desirable, it chamfers the edges.
• A thimble or needle-nose pliers for a stuck needle.
• Needles.
• Any pieces of boards or bars.
• Prepared vices with protective pads (you can glue them yourself). If they are not there, then wooden scraps with a screw will come in handy.
• Waxed thread with a thickness of 1 millimeter.

You can start working.

Leather wallet patterns

• We gut any thin box or use cardboard, or, as a last resort, an ordinary sheet. The base for the future front side will be 17X11 centimeters.
• Under two pockets for 7.6X11 bills. Under two slanting pockets 7.6X9X7 (one is possible). There will be three templates drawn with a pen and cut out with scissors.

• We trace the templates on the back side of the workpiece with a pen. You should get four or five stencils in total.
• We take a thin ruler as a cutting guide; you can replace it with any metal product with a straight side. Using a roller knife, cut out template pieces using stencils.
• Next, a coin of 10 kopecks or a ruble and on the largest piece with a pen we apply the rounding of the ends.On money pockets there will be two such curves - where they overlap the main part along the outer edge. There is one on the business card pockets.

Important! Take your time with small workpieces; you will always have time to cut off the rounded edge. Only when you are sure in a place that you definitely need to cut here, then do it. At the same time, do not confuse the external and internal sides, this happens often.

Preparing to Staple

It won’t take much time, but you need to pay attention:

• It is advisable to chamfer the beveled edge of small pockets. This is done with a hammer, if you don’t have one, you can try with a small needle file. You shouldn’t even try it with a blade, it’ll ruin it. You can leave it as is.

 

• We mark future holes with an indentation of 5 millimeters. As a starting point, you can determine one of the angles - along the bisector. The distance from the edge is at the discretion of the master, conditionally - also 5 mm.
• We punch the marked holes with an awl or a line punch. We put any board underneath.
• If you have any decorative metal thing at home (badge, military symbol, emblem), then it’s time to think about aesthetic decoration. Just think about how you will attach it. The easiest way to use military symbols is they have special antennae. Such things can be found in the nearest hotel with sewing accessories. It costs a penny, but it will look like a million!

Attention! No holes are needed where the wallet is folded.

We have all the details ready for the next stage.

Stitching

In order to do this conveniently, the product must be fixed. Rubber or wooden pieces can be glued onto the jaws of a metal vice; they can then be easily removed. If there is no vice, then take two planks or bars 30-35 centimeters long.Secure one end with twine, trimming the edges of the wood. Insert a suitable eye screw or bolt with washer into the drilled hole in the middle. The mount is ready!

First we fold the two inner pieces (when you turn them over, then the remaining ones) and secure them. We sew with a saddle stitch using two needles and threads, working in a mirror manner. More information about this method can be found online. This type of seam is the strongest, but if you don’t want to find out the details, then use one needle. Only then will you have to go through it again, in a checkerboard pattern - closing the open gaps without thread. We hide the ends of the thread and knots inside.

We sew the resulting couplings according to the pattern already completed to the cover.

That's not all, the product still needs to be finalized. This is done by trimming the edges using a special technique.

Ennoblement

No matter how hard we try, the edges of the parts will always protrude - creeping onto others. They need to be leveled. For this we again use the roller tool - placing everything on the board. We cut, very carefully applying the guides. Next we will need:

• Wax or any candle.
• Vise or our manufactured fasteners.
• Rolling pin.

Again we secure the wallet in our vice so that the edges peek out. Rub the edges with beeswax; if you don’t have it, you can try with a candle, but the result will be worse. We take an ordinary kitchen rolling pin and vigorously rub the edges with its round ends until they are completely level.

Reference! For this purpose, saddlers use special smoothers with slots of different diameters, but the round end of such a smoother is identical to a rolling pin. Therefore, it can and should be used for indirect purposes. Then it is cleaned with hot water. Act secretly and carefully, otherwise you can hit a soft spot with this rolling pin.

Result

All! The master can be congratulated; the wallet is completely ready for use. All that remains is to take the bills out of the safe and put the bills into it, plus bank cards with business cards (up to 10 pieces included).

With due diligence, it will be difficult to distinguish it from the factory one. A metal element attached to it will give it individuality and uniqueness. Please note that if you are celebrating the birthday of a friend, colleague or family member, then you definitely can’t think of a better gift.

Here the symbol that needs to be placed on it will come to the fore. Find out the interests of the hero of the day in advance and purchase a symbol of his favorite club or branch of the military in which he served. The heart is suitable for loved ones and for Valentine's Day. Walk through the jewelry shops, kiosks with all sorts of things, you will definitely find a suitable exhibit. Many symbols can be ordered online.

As a result, two people will be happy: the recipient and the master himself. And the feeling of self-worth and satisfaction with your work will fly to heaven!