My current wallet being a few years old and well used, was looking like it needed to be replaced soon. So not wanting to buy another mass produced wallet, I embarked on the journey of making my own.
After a couple weeks of debate with myself over the style, I ultimately decided to go with a simple minimalist style wallet. And that’s where we begin, coming up with the design.
After plenty of research and looking for design ideas on YouTube, I sat down with my friend “Mr. Graph Paper” to draw out the individual panels and get an idea for how much leather I needed to buy. Then it was off to the local craft store to get what I wanted.
The Wallet
With all that figured out, it was time to transfer my design to the leather and watch it start to take shape. Sorry I don’t have pictures of me cutting everything out or laid out.
It is worth noting at this point, I did not take into account the thickness of the leather for the flap that comes over the front. As you will see later, I added a pouch to the back of it intended to hold some cash. In making this miscalculation, I did not have enough room for the bills to sit in the pouch on the flap as intended. It’s an easy fix for next time I make one.
The tedious part of the whole thing was creating my form as a stand-in for the cards. First I had to get the 10 cards and measure their thickness (the easy part with a digital ruler). Then it was wrapping a Credit Card size piece of cardboard in duct tape to match the measured thickness of the cards. Once that was done, I had to trim it back down to the correct size again to match the length and width needed.
With everything cut out, molded, and ready to be assembled, it was time to glue the edges. Once the glue was applied I gave it about 24 hours to cure.
After the glue was dry, it was time to punch holes for stitching. I was kinda excited, I’ll admit. I just got some new tools I was excited to try out. With the holes punched, it was on to stitching using the tried and true saddle stitch.
After everything was stitched, I test fitted cards and paper money in their respective spots. It was at this time I noticed the error I made, mentioned earlier. It still works despite the error. It was also pointed out to me by the recipient of the first wallet that it might be a good idea to add stitching around the top of the pouch and thumb slide to stiffen them up a little. This was a great idea and design overlook on my part that will be incorporated into future wallets.
As you may be able to see, the finished wallet is about the same size (L & W) as my trifold wallet but about 1/2 the thickness. Please keep in mind, my trifold is empty and not at it’s normal thickness for what I carried in it, so it looks a lot thinner than usual.
Conclusion
This was a fun fairly simple project. Things learned in this one is to think about and include the thickness of the leather in measurements. Think about reenforcement for areas where you won’t have either glue or stitching in place already.
For version 2.0, I have an idea or 2 for a slightly different approach using the same design. I think in making these changes, it should turn out much better and a lot slimmer than this version. I am looking forward to many more projects like this and I have already been given a few requests for some other leather projects I will be taking up in the coming year.
The Wandering Leatherneck 
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