Hand-Tooled Trifold Wallet in Rust and Natural Leather

The centre panel is natural veg tan leather, carved with a flower and scroll pattern and shaded so the cuts stay visible. The ground between the stems is matted with a dot stamp, the petals shaded with fine parallel lines. It is set into a rust body with a raised border around it.

Edges are pricked and stitched by hand, then painted red and rounded over. The thread is dyed to match the rust, so the stitching down the fold reads as a row of slanted holes. Nothing on it is metal. The fold holds it shut.

A thin line of red paint runs the bevel around the inset panel and turns inward at each corner in a quarter round. The rust moves from light amber at the fold to a deeper brick at the corners. The tooling carries on around the back panel, and the open top shows a rust leather lining. Folds three ways to a flat closed shape.

The natural panel will darken as it is handled, and the rust will not, so the contrast increases over time.