Leather Face

[jolieo]

Hi Ofcourse I am a newbie! Here's my tiny story : around fifteen years ago I met a woman with a face pendant on around 3" by 1.5" , anyway not big. The face was very raised, full on 3d , not tooled. I was taken with it and asked where she got it . She said she had made it, it was leather. I asked if she sold them, she said no. I asked her if she would teach me, she said it was easy, you just did it. I asked how , she just push with small tools from behind, maybe wet it a little bit, let it rest, do some more. I saw her a few more times around town, but she never was more forthcoming. This has haunted me for years. I really want to attempt this, but I can't find anything that shows me which route to take. Am I moulding, tooling , carving from behind. All and more? Please give me a start point and I'll come back to you with the next problem. I have the leather, I have various pokers, needles but only mini wood working carvers- which might work so small scale. My end goal would be a leather doll face - fairly small . Hey thank you for any input. Jolie

[DanielGallant]

Hi Ofcourse I am a newbie! Here's my tiny story : around fifteen years ago I met a woman with a face pendant on around 3" by 1.5" , anyway not big. The face was very raised, full on 3d , not tooled. I was taken with it and asked where she got it . She said she had made it, it was leather. I asked if she sold them, she said no. I asked her if she would teach me, she said it was easy, you just did it. I asked how , she just push with small tools from behind, maybe wet it a little bit, let it rest, do some more. I saw her a few more times around town, but she never was more forthcoming. This has haunted me for years. I really want to attempt this, but I can't find anything that shows me which route to take. Am I moulding, tooling , carving from behind. All and more? Please give me a start point and I'll come back to you with the next problem. I have the leather, I have various pokers, needles but only mini wood working carvers- which might work so small scale. My end goal would be a leather doll face - fairly small . Hey thank you for any input. Jolie

I have been thinking about this myself. I have been leatherworking for about 2 1/2 yrs now.

This is 2 options I have considered...

1) if the item is a full head around with a seam I will make the head shape (cut)...then sew it together the stuff it with cotton batton or tiny beans. Then i would lightly wet the outside layer and use a model spoon to indent the nose from the inside of the head...and then let it dry (the nose will need to be stretched out to stay after rewetting in next step.

then after it drys i will wet the eye and brow area....then from outside use model spoon to indent the eyes while keeping someting in the nose to ensure it does not lose the protuding effect.

2)

if the piece is only a face with a flat back as if on pendant. I would find a doll face or toy face and stretch the piece wet over his and nail it to a boardaround the edges.

It will form lovely that way to basic shaped , while wet use molding spoon to shape the face. then let it dry.

Does this help?

[jolieo]

I have been thinking about this myself. I have been leatherworking for about 2 1/2 yrs now.

This is 2 options I have considered...

1) if the item is a full head around with a seam I will make the head shape (cut)...then sew it together the stuff it with cotton batton or tiny beans. Then i would lightly wet the outside layer and use a model spoon to indent the nose from the inside of the head...and then let it dry (the nose will need to be stretched out to stay after rewetting in next step.

then after it drys i will wet the eye and brow area....then from outside use model spoon to indent the eyes while keeping someting in the nose to ensure it does not lose the protuding effect.

2)

if the piece is only a face with a flat back as if on pendant. I would find a doll face or toy face and stretch the piece wet over his and nail it to a boardaround the edges.

It will form lovely that way to basic shaped , while wet use molding spoon to shape the face. then let it dry.

Does this help?

Hi thanks for answering It does help . If you are willing to engage in conversation - my next question is - how wet can you get the leather, would wetting one area not leave a water stain? Remember the old darn eggs - should I use something like this to stretch the leather ove, can I scrape out some of the leather from the nap side to give room for stretching or would that weaken the leather to mucg. Would I have to heat to stiffen it? If I heat it , to what temp. Thanks Jolie

[DanielGallant]

Hi thanks for answering It does help . If you are willing to engage in conversation - my next question is - how wet can you get the leather, would wetting one area not leave a water stain? Remember the old darn eggs - should I use something like this to stretch the leather ove, can I scrape out some of the leather from the nap side to give room for stretching or would that weaken the leather to mucg. Would I have to heat to stiffen it? If I heat it , to what temp. Thanks Jolie

Jolie,

I have soaked my amsks up to 24 hrs prior to shaping them. I have also sprayed them and have also used sponges to wet the leather. all work...soaking for 24 hrs(with warm water that cools to room temp...dont use hot boikling water though it will scold the leather i presume) allow you to stretch amnipulate leather easiest though.

the only time i experienced a water stain was when a plant i waterd leaked water onto a belt....

I use treated well water. It has alot of calcium in it but it does not stain leather. thats my experience.

to stretch the leather you could use an egg i presume....but it would be nice to attach something to the egg so that nose protrudes....I would use a hard boiled egg though hahaha or you may stain your leather and stink it up if you use an egg and it breaks hahaha...

even a hard boiled egg would crack i think....a wooden replica egg would work.

