Prusty

The leather is pueblo, for something like this it’s pretty nice to use. Thinning it down can be a pain though for whatever reason. The snap was something I’d wanted to try for a long time, unfortunately I fixed it before I gave the glue time to dry. If you look closely you can see some discolouration from the glue trying to bleed through. Very silly mistake!

After watching Nigel Armitage’s videos on horseshoe gussets I decided to have a go at making a simple purse using that gusset design. I then also decided to over-complicate it with a turned edge, second layer on the lid, and leather-covered button, all firsts for me. The covered button has a couple of still visible slots on the leather, and the gusset is only stitched in place and would benefit from some glue as the layers want to separate a bit. I also cut the gussets a touch shorter than the front panel which is annoying. Still, I’m kind of happy with it, though it does need a few refinements.

No, I don’t have any experience with linings yet, or how to best incorporate them into a design without it looking shabby. 2.2-2.4mm dyed-through vegtan, I don’t know or understand the weight measurement system!

This is a first attempt at a new-ish bag pattern for me. I made a couple of larger bags similar to this a bit over a year ago, and wanted to try making something a bit smaller. I don’t tend to carry much when I go out, so I don’t want a larger bag. Theres a bunch of details to change. The seam down the side was meant to be central but I kicked up a measurement around 3 different times. The tabs and strap loops need thicker thread and wider stitching, it looks way to small right now. I need to find a better way of marking and stitching the bottom tabs, they have no glue and will hold, but I don’t like relying just on the stitching. But the design is something I like, so back to the pattern I go for the next one. Got plenty of time to spare right now!

If anything this is MORE our priority today than it was for most of history, in Europe at any rate. People did take pride in their work, but most crafters got paid very little for their work, to the point where we know of at least one cordwainer who lived in a dog kennel. We only have the good leatherwork left, most of it was made fast for cash and was cut up and reused until it was finally binned. There’s a load of knife sheaths found in the river Thames from 12th-15th century that show what the moneyed middle classes were carrying, and a lot of them were cheap and quickly made.

Lots medieval European manuscripts have what’s called marginalia, weird and often obscene doodles in the margins. It’s fun to look up some for a laugh. This is spot on, even the accessories of kings and queens throughout history were not perfect as we would expect today. The details were not important back then, what mattered was the overall impression. When you look at this book you really don’t notice the mistakes unless you go looking for them, the overall impression is a thing of beauty.

I became obsessed with this book a few years back trying to learn about historic tooling on leather. It’s a fabulous thing to look at and examine, and reveals so much about the methods used in that time period. Also, it’s encouraging to see that they made mistakes back in the 8th century and just ran with it, look at the lower left corner in the border and you’ll see the pattern goes wrong. And the upper section of knotwork they didn’t do evenly at all!

Really nice looking, and chance of more photos of the sides, interior, etc?

About 10 minutes after cutting the end and marking up the stitches I realised my mistake, but at that point I was committed. Just need to keep active during this quarantine and it won’t be a problem!

I had this design kicking around in my head for a while, and just got around to trying it out. It’s made using 3.5mm and 2mm English bridle leather, stitched with Yue Fung thread, and given a hot wax burnish on the edges. The keeper is a bit too wide and was a pain to stitch. The whole buckle arrangement was a bit of a faff generally, this design would really benefit from using a reversed pricking iron to line it all up. There’s some odd long and short stitches in the corners too, and the tail is a bit too short. But the overall look has promise, so I’ll have to come back to this design. Any critique or feedback that anyone has is greatly appreciated!

Thanks mate, I’ll give that a shot, both the notch and the ring. Gives me an excuse to buy a new awl or two!

So I had to take a fairly long break from leatherwork after a bad period of health and a significant hand injury. I've been back at it since the end of last year, and I've noticed my hand-stitching has degraded, particularly the reverse of whatever I'm stitching. What once felt natural and easy is now awkward and frustratingly difficult. You should be able to see in the photos below how the stitch line wobbles about a bunch. For context, using Amy Roke irons with a 1.8mm wide awl, held in a saddlers clam. Does anyone have any advice they could give for getting better at hand stitching, in particular advice on how to keep the awl going through at the right angle? If anyone has been in the same position I'd love to hear how they got past it, or even just to be told that it will take time and patience. Anything right now would be a big help!

