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by Handy_Bear
In the world of everyday carry essentials, few items are as versatile and indispensable as a trusty lighter. Having
the means to light a fire quickly whenever you need to is not only practical in survival situations when one wants
to get warmth or cook food, but also in daily scenarios like when lighting up a barbeque for example.
Another essential that many people never leave their house without is a keyring. So, why not combine these two
elements, and make a stylish leather lighter case, to make carrying the means to make a fire easy and intuitive?
This project is also a perfect learning opportunity when starting to work with leather, as it teaches you the basic
working methods needed to manipulate leather. We will be going over all the steps, from making the initial paper
pattern to the final finishes. As the amount of leather used is very small, the cost of the project is also very small.
Supplies
3 oz natural vegetable tan leather (it's important that it's vegetable tanned and not chrome tanned)
Leather dye
A sharp knife
Thread
Pricking irons
Cutting mat
Clamps
Tokenole
Slickering tool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYmhK5bHJ5M
As the lighter will stretch the leather around it once it's inserted in the case, we need to consider that and add 6
millimeters of extra material to the sides of the base drawing.
For the bottom, the amount of extra material you add will define how closely the top of the case will match the
top of the lighter. Six millimeters will give a perfect fit, but I went with 3 millimeters to make it easier to grip the
lighter when removing it from the case when needed.
Finally, if you wish to add a metal eyelet for the keyring, don’t forget to add it to the template.
If you’re making a case for a Cricket Original size lighter, I made a free PDF template that you can print out on an
A4 sheet of paper, to get a 1:1 sized cutting guide.
Make a rough cut around the outline. We'll be making the final trim later, right now we're just making it easier to
apply glue in the right places later on.
Step 5: Dyeing
You can use some leather dye to give some color to the natural leather. I like to use the Fiebings Pro Dye, as
penetrates the leather very deeply and gives a uniform result.
Depending on how much dye you use, the tone of the final color can vary a lot. In the last photo, the two pieces
were treated with the same Golden Brown color but the one on the right received more dye and is thus much
darker.
An iron with five or ten prongs can be used for the straight lines and an iron with a single prong for the corners.
Note: Do not over-punch the prongs into the leather - the smaller the holes the cleaner the stitching will look.
First, use a leather punch to make a hole where needed. Then, to set the eyelet, use a press (like the one on the
photos) or a simple setting tool.
Then, the stitching can begin. For that, you need to proceed in steps:
As it's a pretty long process, you can listen to some music or a podcast to make time pass quickly :)
Then, turn the screwdriver 90 degrees, and glide it along the interior borders of the case to stretch the leather
near the stitching lines.
This quick and simple project is also a perfect gift idea that has that personal touch, as it can be varied easily by
using different kinds of leather, different dyes, or perhaps even paints, to suit one's personality. Also, you can
experiment with different colored threads, or by changing the dimensions of the paper template and letting some
of the plastic shell peek out of the case or not.
I hope you learned something new and that you enjoyed this Instructable.