The most surprising thing about this build is the maker's own description of the design: it is essentially a very large cardholder. That framing makes the whole project feel approachable, and William Cambridge says the pattern is extremely easy to duplicate, which fits the minimalist shape well. The finished piece is a brown sleeve sized for a 13 inch Lenovo Yoga 720, and the maker notes the layout can be adjusted to suit other laptop sizes, such as a 15 inch MacBook.
The construction is thorough. Panels were cut from 1.2mm vegetable-tanned leather, marked out with a metal ruler and scratch awl, and cut to size with a rotary cutter before a scalpel and ruler trimmed them to final dimensions. Corners were rounded with a corner punch, a coin template and an edge beveler. Fiebing's Pro Dye in Saddle Brown went on with a cloth after a coat of neatsfoot oil, and the panel dried outdoors in the sun on a stone wall.
The stitching stands out most to me. Wing dividers marked the lines, a multi-prong pricking iron punched holes through both glued layers, and the sleeve was clamped in a wooden stitching pony for a two-needle saddle stitch in 0.55mm bright yellow linen thread. Against the saddle brown, that yellow contrast reads as a deliberate, confident colour choice, and the maker personally rates the pairing as a great one. Edges were sanded, coated with Tokonole and burnished with a wooden slicker, then finished with a cobblers cream that adds a little shine while staying subtle.
One open point: the exact panel dimensions are not given, and the leather adhesive used on the three joined border edges is not named, so anyone copying the pattern would need to work those out for themselves.
Project by William Cambridge. Watch it on their YouTube channel: