Over the years, I have spent way too much time and money trying to find a simple, affordable, and durable wallet. So I have decided to make a leather wallet on my own. I will be showing you how to make a simple and durable leather wallet.

Required Materials:

Stitching groover
Overstitch tool
Stitching awl
Leather stitching needles
Waxed thread 1 spool
Rubber cement
speed square
Sharp knife
Pen
Masking tape
Hammer
Leather 8 in. x 8 in.
Durable cutting surface

Tip: you can order all these items online in kits

Step 1: Marking Your Leather

Once you have all of the materials, you will need to lay out your leather on a flat cuttable surface with the felt side up. With your pen and speed square, make a 8.5 in. x 4 in. rectangle in the bottom corner. In the top left corner of the rectangle you just made, you will need to make a 2 in. x 1 in. rectangle with pen. Make a straight vertical line along the right side of the small rectangle you just marked. This should make two rectangles.

Step 2: Cutting Your Leather

Once you have followed all of the last step, you should cut cut out both pieces. (Tip: you can use the speed square to help cut a straight line on the leather.)

After that you should have one small piece and one large one. Cut a forty-five degree angle an inch away from the top right corners of the leather. Then cut a forty-five degree angle piece out of the top left part of the piece of leather that is an inch away from the corner.

Step 3: Gluing Your Leather Together

After all of your cuts are made, on one side place masking tape one centimeter away from the outside of the leather. Cover the edges with rubber cement. Peel off the masking tape. Place the smaller piece of leather one the larger one flush with outside. Then place masking tape about one centimeter apart under the edge of the outside of the back of the top piece. Then place rubber cement. Peel off the tape and then press down on leather and let dry.

Step 4: Marking the Leather

Once your glue is dry you will need to mark where you'll be stitching using the stitching groover. The pieces should be about 1/2 cm apart. Use the tool by pressing down on the leather with the side that has a hole in it on the leather. Drag the tool along where you plan on stitching. There should be a thin string of leather that feeds through the hole as you drag it.

Step 5: Overstitching

In this step you'll need a hammer and you're overstitch tool, you will want to have the wallet folded for the first part. Start on the top left side of the smaller pocket. Place the overstitcher right at the top of the pocket on top of the groove you just cut. Point the tool up at about a ninety degree angle and hammer the points through the leather. Next move you tool farther along the groove but keep at least one point on the last hole for even spacing. Do this along the entire backside of the smaller pocket. Once you have got to the bottom you will need to fold the wallet in half and move along the rest of the groove.

Step 6: Stitching Part 1

For this step you will need the stitching awl, a leather needle, and waxed thread. The thread will need to feed through the end of the needle and you should have a string that is a couple inches longer than the backside of the smaller pocket going through the needle. Poke your needle through the top left side of the smaller pocket from the inside of the wallet. Pull your string that went through the needle all of the way through the leather. Then pull the needle back out of the leather but leave the string going through the firs hole. then poke your needle through the next hole. Pull some of the string from the needle making a small loop. Feed the string from the last hole through the loop and then pull the needle back out of the leather. Pull the needle and the string tight and there should be a small knot in the middle of the leather. Do this all of the way through the left side of the pocket until you have gone through the second to last hole. Once you have done that you will need to put the needle back through the hole you did before, make a loop, and pull tightly. Once this is finished you will need to cut the thread level with the rest of the leather.

Step 7: Stitching Part Two

In order to stitch the rest of the leather you will need to glue it together. Use masking tape one centimeter away from the edge of the leather. Cover the strip with glue and remove the tape. Fold the leather in half, make sure the edges are flush, and let dry. After the glue has dried start stitching (shown in the last step) at the bottom left of small pocket and continue all of the way through until you get to the top right of the wallet then finish you're stitch (shown in the last step). Congratulation you've made a small, simple, durable, leather wallet.