I have a plan for my future wallet and notebook combo! This is my fairly precise sketch. See images below.

I’ll give it a Z fold with wallet on one side and notebook on the other.

The notebook part will have holes in the middle at the top and bottom where I’ll attatch two elastics for two small notebooks. I might make them into one tho.

The wallet part will have a zipper all around and for the inside pockets I’ll use fabric to reduce weight and thickness. The curves on the paper represent pockets so I’ll have two on each side. I’m going to attatch them with a W shape so that I get a proper pocket in the middle.

I’m not sure what to do about the fact that leather has a front and back tho. I’d prefer to not have two layers to reduce thickness and weight.

I hope this makes sense and is possible

  • Dop@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    First of all, this looks like a fun and smart design, I like the idea of a fully zipped compartment for the wallet, that is easy to reach for.

    Here are a couple questions though :

    • I don’t understand what you mean by “attach them with a W shape” can you elaborate ?
    • will there be a system to keep the whole item closed (such as another elastic string, or maybe a snap button?)
    • how do you plan to stitch the elastic band for pen holder, so that it’s strong enough to last through time, but also it doesn’t mess with the closure of your notebook-wallet?
    • have you already planned the way you want to mix leather and fabric, and how you are going to stitch/sew it all together?
    • you have 2 sides to leather, flesh side (“inner” side of the hide) and grain side (the skin side). So if you want the grain to show on the back, for instance, you will have the flesh showing on the front (or vice versa). Flesh side is usually considered less noble, and may deteriorate through time and turn mushy/flaky. To avoid that you have several options : lining with a thin leather (goat works great, it can be thinned out and remain strong), but then yiunhave to stitch the lining all around and work on a nice and clean edge finish. Or a cheaper/easier way is to buy veg-tan leather and rub the flesh side with tokonole and burnish it to get it stabilized. But maybe you have another plan in mind?

    Good luck with you project, looking forward to seeing how it goes!

    (And SOAD ftw!)

    • CoffeeTails@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      21 hours ago

      Thank you!

      The W shape I’m talking about is this:

      So there are two “lines” of fabric for pockets on each side, connected with a W to prevent coins from falling out. As for sewing it all together, including the zipper, I think I’ll make holes all around where the zipper will be, with rounded corners. I’ll only be able to actually round the outer corner tho because of the Z folding. But the holes will be made in a rounded way on both sides.

      I am considering cutting the leather that is between the wallet and notebook and flip it, so that I get the grain side out on both, outer parts. But I’m unsure how I would sew them together, or if it’s even possible. I don’t want it to be floppy. But to add another, thin leather that adds a bit of contrast on the notebook side would be fun too! Making all those holes would be the biggest challenge. But I have all the tools needed I think, I mean, not made for leather work, but with a bit of creativity, improvisation and patience it should work out fine.

      Although… I was at the craftstore the other day where they sell leather scraps and there was one that where smooth on both sides, as if both was grain sides but it looked like regular leather on the edged that where 3-5mm thick. Maybe it’s same as the veg-tan leather with rubbed flesh side?

      About the elastic, my first trough was to stitch it directly to the leather, but maybe I should just add a… imagine a belt loop in your jeans, but tiny and you put an elastic trough instead. haha I hope that makes sense.

      The wallet part will keep closed with the zipper, so that’s no problem. The notebook part tho… The hard part is that it needs to be flexible in width but I also want it to be super easy to open and close, while keeping it sleek. The only option might be a snap button but I’ll add two “bottom” buttons that I can push the “top” button into.

      What do you think?