Handstitched Report post Posted March 6, 2014 G'Day from a very hot Western Australia. Sadly, I see that some parts of the US are experiencing the complete opposite. Well, in the last few weeks, our little town in the WA wheatbelt had a lovely visited by an artist from De Vry University in Atlanta ,Georgia.( hope I got that bit right) I won't say her name for obvious reasons, but she was a lovely lady that was the 'Artist In Residence' in our town. Not only did she meet many people and have a lot of fun with many activities around town, she also wanted to learn how to do some leather plaiting. And someone in town said " O'h theres a leather worker outta' town......" etc etc . Well, you may know the rest. ( I'm the only leather worker in town btw ) . I was happy to oblige. She did have a good read of Leather Bradiing by Bruce Grant , ( 4 strand round plait) previously , but there were some things that she couldn't quite get her head around. So I showed her what I learnt...from that same book, ...........that took me hours to learn. (I consider Leather Braiding by Bruce Grant my braiding "bible". One of the best books in my collection.) But then I showed her my own technique that I taught myself . She picked it up and was plaiting literally within 5 mins. I also taught her the secret plait, talked leather and so on. One very happy lady . What goes around............. Not only that, she also bought a few things from me, Cane Toad skin bangle, a roo skin, local leather souvenirs ( made by me) toy kangaroo ( my Mother makes those), mainly Aussie and local stuff to take back home. I had no-one to teach me, all self-taught, with books, and lots of them word-of-mouth, practice practice practice , and a lot of mistakes, so I'm more than happy to pass on what I have learnt. HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wishful Report post Posted March 6, 2014 Looking forward to what you have to share. I have yet to do much with braiding but love how it looks. Do you have videos or tutorials? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted March 6, 2014 On the streets: "What goes around, . . . comes around" Buddhism calls this idea Karma. Christianity says, "As ye sow, . . . so shall ye reap". Funny how the same concept is seriously universal, . . . excepting maybe muhammedism, . . . Good post, Handstitched, . . . look forward to pictures, . . . it's always fun to see what other people are doing. If you get over to the gold coast, . . . tell it Dwight said "Hello", . . . been over 40 years, . . . but was some of the best days of my youthful life. May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted March 7, 2014 G'day, and thank you for your replies. I'll have to take a photo and/or draw a diagram of the simple technique that I seemed to have taught myself, and works for me. Its only a silly little thing, but it works for me. It may not suit everyone, and with the deepest respect to Bruce Grant, everyone has their own technique that they too may have taught themselves. I have always believed that there are no set 'rules' when it comes to leathercraft or leather work. If you have a method or technique that suits you and works for you, and you're happy with the end result, then so be it!! We also talked briefly about handstitching. What she was told, and the way I do it are completely different, but the end result is the same. But thats another story. All the best, HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WScott Report post Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Good for you for sharing your knowledge With a someone who appreciates it. That is very rewarding. Would love to hear about your braid and stitch techniques. I completely agree about learning something and putting your own spin on it. I have never been a straight out of the textbook kind of person. Edited March 7, 2014 by WScott Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
