leather and elastic card case

a step up from the MacGyver case. a very small step.

it's not that i don't love my giant pocky card case. i do. but it's seen a bit of action, and quite frankly it's past it's prime. them's the breaks when you use cardboard as a case:

i was very happy with the construction of the case and loved the elastic (way to go replayground), but attempting to directly reproduce it in leather was a fail. the single elastic strap wasn't enough to hold the body together. i slightly adjusted the original pattern to accomodate 2 elastics, and simplified their use. the flap needed to be lengthened to work with the lower elastic.

pattern:

Click here for printable pattern

materials:

• swatch of leather*, at least 6"wide by 8"long
• 2 elastic hair bands (thin worked better than thick)
• scissors, xacto, and writing implement, straight edge, cutting mat
• leather punch**

*i purchased a scrap of nubuck from leather impact. it's thick but pliable, and dyed through, so the sueded side is the same color as the leather side. there is no lining in this case, so the sueded side is visible. it should be as clean as the leather side.

**the leather punch will make or break this project. my set of punches couldn't come close to getting through this leather- totally worthless. i wish i had a recommendation, but all i can say is that i'll be buying this one

• print and cut out the pattern. trace pattern on the back side of leather and cut out (i used the xacto for all the straight sides, and the scissors for the curved edges.
• mark all the punch holes on the front side. punch out holes, with the front facing up. this will give you a cleaner hole on the exterior.
• cut each hairband in 2. tie a small overhand knot at one end. thread through the holes marked "A" on the pattern. keeping the knot on the interior. thread elastics though the holes marked "B" on the pattern, going from the interior to the exterior. continue threading through holes C and D. tie off the elastic at the end, making sure that it's not too loose or too tight. trim any excess tail off.
• keeping the elastics on the back side, and the flap closed, place the case under a weight (i put it under a stack of 8 boardgames). let it sit over night or for a couple days. this will mold the flap to want to stay closed and flatten the shape so it's less puffy.

i'm still undecided about the edges- to paint, or not to paint? they're not an eyesore, because the leather is dyed through, and there's already 3 colors happening, so i'm thinking i'll leave them nude.