02
First Personal Project
When I feel determined to reach a certain goal, I always find a way to achieve it. I become obsessed with finding the solution to the problem...
One day I became obsessed with all the different types of leather goods. I loved the material, as well as the craftsmanship that went into it. For that reason, I became determined to create my own leather goods. In this case, a wallet.
Process
I had never in my life worked with leather, so it was a completely new experience for me. Even though the thought of creating this object from scratch seemed a bit scary, my determination and desire to give this challenge a try surpassed that initial feeling.
Creating a wallet was a project that I decided to undergo for my own learning experience. I was interested in leather goods, so I wanted to create my own wallet. I used videos I found online to learn about the construction of a wallet and also improvised since I was limited to the tools I had in my house.
I spent more time learning about the process, which tools I needed, and what materials to use than the creation of the wallet itself. However, there was something nice that came from taking my time to learn and research what I was about to work on.
Firstly I created the layout of the wallet on paper. I used this layout to place on top of the leather which I would later cut out.
I used regular black cowhide leather for the exterior, and then I used maroon suede leather for the interior. The brown suede piece that is seen in the image I later decided to discard since it was too thick for a wallet. I also used bits of fabric for exterior decoration.
For the construction of the wallet, I used a nail that I would hammer down using the mallet to create the holes for sewing. The reason for this was since I didn’t have a sewing machine at the time, I had to hand-sew the whole wallet.
Even though the wallet ended with a very rough look, I couldn’t be happier with the result. This was my first time working with leather, and I had created something completely functional and was even very durable, as it never fell apart.
The best thing that came out of all of this was that even though it looks very rough, it was all made by hand, and ultimately was my first time using leather, meaning that I can only improve from this. Now that I understand the basics, I can improve on those techniques to have cleaner finishes, as well as have better tools for creating leather goods.
