A4 paper DIY pattern MINIMALIST BIFOLD WALLET

[navetsea]

Yesterday when I sat on my desk, and my wallet was there next to my pencil case... I realized how ugly it had become, it was never a beauty to begin with, and I got it used after my father(late) threw it away... must have been 15 yrs back or so when I got it in the state where my father planned to get rid of it....so imagine.

then I somehow inspired to fold around my A4 sketch paper, and came up with somewhat very easy to DIY wallet
I planned to look for vegetable tanned thin leather to make it myself, currently I stored my money and cards with this simple ad interim sketch paper thing to test it in how convenient or inconvenient its operation before buying a proper material.
and here it is:

on the left side I left the card slot plain, looked clean and minimalist, on the right side I tried to give some cutout to pull and push cards more easily


it has a pair of top flaps, I cut the center part to make folding neater, and to separate its functions, the left one on mine was tucked inside to keep bigger bill safer on the back, while the right one was left untucked


this is more detailed view of the card slots when in use (it can store 4-5 cards in each side)

this is when empty



it can store and organize quite decent amount of stuff for something so simple in construction


bottom view

top view with right side flap tucked into the left side to fully secure its content

side view, from how it is constructed I accidentally have side entry for one of the card slot on each side, I welcome this feature to give quick access to most used cards.

and here I share the pattern too for non commercial purposes

this preview is scaled down 50% to make it smaller to upload

I also upload some printable PDF files both for A4 paper or US legal paper
Here is the link to the file folder on my dropbox ( I mask it through adfly, sorry it has to be done to limit hotlinking to my dropbox)
http://adf.ly/1IHnBx

I didn't specify the measurement because I use centimeters/ metric unit, so I guess it would make it more confusing than helping for people with imperial measurement
but I explain here:
A4 paper in landscape orientation
fold vertically in half to get the central line of the wallet
here are the horizontal lines from the bottom up 2cm then 6cm then 1 cm then 1.5cm then 7.5cm and the rest is used for top flap (+/- 2.5cm)
here are the vertical lines, from central fold line 10 cm to left and right, and I measure 1cm left and right from the central line as spacer to make the wallet folds easier, you can either cut this part or fold and glue it either inside or outside (rough out accent) to give a durable spine if you use thin leather.
that's all

I will show when I have tried mine with a better material later on
I would be happy if other members who give it a try post their result too
enjoy

PS
if your material has very low grip, then you need to apply a dab of glue on the "wings"
or secure it with a single stitch on one spot to each side
or use staples to make it looks more "homemade"

 

[theeggcarton]

absolutely love it! I'm a big proponent of DIY, experimenting and 'creative play"...this is a perfect case of how doing so can lead to interesting and useful results!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Carlos840]

Have you thought about making one in leather?

I have recently started making belts myself, and am pretty sure making this wallet would be pretty easy, you would need minimal tools, all available on evilbay and some leather, also available there!

I am sure you could do it for around £50 all included...

 

[navetsea]

absolutely love it! I'm a big proponent of DIY, experimenting and 'creative play"...this is a perfect case of how doing so can lead to interesting and useful results!
Thanks for sharing!

Thanks , yesterday I was hell bent on this, this is the development process;

1st proto, basically I just did stuff without measuring. I picked paper, folded half, tried to put money in between, and further folding it around tried to slot in some card, adjusting, and the side flap was just an afterthought idea as you can see from the picture


2nd proto, I started to measure things and put more effort to clean up the side flap construction, but every flap was beveled to make it easier to assembly, but it ruined the style and looked sloppy


3rd prototype is the one I test use now, and the one posted with full description and guides is the 4th
I decided against beveled flaps because it would unravel too easily on any material other than paper crisp, and to better preserve their edges, it has to be blunted so that was my final design

Have you thought about making one in leather?

I have recently started making belts myself, and am pretty sure making this wallet would be pretty easy, you would need minimal tools, all available on evilbay and some leather, also available there!

I am sure you could do it for around £50 all included...

Thanks, and yes I will eventually try it on leather, I figure out vegetable tanned leather is probably the better option since it is more paper like compared to chemically tanned soft leather, so I will try to get that in most natural undyed one I tried local suppliers first, probably I will try to buy small size 1sq foot or 2 from the leather workshop where my jacket was made, rather than bothering leather supplier shop with my small quantity purchase.

 

[tonypaj]

I'd put a copyright on the design, and start a company selling the drawings for 1 USD a download. Ask Edward, he knows the law there. Then expand, make different designs. Excellent concept for a business there.

 

[handymike]

Thanks for this!
I'm going to download it and make it with my 8 year old son.
He loves wallets and recently made one out
of duct tape.
This should be a great project for Summer.
Thanks again!

 

[navetsea]

I'd put a copyright on the design, and start a company selling the drawings for 1 USD a download. Ask Edward, he knows the law there. Then expand, make different designs. Excellent concept for a business there.

thanks for the business idea sounds very realistic, I can probably do it right away by selling it as print with my Deviantart account, make different fun skin pattern on it like camouflage, denim like, animal skin, etc and have it print in canvas.

Thanks for this!
I'm going to download it and make it with my 8 year old son.
He loves wallets and recently made one out
of duct tape.
This should be a great project for Summer.
Thanks again!

Thanks, I loved wallet as a little kid too, I used to try to make it with my notebook paper to store my pocket money while in class. If you have time please post a photo of it once it is done

 

[Seb Lucas]

I used to love wallets as a kid too and collected a bunch of hand made ones by crafts people at local markets. I'd forgotten until I saw this thread.

 

[navetsea]

today finally I got the leather, it is vegetable tanned and looks very pale.
I secure some points with copper chain link, I tried to force grow some patina on it with olive oil.


tomorrow will try to oxidize it more in the sun, I use it right away as my wallet my jeans pocket already stained it a little

 

[Mark]

You are a very talented guy, amazing!

 

[A-1]

Love your DIY style! Those are really great ideas!

 

[navetsea]

Thank you for the compliments,
Today I put it outside in the sun
I think it becomes much darker now, it is grey with a hue of sage green in it ,since the leather was indeed very cold white-pale not a beige one.


after this one.... now I'm wanting hide that would turn brown

 

[tonypaj]

Thank you for the compliments,
Today I put it outside in the sun
I think it becomes much darker now, it is grey with a hue of sage green in it ,since the leather was indeed very cold white-pale not a beige one.
View attachment 30968 View attachment 30969 View attachment 30970 View attachment 30971

after this one.... now I'm wanting hide that would turn brown

Given the light leather you started with, would not the end result depend on what you treat the leather with? I like the colour very much, BTW.

 

[navetsea]

Thanks
True I can dye it with different colors, but I chose to let its natural color developed.
I treated the leather with extra virgin olive oil to bring out its natural patina faster, and putting it in the sun probably tanned it more, since the leather was probably dyed with different vegetable recipe, this one started very white like bloodless dead animal white and now it developed patina into zombie skin tone teritory :eeek:
but I like it !!!

I still want to try with a warmer tone vegetable leather that would grow honey or brown patina.

edit:
so I was misunderstood about the leather, since I was curious about the natural hue it developed, today when I visited them to collect my brother's jacket I asked about the leather for my wallet again, it was mineral tanned goatskin, then as wetblue it was sun dried without any dyeing process that's why it was white and hard as cardboard, with olive oil I think I managed to bring out chemical component color it was tanned with, so combination of brown olive oil and the slight blue make this green tinge I got.... now all make sense.
it came as a surprise even for them since it developed very nice green-grey color naturally. I picked some scrap leather leftover in the same material to experiment with.