This was another experiment in Inkscape more than anything else. I’m trying to get better at creating the patterns themselves. In particular, I wanted to get a pattern that looked professional so I ended up with the below Lessons Punching harder through the leather with the 10 tooth punch made the stitching a lot easier. I probably wasn’t being forceful enough on the previous one. Still want smaller needles though. Need to buy more x-acto blades again.

I got some new KS Blade Punches in 3.38mm and have been practising with Inkscape more as well. This piece was more about trying out the new punches and trying to get better at the Vector graphics programs than anything else. The punches themselves just feel really good in the hand and being able to punch 10 holes at a time is making my lines much straighter and cleaner. Punching holes was something that I was dreading using my little 4 tooth punch.

Making a wallet for myself on this one. Wanted something to hold some cards that wasn’t too bulky. I quite like the tan leather here so went with that one Lessons Write up pieces and what I learned from making them as soon as I make them Take more photos The radius of the curves in the pattern could have been better. Wonder if I could have outer set it and then modified it accordingly in order to get the right shape.

This was a present for my mother for her birthday. She wanted something to hold all of the little cards that you tend to accumulate over time. The brief was something slim, that looked good and could hold a lot of cards. No need to hold cash but I did put in some cash holders anyway which she can use if she wants. Lessons I need a better way of setting the snaps in place, hammering them in isn’t that ideal and I’m not quite getting the results I want Sharper knife would be better… I made this in July, should write it up straight away Materials Leather: Conceria La Perla Azzurra - Tan Dakota Belly - 1.

This was a present for a friend, something he should hopefully be able to get some use out of. It was the second time making this design and it went smoothly. The only thing I would have liked to change was making the top layer “thinner” so that it was easier to set the rivets. All in all, it’s a simple design that is easy to put together. My stitching was a lot better on this one which was good.

This was a variant on the previous design that was requested by a friend. I removed the pen holder and introduced an additional pocket on the front for them so they had somewhere to store things. I also tried out a couple new techniques, some of which worked, some of which didn’t. Overall, quality of the pieces are still improving. The main new technique I tried was punching holes on the inside before glueing the back piece to the front and then individually pushing the holes through.

This was my third design that I’ve self drafted and built, definitely the most challenging and complex as compared to a relatively simple wallet. The design brief for myself was relatively simple. Something that I struggle with when reading non-fiction on my kindle is being able to take notes of interesting sections or areas where I’d want to come back to it. I find the highlighting functionality quite clunky to say the least.

My second self designed piece, this time making a vertical design. I’m still getting my head around designing using Inkscape but I must say I’m fully enjoying the experience. This one I modelled off some quite nice vertical card wallets that I’d seen before. I particularly like the back pocket and the angled designs that come in towards each other as I think they’re looking quite cool. I paid a lot more attention to bevelling the edges properly on this one and it shows in the result.

This is the first piece that I’ve ever designed by myself, which, on one level isn’t that meaningful but on the other hand it’s actually incredibly cool. This one, I can say, is mine and there is something intangible to that which I cannot articulate. The piece itself is simple. An unlined men’s bifold wallet with three pockets on each side. I introduced an offset style curve to the design to make it a little bit different.

This was probably the best piece I’ve made yet. Everything just felt like it was coming together a lot easier on this one. My skiving was better, my stitching was better, my curves were better, my edging was better. Just everything was better overall. I did make three small flaws, there’s one stitch line that isn’t as straight as I’d like it. The two vertical stitch lines that separate the card pockets are not as perfectly aligned as I would like and I did accidentally carve out a small divet near one of the snap clasps when I was trying to smooth out the edge.

This was my first time working with the Blue Buttero Leather and it’s quite a beautiful material to work with. Compared to the cheaper “craft” leather that I’ve been using previously the Buttero skives easier, cuts easier and burnishes to a very nice edge. I also found that it held it’s shape a lot more when punching holes which sped the stitching process up considerably. Overall, the piece took me about 3.