I have used soapstone and carved it to the shape i needed for piece before...soapstone is easy to file and carve and is super smooth when polished....but i am set up for that carving so its easy access. Also a thrift store can be your best friend to find odd things to use.

I would also encourage you to use 2-3 oz leather....real thin veg tan...thats what i use on masks....maybe other would vary in opinion though I am not sure.

as for heating the leather....I have not done this...but i have used a hair dryer (blow dryer) for rapid dry ....becareful though you could burn leather i heard...although i have never experienced that.

hope this helps

[jolieo]

Jolie,

I have soaked my amsks up to 24 hrs prior to shaping them. I have also sprayed them and have also used sponges to wet the leather. all work...soaking for 24 hrs(with warm water that cools to room temp...dont use hot boikling water though it will scold the leather i presume) allow you to stretch amnipulate leather easiest though.

the only time i experienced a water stain was when a plant i waterd leaked water onto a belt....

I use treated well water. It has alot of calcium in it but it does not stain leather. thats my experience.

to stretch the leather you could use an egg i presume....but it would be nice to attach something to the egg so that nose protrudes....I would use a hard boiled egg though hahaha or you may stain your leather and stink it up if you use an egg and it breaks hahaha...

even a hard boiled egg would crack i think....a wooden replica egg would work.

I have used soapstone and carved it to the shape i needed for piece before...soapstone is easy to file and carve and is super smooth when polished....but i am set up for that carving so its easy access. Also a thrift store can be your best friend to find odd things to use.

I would also encourage you to use 2-3 oz leather....real thin veg tan...thats what i use on masks....maybe other would vary in opinion though I am not sure.

as for heating the leather....I have not done this...but i have used a hair dryer (blow dryer) for rapid dry ....becareful though you could burn leather i heard...although i have never experienced that.

hope this helps

Thanks this does help. I was thinking heat to stiffen & set . I have some elk hide I like for the color and most importantly the surface texture, it's soo soft . The nose is the problem. I think I can get soapstone but I am not sure if the mini wood chisels will do it. I am starting in on this project come monday. How big should I start? And how do you get leather to stiffen up or is that a function of which leather you buy. Aren't newbies fun! Thanks again Jolie

[leatheroo]

hey jolie, i have made lots of masks, so here is my take on the process......i always use thin veg tanned leather...1mm..i think this is 2 or 3oz for you. I soak the piece of leather in warm water until the bubbles stop rising...this is about 1 or 2 minutes. For a full face, the nose is going to be the hardest part, so what i do is grab the leather in two hands and vigorously work the leather up and down...hands going in opposite directions. I do this for a good 5 minutes, moving my hands around the edges, so the leather is worked and stretched in all directions. What this is doing is breaking up the fibers in the leather is it will be easier to work. You will need to stretch the leather where the nose will be...so grab something that is small and rounded at the end..(round end of knitting needle...end of spoon) and push from the back until the leather stretches into a good size bump. Dont worry is it looks strange because you will need the excess of the bump to press down over the nose. Now place on the face mold that you are going to use and start pressing down with you fingers. I find fingers work great at first and then maybe go the modeling tool to finish. I use sewing pins with the balls on the end to hold the leather in place while it dries. Place the pins away from the face otherwise you will get holes in the leather that will be seen. When the leather dries it will hold its shape. I think i may have a go at this today and will post some pics of what i come up with. The pics below show the modeling head i use and a pic of a full face mask that i have made.

hope this helps.

cheers

caroline

Edited March 11, 2011 by leatheroo

[DanielGallant]

AWESOME

hey jolie, i have made lots of masks, so here is my take on the process......i always use thin veg tanned leather...1mm..i think this is 2 or 3oz for you. I soak the piece of leather in warm water until the bubbles stop rising...this is about 1 or 2 minutes. For a full face, the nose is going to be the hardest part, so what i do is grab the leather in two hands and vigorously work the leather up and down...hands going in opposite directions. I do this for a good 5 minutes, moving my hands around the edges, so the leather is worked and stretched in all directions. What this is doing is breaking up the fibers in the leather is it will be easier to work. You will need to stretch the leather where the nose will be...so grab something that is small and rounded at the end..(round end of knitting needle...end of spoon) and push from the back until the leather stretches into a good size bump. Dont worry is it looks strange because you will need the excess of the bump to press down over the nose. Now place on the face mold that you are going to use and start pressing down with you fingers. I find fingers work great at first and then maybe go the modeling tool to finish. I use sewing pins with the balls on the end to hold the leather in place while it dries. Place the pins away from the face otherwise you will get holes in the leather that will be seen. When the leather dries it will hold its shape. I think i may have a go at this today and will post some pics of what i come up with. The pics below show the modeling head i use and a pic of a full face mask that i have made.

hope this helps.

cheers

caroline