Johanna

Shirley, I've been admiring your work for awhile, and sometimes you mention that you are "new at this". How new? Like only 20 years experience? Like all your seats, that one is sharp, too. I like the way you laced/braided it together. I also like the way you left that design looking like leather, because over time that seat will just get nicer and nicer, from the weather, to the buff from the rider's "bad ass". (easy, folks, that's the name of Shirley's business- "BadAssSeats".) I'm looking forward to seeing more- you have captured the goal of every true leatherworker- combining beauty with function. Johanna ***anyone who wants to see some more of Shirley's work, please drop me a PM so you can get into the adult section.

Verlane Desgrange graciously agreed to share her illustrations of the parts of a saddle and the proper terms to describe the pieces. Please feel free to copy or print the diagrams for your own personal use, but please respect Verlane's request not to alter or modify her drawings in any way, or to use them for commercial purposes. Thanks, everybody! Johanna SaddlepartsVerlane.doc SaddlepartsVerlane.doc

It's big, it has a table and it sews something like 750 stitches per minute. The man in Macon who fixed all the shoe shop machines called it a "mattress machine" and made it purr like a kitten. A very fast and powerful kitten. I'm scared to death of it, and will never use it. It is sitting in my basement with all its pieces, and has been there since John Henry died. He used the Singer for jobs that required sewing two pieces of 8-9ox leather together, and it never dropped a stitch. It was fast, though. It has a foot pedal, and he always talked about modifying it to run by hand, but I don't know how he planned to do that. The shipping would be horrendous, but I have a truck and would be willing to take it to someone within reason, and I can post pictures of it if anyone is interested. I would like to reclaim the space it is using, and see it go to someone who can put it to work. No reasonable offer refused. Johanna

1. Identify and demonstrate to your counselor the safe use of leatherworking tools. Show correct procedures for handling leathercraft dyes, cements, and finished. Know first aid for cuts, internal poisoning, and skin irritation. 2. Explain to your counselor a. Where leather comes from b. What kinds of hides are used to make leather c. What are five types of leather d. What are the best uses for each type of leather 3. Make one or more articles of leather that use at least five of the following steps: a. Pattern layout and transfer b. Cutting leather c. Punching holes d. Carving or stamping surface designs. e. Applying dye or stain and finish to the project. f. Assembly by lacing or stitching g. Setting snaps and rivets h. Dressing edges 4. Recondition or show that you can take proper care of your shoes, a baseball glove, a saddle, furniture or other articles of leather. 5. Do ONE of the following: a. Learn about the commercial tanning process. Report about it to your merit badge counselor. b. Tan the skin of a small animal. Describe the safety precautions you will take and the tanning method that you used. c. Braid or plait an article out of leather or vinyl lace. d. Visit a leather-related business. This could be a leathercraft supply company, a tannery, a leather goods or shoe factory, or a saddle shop. Report on your visit to your counselor. BSA Advancement ID#: 69 Source: Boy Scout Requirements, #33215, revised 2004

I'm gonna guess that this is an old Tandy handout. This basic stitching can be modified a zillion ways, limited only by imagination. It can be a functional stitch (holding pieces together that may be subject to stress) but is most often used for hiding seams, framing an inlay, creating a pattern and the like. Enjoy! Johanna

