Evolution of Leather Goods: Before and After Pictures

[B-Dawg]

nice card holder photo. i think it's the combo of the liquid and the edge slicker that give you those results. this is tough on the hands. i'm about 3/4 done with my wallet and my wrist hurts, and i took a needle under the finger nail earlier. no pain no gain though, right?

[Largo]

Thailand is, at least as far as Denim and Cowboy stuff is concerned, kind of a strange place. They still make work-oriented selvage denim, and you can find rice farmers wrestling with their water buffalo even in Bangkok. The 'cowboy culture' is alive, well, and somewhat popular as well.

I've been trying to find, without success, a wallet that is like a Red Moon or such for about half a year since I got here. There's a few places that make carved, elaborate looking long wallets in some of the more popular markets, but nothing like what I was looking for. The places that did custom orders all shut me down. So I was a bit surprised when I was wandering through a street market in Chiang Mai in the Northwest and found this:

Super thick, stiff leather, handmade, and I had the guy switch the normal indian head snap for the one you see there, just for a change of pace. He says that they hand-made them in bulk, and then ship them to Japan where vendors stamp their logo on them and sell them. His had turned to a deep chocolate brown, too. Nice for the price as well-he also said he'd do orders if anyone is interested in a 'Japan-style' Wallet for about 80 bucks-let me know and I'll PM details. I'm headed back to the states next month so I could easily bring a batch back with me and ship them from there.

[grail]

Largo, does he have mid length wallets?

Yours looks quite nice!

[Largo]

No, I wish! I'm pretty sure that was actually the shortest one, at least in that style. There were a few longer ones with those huge Indian head snaps like the Red Moons, and some other styles with two snaps on the corners instead of the one with the flap. I can't be 100% sure since at the time I was thinking, "What the hell is this doing in some random stop in a night market?"

[corter]

I got some goodies in the mail the other day:

and heres my latest piece done, a small/mid wallet for james nicholas. I made the braid, I don't know what he'll use with it. note: card slots ontop of zipper pouch sucks to make, this will probably be the only one I do for a long while

[fre-co]

Has anyone handled or seen manifold wallets?

like this.....http://www.freak-web.net/mf_ow-008.html

The only mention I can find here is Kiya saying flathead are better, I wondered if there were any more opinions.

[jcotteri]

^they look nice man...go with it and let us know how it is...

[fre-co]

At the moment it's a decision between that or the flathead, they look very similar.

[baskew]

At the moment it's a decision between that or the flathead, they look very similar.

quality of the flathead wallets are rarely unsurpassed.

[beatle]

Corter - another beautiful wallet....

[photo]

Corter = Next Flathead?

[kenthenoob]

naw, man. corter is just corter.

[B-Dawg]

i'm done with my wallet. i just need to figure out some finishing touches. i need those little do-dads that corter pictured above for the wallet rein to hook on to, though i may just put an eyelet in if i can't find those. i also have some stray threads i only backstitched, and am wary to cut, but i wouldn't be able to tie them off subtly. hmmmm....

[corter]

Corter = Next Flathead?

I hope not. You'll never see me charging $190 for a card holder, I don't care what the threads made out of.

I just ordered some xx0500's through a proxy, so i'm goingg to take a couple days next week to actually make myself something! I think it's going to be like james' up there, only with 4 card slots instead of 8. that size is really nice. Any ideas for me?

thanks for the kind words as always, beatle

[rome1]

really nice rein on that wallet Corter.

[RobZ]

corter - I love that black detail stitched on the outside of the wallet as it definitely reminds me of the Flat Head one. I probably would have went with an all black wallet rein, but that's just me.

Definitely post pictures of what you end up making for yourself. I personally thought your mid-length was well-designed, but maybe after doing a few of them you have a new configuration that would be more suitable.

[corter]

ya rob, I have a bunch of black ones, i just liked that the best.

all I know is i'm using a bug concho on mine, theres going to be no snap,and it's going to be about the dimensions of the onei just posted. the inside hopefully will be something different than the things i've done thus far.

[la-vvoc]

id really love to see how thick these wallets are...maybe if you took a picture of it closed with an ipod or something next to it for comparison?

[photo]

I hope not. You'll never see me charging $190 for a card holder, I don't care what the threads made out of.

The quality looks like its getting there though!

[genius215]

Well just got back from Tandy Leather Factory in Allentown, PA. Drove up from Philly today.

Spent two hours there making my own belt from 7mm thick untanned leather. Learned alot of really cool info ie.

1. THere are only 4 tannery's in the entire us. Cali has two of them, the third is Dirty Jersey and the fourth not sure.

2. Found out that my $185 KC Wallet could be made for around $30.00. Found the exact same hardware on my snap as well.

3. Lastly, found that it is possible to make 10mm-12mm thick belts but you have to actually glue two of them together then bevel the edges and coat it with some cream.

Whole experience was alot of fun. Definitely going back to make a braided lanyard for my KC.

Sidenote: This was my first time making leather goods and talking about it so If I said anything that sounds utterly ridic. I'll take the neg. rep in the ass.

Peace Out.

[RobZ]

Well just got back from Tandy Leather Factory in Allentown, PA. Drove up from Philly today.

Spent two hours there making my own belt from 7mm thick untanned leather. Learned alot of really cool info ie.

You can go there to make stuff? I thought it was just a store...do the employees help you out with the construction or how does that work?

[genius215]

RobZ- They actually hold leather working classes there and you can really make anything your heart desires you just have to pay for the leather, dyes and some of the supplies and tools. The guy that worked at the Allentown store used to work at the huge tandy in Texas but is up in PA now. Super helpful and I actually had fun doing it. I was still in my dress clothes from teaching that day and got leather dye all over my fingers. Definitely going back.

I think it would be cool if some sufu people were around the area and got together for a little leather working session at one of the tandy places and made some shit. Prices were more than reasonable.

[rome1]

I hope the jersey one does classes and stuff too, gonna have to check that out.

[mrpenguin354]

If you look into that, post your findings please! Maybe we could have some sort of NJ leather class meet up

[RobZ]

I'm hoping the store near me offers classes. I wish I would have known about this sooner, as I have to go back to school on Saturday but maybe I'll get lucky and they will have a class tomorrow. I appreciate the info genius215.

[khoiphan92]

Made for hurleyboarder11

[kiya]

I hope not. You'll never see me charging $190 for a card holder, I don't care what the threads made out of.

As clarification...

Also do keep in mind that the Flat Head cowhide version is almost half that in cost, the reason the one you've seen is so much is because it's made of cordovan.

Not just any cordovan, if you know leather, as i'm sure you do, you'd realize the grade of cordovan they're using is extremely high once you saw the card case in person.

Your wallets are looking great though!

[40ozprophet]

holes still too big with not large enough thread khoiphan otherwise, a very very nicely done piece.

[khoiphan92]

i havent had time to get an awl or bigger thread. possible saturday for you with picky eyes. just keeding

[B-Dawg]

so my wallet is basically done, but i still need to decide what the fate of the loose threads is. here's some pics though:

here's a close up of the wallet rein attachment. i couldn't find the right hardware, so i decided to go a different route and do something i haven't seen before.

for recipts, extra cards, etc...

a simple noob's solution to the coin pocket: