You will be amazed at how easy it is to make a wallet yourself. You just need to know how to sew and have the right materials. To make a leather wallet, you must be able to sew by hand and have a suitable sewing needle. If you prefer to be able to sew your wallet together, choose to make it out of fabric. Here you will find the instructions for both model types.
Method 1 – The leather wallet
1. Draw the pieces to cut
Before cutting the leather pieces, trace their outline with chalk or pencil. You will need a large piece of suede for the body of the wallet and several small pieces of cowhide for the pockets.
The piece of suede should measure approximately 28cm x 19cm. Each card holder should measure approximately 5cm x 10cm. You can cut out one to three. The coin purse should measure approximately 7.5cm x 7.5cm.
2. Cut out the body of the wallet from the leather with a sharp knife
Lay the piece of leather on a cutting board and cut the leather along the lines you made with a sharp paring knife. Cut out the body of the wallet, then the pockets.
You must then cut two tabs in the body of the wallet. They should measure approximately 5cm x 5cm, and both should be on the left side of the piece of leather. Cut about 1 cm at the top and bottom of the tabs and about 6.5 cm between the two tabs.
3. Temporarily secure the pouches to the body of the wallet with tape or pins
Place the card pockets on top of each other, shifting them slightly, so that 1 cm of each card holder remains visible. Center them in the upper right corner of the wallet body. Center the wallet pocket in the upper left corner. Hold the pockets in place using sewing pins or tape.
4. Drill holes in the leather
Drill holes in the card holder pockets, coin purse and the leather of the main body located just below using a punch wheel. Drill the holes after you have placed the pins or the tape, so that the pockets and the main body are aligned correctly.
Put a piece of thick leather under your wallet when drilling the holes, it will be easier this way. You should not punch a hole along the edge of the large piece of leather.
5. Sew the pockets to the body of the wallet
Thread a needle with waxed thread and sew each pocket on the wallet body by hand. Pass the thread through the holes marked by the roller.
Start your stitching on the inside of the wallet to hide the knot in the thread. The inside of the wallet is on the side where the pockets are facing up. Do not sew the opening of the pockets.
For a stronger seam, pass two threads along each seam. You can, if you wish, lightly burn the knot with a lighter to make it more durable by melting the wax from the thread. Proceed carefully, in small steps. Remove any pins or tape when you are finished.
6. Determine where to place your snap button
Fold and close the wallet. Fold back the tab and mark where the snap button should be with your glove needle. Fold the lower body of the wallet to cover the pockets. The two tabs should be aligned.
Fold the wallet again by folding the right side over the left side. Fold the tabs over to fold them over the top of the wallet. Pierce the two tabs and the top of the wallet with a needle.
7. Secure the tabs
Drill holes with your hole punch pliers to secure the two parts of each snap button. Drill a hole at each point marked by a needle hole. Secure the snaps in the holes using a shoe press and a mallet.
Place the male part of the snap on the inside of the tab and the female part on the body of the wallet.
Keep in mind that the male part and the female part are both made up of two parts that need to be put together using a mallet, sandwiching the leather in between.
Pinch the two parts of the male part of the snap fastener into the concave part of the shoe press. The two pieces of the button should be on either side of the tab.
Assemble the two parts of the button by hitting it lightly with a hammer or mallet. Repeat with the female part of the snap button.
8. Drill holes around the perimeter of the wallet
Fold the wallet in half so that it looks like the finished wallet. Place pins or duct tape to hold it in place and then punch holes with the roller around the perimeter of the wallet. Do not drill a hole at the top of the wallet.
9. Sew the wallet
Hand stitch along the holes you just drilled to complete the wallet. Start sewing on the inside of the wallet, with the pockets pointing up, to hide the knot.
For a stronger seam, go through each hole twice with waxed thread. Burn the knot to keep it from coming undone. You can also sew the outside of the wallet with artificial tendon.
Method 2 – Basic fabric wallet
1. Cut out your fabric
You need to cut out a total of four rectangles. Cut them out of a piece of printed fabric and a piece of plain fabric. If you do not want to create a contrast, you can very well use only printed fabric or only plain fabric. Use a strong fabric such as canvas or cotton.
Cut out two pieces of printed fabric. They should measure 23 cm x 10 cm. We will call them A1 and A2. Cut out another rectangle of printed fabric measuring 7cm x 23cm. We will call it C. Cut the last rectangle out of plain fabric. It should measure 9cm x 23cm. We will call it B.
2. Sew a seam around the edges of the small rectangles
Sew separately around pieces B and C. Do not put the pieces together just yet. You can use an overlock stitch, blanket stitch, zigzag stitch, or any such stitch. The purpose of this seam is to prevent the edge of the fabric from fraying. You can sew the edges of the fabric by hand or by machine.
3. Fold and sew the top of these rectangles.
Fold the top of rectangles B and C. Iron the fold and hold it in place with pins. Fold the top back about 1.5 cm wide. Fold it up against the wrong side of the fabric.
Sew a seam in the back stitch about 1 cm from the fold. Sew a backstitch seam about 4mm from the top fold of each piece of fabric.
4. Assemble the two interior rectangles
The smaller rectangle, C, should be placed over rectangle B so that the bottom and sides are aligned. Place the fabrics together right side up. Place pins to hold them in place.
5. Mark the center
Measure the center of the wallet with a ruler or tape measure. Draw a vertical line through this center with chalk or washable felt.
This line should be perpendicular to the bottom of the wallet and should be approximately 4.5 inches from each of the edges.
The line must end at the upper edge of C. It must not extend over the visible part of B. Place pins along the mark so that the two pieces of fabric are held together at their centers.
6. Sew inside
Sew a backstitch or machine stitch to stitch B and C together along the line you made. Do not extend the seam beyond C. Do not sew the visible part of B. This step is used to make the bill holder and card holder part of the wallet.
7. Interleave the inside of the portfolio between the two large rectangles of fabric.
Place A1 below B and A2 above the other three rectangles. Place pins to hold all the thickness in place. Line up the fabric so that the bottoms of all rectangles line up. Do not place pins on the left side of the fabric.
8. Sew most of the way around the wallet
Sew the top, bottom and straight edge of the wallet with a backstitch or machine stitch. Do not sew the left side, leave it open. Make sure you have sewn all four layers of fabric together. Leave a seam allowance of about 4 mm. Cut all four corners of your work.
9. Turn the wallet over to put it right side up
Pull the fabric from the inside through the space left open to the left of the wallet to reveal B and C while the peripheral seam should now be hidden.
10. Fold the right side inward
Fold about 4mm from the open side inward, creating a rounded edge on the right side. Iron the edge you just folded and place pins to hold it in place.
11. Close the edge with a seam
Sew a backstitch or machine seam about 4mm from the edge to complete your wallet.
Yeah, It seems bit difficult but actually its not. You just need to have all the required tools and it will be so easy. For more design options you can check the top wallet brands and try to make your wallet like them. In the end you will be proud to used you custom made wallet and flaunt your style in front of your friends too.