Go Beyond Making Simple Card Wallets and Open Up Your Build Options
As I teach more and more people, I’ve found that it’s the small details that make the biggest difference.
There was a student I had once, let’s call him Todd, who had decades of leatherworking experience. At the end of the weekend Todd said, ‘I’ve never thought about this much detail for my projects before.’
The phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” has always been eye-opening for me when I’m learning from my own mentors and teachers. The famous adage “a frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean” is also quite true.
When Todd started to construct his belt project with this new level of detail and technique, he finally started to see how far he could go with his leatherworking skills. His work was already great, but now, given a vision of a new plateau to strive for, he could start to make his work even better.
Simplifying the Complex
These are all the pieces that go into the wallet on this page. The sheer number of pieces in just this small project can be dizzying. Even a step-by-step written tutorial can be intimidating. Sometimes it helps to have in-person guidance to lead you through the rough spots and help you avoid potential pitfalls.
With this many pieces and steps, serious practitioners look to gain both efficiency and accuracy by getting help when they need it. Every well-crafted detail adds to the whole, just like every small mistake detracts.
Dates And Locations
This is a TWO-AND-A-HALF day workshop. The sessions are as follows:
Berkeley, California
Friday, July 19th, 6 pm to 9 pm
Saturday, July 20th, 9 am to 6 pm, and
Sunday, July 21st, 9 am to 6 pm
Prerequisite: Leatherworking Fundamentals
New students must complete the Leatherworking Fundamentals course prior to the Wallet course. It is available multiple times a month in a drop-in session or as a one-day course on Friday, July 19th, from 9 am to 5 pm.
Take the course in our Berkeley studio on 5th St, just south of the Fourth Street neighborhood. It’s a 5-minute ride (Uber/Lyft) from the nearby North Berkeley BART Station.
Learn the Essential Details of Building a Luxury Wallet
Introducing Refining Your Leather Wallet Projects, a course for people who are looking to improve their wallet-making and add more options to their building repertoire.
Our two-and-a-half-day course over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday includes:
- Two (2) nine-hour days and one (1/2) three-hour evening of in-person detailed instruction.
- Time to complete an entire bespoke project in one weekend.
- An opportunity to learn new construction methods for wallet-building.
- Training in several techniques, such as skiving and pocket construction.
- Luxury grade leather fully supplied for your project.
- A chance to try out a wide variety of our tools.
- Several wallet project options to choose from in varying levels of difficulty that you can match according to your skills and speed.
- Tips, techniques, and best practices to refine the quality of your work.
Plus: Upgrade the in-class materials you use to higher-end choices. You’ll build your wallet with alligator or shrunken calf leather.
Bonus: Get additional patterns to build different sizes and components inside your wallets.
New Students: Leatherworking Fundamentals is a prerequisite course for the wallet course. It will help you learn core leatherworking skills so you are better prepared to do the more complex wallet course. Complete the Leatherworking Fundamentals course on the Friday before the wallet course in a one-day session.
Practice At Your Level
One common question I get is, “How advanced is this course?” We spend a lot of time refining the project and the course’s techniques to accommodate multiple levels. When someone is more advanced, we help them with a more complex project; when they are more beginner-level, we help them with their fundamentals.
We will meet you where you are in your experience and tailor your project to maximize your learning. That can mean:
- focusing on the minute details of skiving leather by hand for the first time with a real knife or
- fine-tuning your sewing with thread choice, tension, and stitch count, or
- stepping back to improve your overall construction sequence so that your cuts and measurements stay accurate and consistent with each production piece.
Before the course even starts, we’ll get to know you and your current level of experience to ensure the course is the right balance for you. If you are unsure of your skill level or would like some help in discussing your options, feel free to email us or call us at 1-415-800-2978.
Course Options
We’re offering both a two-and-a-half and a three-day course to suit your needs. Choose the two-and-a-half day course to take the complete wallet course, or choose three full days for additional training. Add the tool package to take home an essential bundle of items.
1. Fundamentals and Wallet Courses Plus Tool Package
The Fundamentals and Wallet Courses plus Tool Package includes the complete wallet session PLUS adds an additional day to refine your fundamental leatherworking skills before the main course. Learning and honing these core skills will help improve the quality and proficiency of your leathercraft. We’ll cover techniques on cutting, sewing, skiving, and other essential skills.
- A bundled package of twelve items. Normally, this package costs $759, but you’ll get to take it home with you for 14% off. A savings of $106. This package includes:
- 10 teeth pricking, diamond or thonging iron (any available teeth spacing)
- 2 teeth pricking iron (any available spacing (any available teeth spacing)
- Doldokki upright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.
- Doldokki clicker knife of your choice.
- Set of three awls sewing, backstitch, and marking.
- Set of green and black sharpening compound.
- Pack of #4 John James needles.
- 12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.
- One polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.
- A one-day prerequisite technique course to help you refine your fundamental skills, including cutting, sewing, and skiving.
- Two-and-a-half day course in leather wallet-making
- Additional access to try out a wider variety of tools, including different types of skivers, knives, and pricking irons.
- All materials needed to complete your project, including leather, paint, glue, hardware, and more.
- Course patterns for each of the projects.
Join the Leather Wallet Course with Fundamentals & Tool Package for 3 Monthly Payments of $579
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
2. Fundamentals and Wallet Courses
The Fundamentals and Wallet Courses package includes the complete wallet session and materials PLUS adds an additional day to refine your fundamental leatherworking skills before the main course. Learning and honing these core skills will help improve the quality and proficiency of your leather craft. We’ll cover techniques on cutting, sewing, skiving, and other essential skills.