According to the Tanner's Council of America, our industry uses hides from steer, cows, bulls, sheep, lamb, goat and kid, horses, goat, ass, mule, zebra, pig, hog, peccary and carpincho, land and water buffalo (not American Bison) and exotic and fancy feathers such as frog, ostrich, crocodile, lizard, snake, seal, shark, walrus, turtle, and camel to produce products. This council also clarifies a number of definitions that are commonly used in the leather industry. We gratefully acknowledge the Council's Dictionary of Leather Terminology, as well as the organization's publication, "Leather Facts," as we highlight some of the words we use daily in our business LEATHER A general term for hide or skin with its original fibrous structure more or less intact, tanned or treated to be non-putrescible. The hair or wool may or may not have been removed. Leather is also made from a hide or skin which has been split into layers or segmented before or after tanning, but if the tanned hide or skin is disintegrated mechanically and/or chemically into fibrous particles, small pieces or powders and then, with or without the combination of a binding agent, is made into sheets or forms, such sheets or forms are not leather. Leathers may have surface coatings of a reasonable amount, but beyond this the resulting products shall be described as a laminate or composite. However, the term laminated leather shall not be used if the leather content is less than two-thirds of the total thickness. In describing various classes of leather, the name of the animal from which the skin or hide was taken is generally used. Certain exceptions, which have become established trade practices, are cited in the definitions which follow. Otherwise, adequate explanations should be made. ANILINE FINISH or ANILINE-DYED LEATHER Leather which has been colored by dyes as distinguished from other leather treated by pigments or other opaque materials. BARK OR VEGETABLE TANNED Leathers which have been tanned with vegetable materials that are derived from certain plants and woods. BELTING LEATHER For the manufacturers of leather belts for transmitting power in machinery. Made from the butts of high grade cattle hides. BUFFED Leather which has been smoothed or sueded by mechanical sanding. CALFSKIN LEATHER Leather made from the skins of the young cattle and characterized by distinct grain or fiber structure. COWHIDE LEATHER Term specifically applied to leather made from hides of cows, although it is generally loosely used to designate any leather tanned from hides of animals of the bovine species. EMBOSSED LEATHERS Hides or skins finished with designs stamped on by etched, engraved, or electrotyped plates or rollers. A mechanical process of permanently imprinting a great variety of unique effects to the leathers surface. Done under considerable heat and pressure. Embossed designs may be an imitation of the natural grain or different animal skins, or designs of an artificial nature. FULL GRAIN Outer cut taken from the hair side of the hide from which nothing except the hair and the associate epidermis have been removed. GLAZED FINISHED A leather with polished surface produced by heavy pressure of a roller of agate, glass, metal or other suitable material on a selected finish formulation. GRAIN The outer or hair side of the hide or skin. Also the pattern of the outer surface after the hair or wool and epidermal tissue have been removed. GRAINED LEATHER Any leather on which the original grain has been highlighted by a finishing process. IMITATION LEATHER Materials so made and finished as to resemble leather. Included are coated fabrics, rubber and rubber compositions, and plastic materials. Terms connoting genuine leather should be used in trade names, as for the example "plastic calf," "plastic leather," "Compo-leather," "leatherlike" or "leatherette." LAMBSKIN LEATHER Describes leather made from either lamb or sheepskin, in as much as the skin is identical in appearance after tanning. MINERAL TANNED Leathers which have been tanned by mineral substances, notably the salts of chromium, aluminum, and zirconium. MOROCCO LEATHER Vegetable tanned fancy goatskins having a distinctive grain produced by boarding or graining. Embossed imitation of natural goat grain on other kinds of leather sometimes is called Morocco grained. NAPPA LEATHER Chrome, alum or combination tanned grain sheep or lambskin glove leather, drum colored. OIL TANNED Leathers tanned with certain fish oils. Produces a very soft, pliable leather such a chamois. PATENT LEATHER Leather with a finish which is mirror-like, flexible and waterproof. Also leather of this appearance made by film lamination. PEBBLE GRAIN An embossed-leather grain finish resembling a pebble surface, ranging from fine pebbled Morocco goat to heavy scotch grain upper leather. REVERSED CALF Terms applied to calf leather of heavier weights, finished on flesh side, containing oils to make it more water-resistant than suede, used for shoes where a nappy leather is required. Originally called "Trench Calf" in England, the term "Hunting Calf" is also used in that country. The term "Service Leathers" is used but is generally applied to splits and side leather. SADDLE LEATHER As used in the manufacture of harness and saddlery, this is a vegetable tanned cattlehide. The leather is usually a tan shade, is produced in various thicknesses and is also used outside the saddlery trade for leather goods of various types. In connection with other tannages, the term should be used to specify the leather as "saddle color," "saddle shade," or "saddle finish." "California Saddle Leather" is a registered trade name restricted to leather tanned by a tanner located in the State of California. SHARKSKIN Genuine sharkskin leather is made from the top grain of the hides of certain species of sharks and is used principally in shoes, belts, wristwatch straps, luggage, fine leather goods and for industrial purposes. It has varying, natural grain markings, or fine, smooth mesh like grain similar to pin seal. The term "sharkskin leather" should not be applied to other leathers, such as horse butts, embossed with shark grain. SPLIT A term used to describe the under portion of a hide or skin, split into two or more thicknesses. Devoid of a natural grain, it may be either sueded or pigment finished and embossed. Under ruling of the Federal Trade Commission, a split must be so marked and cannot be called "genuine leather" or "genuine cowhide." TOP GRAIN The grain split of a hide from which nothing has been removed except the hair and associated epidermis. TRAVELING BAG, SUITCASE & STRAP LEATHER A general term for leather used in traveling bags and suitcases. It does not include the light leather employed for women's handbags. The staple material for bag and case leather at present is leather made from the hides of animals of the bovine species, but other skins, including heavy sealskins and goatskins, are also used for this purpose. WATER REPELLENT LEATHER A leather which has been treated with any of several chemical compounds which repel the absorption of external water. WAX FINISH A method of finishing heavier weights of upper leather on the flesh side by working wax into the substance. For more information on leather terminology, contact the Leather Industries of America, 1000 Thomas Jefferson St., N. W., Suite 515, Washington, DC 20007. Phone (202) 342-8086, fax (202) 342-9063