I have been wanting to make myself a chevre wallet for some time now. Have you any suggestions on best practices? A list of current concerns are: directing stretch, should I self-line, is non-stretch tape preferred (a strip or the whole pocket?), should the back have a reinforcement sandwhiched, should there be considerations to adhering to exotics like alligator.
Thank you in advance for your insight.
I wrote this response 2 days back, but for some reason, it did not post it, so here goes (even though Phil might have answered some of them allready)
Hello,
I will try to answer as best as I can, but keep in mind we each have our own way of making things, so some of what I will say might not be the "best" practice, it is what works best for me.
Directing Stretch: If you mean stretch on the external pannel, then i say: You are making a wallet, what kind of forces do you think will be applied to it in order for it to stretch? I personally do not bother with external pannel stretch my-head-is-aching-because-i-overthink issues. (as a side note, i usually over think and over engeneer everything)
Self-Lining: what do you mean by that? From your answer below (using same skin to line), that is purely a design choice
Non-Stretch Tape: I always have a strip of non stretch tape of the top of my pockets (i usually turn my edges). It doest really matter if it is just a strip or the whole pocket because if 90% of your pocket stretches and only 10% remains unstretched, this 10% will still keep your cards in place. The main thing to focus on is to have the strip wide enough that it gets stitched at the sides. The non stretch tape i use is 0.1mm thick
Reinforced Back: That really depends on the type and thickness of the leather you are using. If you are using a 1.2mm chevre, then you are adding a lining of lets say 0.5 to 0.6mm, then I personally would not add a sanwiched pannel in the middle, you allready have enough thickness. But, if you are using a 0.6mm thick exterior with 0.6mm thick lining, then yes, definetly add a sandwich pannel for structure more than anything. As an example, i have a wallet design that I make mostly in Salmon skin exterior, and given that Salmon is around 0.6mm thick, I always add a 0.5mm vegtan pannel between the salmon and the lining. I made one the other day in 1.2mm Gator exterior, I did not line it as it was thick and rigid enough. So besically, to sum up and long paragraph, it all depends on how you approach your build.
Exotics Considerations: Yes, there most definetly are. For gator, the first one I can think about is to really well position your cut so that the side are in the middle of the scales as possible (to avoid having the softer between scale part at the edge)