CitizenKate

This isn't anything too spectacular, but it is something different from what I've done in the past. A friend (of a friend) of mine asked me if I could make a biker wallet. "Wah, shore, I kin make anything with leather." At first I thought I'd just use a kit from Tandy or Hidecrafter. But when I got the kit, I was not impressed. Besides it was black with nickel-coated snaps, and my friend (of my friend) wanted brown with brass snaps. So I went all out. I used the kit to make a pattern, split down some of my veg tan on my bench splitter, and hand-stitched the whole thing mah-sef. I got in way deeper than I intended, and it took me 3 tries before I had something I could bear to let anyone see my maker's mark on. The photos are of the work in progress; once I finished it, I didn't have much time left on my shipping deadline. If anyone wants a copy of my pattern in PDF format, give me a holler. I wasn't too thrilled with the design he wanted, so now that I've got one under my belt (so to speak) I'm going to make a few more with some decent artwork and see how they do on the market. Kate

I just had to share this with the group... I came across this very detailed compilation of modern experience on how to create cuir bouilli, or literally "boiled leather" armour, which was commonly used from the 14th-16th centuries. I probably won't get to try this anytime soon - it's just something I'm casually curious about, but since I found an article with so much practical information, I thought I should pass it along. http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/hl.html I'd be curious to know if any of you have tried any of this. It's quite fascinating. I'll post anything else I find on this topic here.

Yeah, exactly. When I was trying to punch the holes with an awl as I stitched, the leather was getting all bent and pulled out of shape around the edges, the holes were unevenly spaced (even though they were pre-marked with a multi-pronged thonging chisel) and I could never get the awl to go in at exactly the same angle every time, so it was a mess when it was over. And yes, I do make sure the seam I am stitching is positioned just barely above the top edge of the jaws of the stitching pony. I usually have some scrap foam core sitting around which, if you lay the leather on it while you're punching the holes, supports the leather, keeping it flat as you punch, while allowing the awl to easily continue on through the leather. Doing it this way also makes it easier to keep the holes evenly spaced and turned at the same angle. Another thing I wonder is, why not just drive the thonging chisel all the way through the leather and "joost be dun widit"?

That might be sufficient, if you don't use antiques or dyes, and you've made something that is going to just sit and look pretty. But if you do use dyes and antiques, you need some kind of a top coat to help keep them from bleeding and fading. And if you've made an item that is going to get exposed to any kind of environmental adversity, you will want something to protect your leather from moisture. Antique paste, for example, will dissolve if it comes into direct contact with moisture, including liquid conditioners.

Yep, I've got two o' them, too. (Needles, that is.) LOL

Some tricks I discovered for matching colors... If the customer sends you a photo, there is too much variation in the way different monitors and softwares will display colors, so I ask the customer to send me a physical color sample. I do some small dye samples that I think will match the color of the sample, then photograph them together with the customer's sample and load them into Photoshop, or any software program that will give you RGB values of your color samples. Then I compare the RGB values of both samples, and that tells me what to add or remove from my dye formula to get the right color. (See the attached photos.) The last time I used this method, I was able to pretty much nail the color.

I used to use satin shene - don't like the shiny acrylic finish 'cause (just my own opinion) it makes leather look like plastic. But I switched away from it when I saw how easy it was for a bit of stray moisture to destroy the finish. Jeff Mosby got me to try Bee Natural leather finish, and I just love the stuff! It creates a very natural-looking finish, even if I put it on heavy and buff it to a shine, and it stands up to moisture much better than acrylic finishes. I also like it better than other waxes, such as neutral shoe polish, because it seems to absorb into the leather better and is not as prone to cracking. At least that's what I've noticed with my own projects. If I want as much waterproofing as possible (like on coasters), I use Neat-Lac. I used to hate Neat-Lac because I thought it made the leather look plasticy, but that was because I was putting it on too heavy. When I put it on in several very light coats, the leather retained its natural appearance.

I've never quite understood what the point was of only marking the holes with an overstitch wheel or thonging chisel, then having to actually make the hole when you're juggling two hand-held needles and thread. Every time I've tried to use an awl in that fashion, I've ended up stretching the edge of the leather and the holes were never uniform in angle or spacing, even when I was careful to really nail my hole marks with the awl. I can tell you my awl is quite sharp. While in the process of purchasing it, it went about 2/3rds of the way through my flexor carpi radialis (inside forarm muscle) with no effort at all while was juggling some packages in my arms. I spent some time sharpening it even more since then. It just seems to work much better if I pre-punch the holes before I even begin stitching. I can get a nice, fluid rythm going with the needles, so the actual stitching gets done in less time, and the stitches come out nice and even. But, hey, I'm new at all this sewing and lacing stuff. If someone knows why it's better to do it that way, I'm always changing how I do things in order to improve.

Shawn, can you share some of the fine points of fabricating a tap-off or stamp with bondo? I tried this, but the results I got were somewhat promising, but in the end not very useable. The biggest problem I had was creating the mold to pour the bondo into.

Those would be pretty cheap and easy to make, even without the mass-production shortcuts. If they're getting away with it, I bet you could, too. But, just as you observed, it depends upon where you market it. You would have to somehow get the product in front of the eyes of a wood crafter who takes his/her craft seriously, which would probably rule out outlets like Home Depot or the local lumber yard. But I'm not a marketing expert, Lord knows. But my bruises have taught me much about the subject in recent years.

Hi Johanna... I've been working on some new ideas (after a round of wholesale orders, I'm ready to do something different), so I'm hoping to have something interesting to post fairly soon.

The maker of Bee Natural leather finish also suggests using it for slicking. I tried it, and it worked quite well. Now that's all I use for slicking, since I keep it on hand for finishing anyway. I've used both a heavy cotton cloth or a hand-held plastic slicking wheel - they seem to work equally well for me. I got very poor results with the plastic slicking wheel mounted on a variable-speed drill. Just ended up with a lot of friction burns on the leather.