I finally got around to finishing my partner’s Christmas gift, just in time for it to become a late birthday gift. I’d made a few re-enactment pouches of this style before, and decided to update the design a bit. Made from 2.5mm veg tan dyed with Identity Store water stain. if I were to change it, I’d get rid of the snap hooks and have the belt loops fixed to the pouch, there’s no really need for them to be detachable. I’d also use a different thread colour that doesn’t clash as much, though my partner likes it. And I’d use a 2mm leather, 2.5mm is way too thick for something like this. Any other feedback and critique is appreciated!

That is really bloody impressive. Any chance of some photos to show the size/scale?

Looks pretty interesting, I’d be pretty interested to see more of what the method you use is, and probably most of this forum too.

A small collection of 12th-15th century satchels I made recently. I have a hard time letting stuff be intentionally a bit rough, but for historical pieces you want a little roughness to the cutting and stitching. 2mm veg-tan leather, each one was dyed then treated with grease, before being softened on a blunt axe acting as a staking knife. I experimented with two treatments, a tallow/lanolin/beeswax/oil mix which is very waterproof but gummy, and a tallow/oil mix which is less waterproof and softening but easier to work in. Turning the corners was a right pain! Any questions or feedback, especially information of greases, would be greatly appreciated.

Very nice! Need to make something like that for my irons sometime.

Thanks for the feedback! I’ve tried Nigel’s method of stitching corners, and I’ve never liked it. I’ve found the hole it makes is too wide on one side and too small on the other, and end ups deforming the leather at the edges on these softer hides. Maybe a thinner round awl would help, but my experience is it makes small pieces such as this a bit too rough looking. The same is kind of true for the stitching, I experimented with .65, .55mm and .45mm threads and found the thinnest thread looks best. For the size of the wallet the thicker thread look very coarse, and I’m not a fan of when it looks like they sit directly on top of each other. Like you say, difference of aesthetic taste. Although looking back over the photos, I could’ve tapped down the thread a bit more vigorously!

I started making these last year after a long illness to try and push back against skills regression. It’s pretty addictive making smaller, quicker projects such as these, although a bunch got thrown away. Still need to improve on what was lost. Made using 1.4mm pueblo and stitched with .45mm Yue Fung linen thread. They can take 2 cards to begin with then stretch out to fit about 4. Any feedback or criticism is very much welcome.

There’s a few stained glass windows in France that show cordwainers using their knees instead of clams in the 13th century, and the Mendel Hausbuch from Germany in I think the 14th doesn’t show them either. So I’d guess sometime after that, perhaps as larger and more complicated work is being done. Though I need to dig out the images, so don’t quote me on that.

A little over a year ago I did a 1 day course in Matlock learning how to make a bag, then never got round to making another. So last week I decided to make a new one building off the design of the first, and it came out alright. This is one of the bigger projects I’ve done in some time, and I really enjoyed that. Dyed through veg-tan, 2-2.5mm, with solid brass hardware. The strap is some heavy duty canvas- couldn’t be bothered doing a leather one. There’s some off stitching, I was trying to figure out the corners and botched a couple. It also could do with a bit more shaping so it’s a bit more defined in its shape. And that logo needs to be better placed. But it works, and it suits my taste a bit more than the first one. Feel free to critique!

Second this, I use this a lot and it works really well if you’re going for a flatter edge rather than a fully rounded one. Does take a little breaking in, and sometimes it gets a bit clogged with wax and that’s a pain to get out of the smaller grooves. Then again maybe I should use less damn wax!

That’s incredible for having started a year ago, really nice work. The flowers are especially beautiful.

That is beautiful work, so clean and precise!

That’s REALLY nice, especially for a first bag!