Reuse of an old leather jacket

I've had a green leather bomber jacket that my father gave me over 20 years ago, he had it himself for at least 15 years.  I've grown very attached to it, so when my wife started complaining (again) this year that it makes me look disheveled; I started looking into the idea of paying a professional to repair it. Then I remembered what age I live in, and decided to search the Internet to see if I can find a replacement by searching for it's label.

Well, the green leather seems to be as rare as hen's teeth; but I was able to find and acquire a nearly unworn brown leather bomber jacket of exactly the same label, size and fit as my old jacket.  Perfect.

So I then turned to "what do I do with the old jacket?".  I'm not going to repair it, and it's too big for the boys to use it as a "tear it up" jacket.  So I downloaded and printed a free design for a leather wallet.  So far I've taken the jacket apart by removing the seams, traced out the parts I need to assemble the wallet, and cut all of them out.  I'm presently waiting on Amazon to deliver me a small bottle of leather glue to finish it.  

It's great to see an item like this reused and repurposed.

Especially since it has sentimental value, good memories. Keep something for yourself. And make something for your boys too. They won't care one whit now; but years down the road it will be a connection to their own history, with stories attached. And then it will surely matter.

Anything left over you could probably sell on eBay, if you were inclined..

A leather jacket will be to soft, thin and flexible to make a durable wallet.  You could make a fanny pack or pouch

Bill Carnes wrote:A leather jacket will be to soft, thin and flexible to make a durable wallet.  You could make a fanny pack or pouch

It depends. Some old leather jackets were like motorcycle-jacket weight leather.

I can think of all sorts of uses for old leather! I'm glad you've got a project to try. Please post pictures!

The wallet I screwed up, by getting the outside panel and the inside panel mixed up. It's not worth a picture. However, I did make one of the front cargo pockets into a belt pouch.

Creighton Samuels wrote:The wallet I screwed up, by getting the outside panel and the inside panel mixed up. It's not worth a picture. However, I did make one of the front cargo pockets into a belt pouch.

At least you "learned some skills" on re-used material! I'm glad you tried even if it didn't work.