Two Colorful Leather ID holders

With our department move last summer, we need access to doors using our campus ID cards. I made one for myself and recently two more for friends. 

First, I looked through my leather supply of scraps and larger pieces and found expressive embossed parts for the fronts. Thinking of my friends, I wanted a green and brown garden theme for one and a red flower theme for another.

Painting the raised designs with artist grade acrylic paints and a small paint brush, I then wiped off some excess paint and let them dry. Next was hand sewing the bottom section of metallic snaps. 


Experimenting with upholstery thread on a scrap leather piece, I used my new sewing machine with a size 18 needle. It looked good on the front and awful on the back, so I switched to a navy polyester thread, going very slowly. Encouraged with the results, I sewed the two holders together with good success. I still have a lot to learn about sewing a straight stitch, but I was happy with the results. 

For the red flower one, I selected a bit of embossed leather for the top flap with plain leather for the back.

On the green holder, I needed to hand stitch the top snap two different times until the snaps worked well. To hide the stitches showing on the top flap, I scrounged around for a button or such and found a small metal leaf with holes on both ends. It tied in well with the garden theme.

Later, I added two eyelets in the back and a length of leather cord so one of my friends could wear the ID holder around her neck.

Really loved the way these turned out!