A bundled package of twelve items. Normally, this package costs $759, but you’ll get to take it home with you for 14% off. A savings of $106. This package includes:10 teeth pricking, diamond or thonging iron (any available teeth spacing)2 teeth pricking iron (any available spacing (any available teeth spacing)Doldokki upright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.Doldokki clicker knife of your choice.Set of three awls sewing, backstitch, and marking.Set of green and black sharpening compound.Pack of #4 John James needles.12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.One linen thread or polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.- A one-day prerequisite technique course to help you refine your fundamental skills, including cutting, sewing, and skiving.
- Two-and-a-half day course in leather wallet-making
- Additional access to try out a wider variety of tools, including different types of skivers, knives, and pricking irons.
- All materials needed to complete your project, including leather, paint, glue, hardware, and more.
- Course patterns for each of the projects.
Join the Leather Wallet Course with Fundamentals for 3 Monthly Payments of $359
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
3. Wallet Course
The Wallet Course includes the complete wallet session, project materials, and everything you need to learn to build better wallets.
Prerequisite: Leatherworking Fundamentals
New students must complete the Leatherworking Fundamentals course prior to the Wallet course. It is available multiple times a month in a drop-in session or as a one-day course on Friday, July 19th, from 9 am to 5 pm.
A bundledpackage of twelve items. Normally, this package is $759, but you’ll get to take it all home with you for 14% off.A savings of $106. This package includes:10 teeth pricking, diamond or thonging iron (any available teeth spacing)2 teeth pricking iron (any available spacing (any available teeth spacing)Doldokki upright knife. A versatile knife for cutting and skiving.Doldokki clicker knife of your choice.Set of three awls sewing, backstitch, and marking.Set of green and black sharpening compound.Pack of #4 John James needles.12″ combination imperial and metric ruler.One linen thread or polyester spool in the color and weight of your choice.A one-day prerequisite technique course to help you refine your fundamental skills, including cutting, sewing, and skiving.- Two-and-a-half day course in leather wallet-making
- Additional access to try out a wider variety of tools, including different types of skivers, knives, and pricking irons.
- All materials needed to complete your project, including leather, paint, glue, hardware, and more.
- Course patterns for each of the projects.
Join the Wallet Course for 3 Monthly Payments of $309
If you have any questions about the course, please feel free to call or email us
1-415-800-2978
store@fineleatherworking.com.
We’re happy to help!
COVID Safety
We take your safety and well-being seriously. Please know that we will comply with all state and county safety protocols for the course duration.
We are closely monitoring directives from state and local authorities regarding the most current guidelines and restrictions for business operations. Currently, we ask that you please join us in abiding by the following safety and cleanliness protocols:
Safety and Guidelines:
- Please wash your hands and/or use sanitizer upon arrival.
- Wearing a mask is optional but recommended if you are feeling sick.
- Keep the table-tops and work areas clean.
- Popular, frequently touched items may be sanitized as needed.
- Hand sanitizer and tissues will be available.
We are keeping the class size small, both for safety and so that we can give each student more personal attention. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or hesitations. We want you to feel comfortable and at home while in class.
Tailoring our classes for where you are in your level and location
More time in class, access to a specialized space and tools. These are just a few of the benefits we provide to better help you learn leatherworking. We also travel around the country to make these classes more accessible for you to take.
Who this workshop is for
As with every offering at Fine Leatherworking, we want to make sure we’re matching the right people with the right solution for them. You should NOT join this workshop if you are:
- ‘Grazing’ on techniques. We don’t offer a scattershot of information and hope something sticks. In this workshop, we’re going to dive really deep on a few aspects of leatherworking in order to improve your craft.
- Looking for a short spring. This is a long workshop and, I’ll be honest, last time we did it a few people started to fade toward the end. We aim to accomplish a lot over the course of two days. I will be there to support you all the way, but it’s going to require a bit of focus and stamina.
- Wanting just the executive summary. If you’re looking for a quick-fix, this workshop may not be for you. I don’t do high-level bullet points and we our cover a lot of detailed materials and techniques. Creating world-class leather goods requires another level of practice that can be challenging.
About the Course Instructor
Sean Aquino has been making leather goods for over ten years. He runs the blog and website FineLeatherworking.com, the go-to resource for advanced tools, materials, and luxury leather craft inspiration since 2012.
We’ve Got Your Back Until the End
Each workshop day ends at 5 pm, but we will help ensure that you can master these techniques by giving you extra time each day. If you are struggling but have the endurance to keep going, I will stay and coach you, 1:1 if necessary, until you feel confident. During one past session, our students did 9 hours on the first day and 10 hours on the second day. It was a marathon, but they had some amazing work to show for it.
Benefits of a Live Fine Leatherworking Course
Our instruction is more than just watch and learn. We approach teaching as a give and take between the course objectives and what each student needs. For instance, we’ll provide a simpler or a more challenging version of a project so that a student can improve from their current level rather than over-extending or breezing through instruction.
A Blend of Traditional and Modern Techniques
Fine Leatherworking courses provide expert instruction that is founded on traditional techniques and improved with modern updates. We take into account the wider range of tools, improved materials and different starting point of our students. Traditionally, an aspiring leatherworker would start an apprenticeship at a young age and have years to improve their work before embarking on a professional career. Today, few people have the opportunity to do this kind of approach.
Time and experience are still required investments to improve in this craft. We develop our techniques to maximize that time so that you have the potential to learn in weeks and months rather than years and decades.
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