Feedback Appreciated Newbie Early Projects

[Tiara]

In the past weeks I've been trying a basic cuff and dyeing and adding some metallic or colorshift hilites.

I'm very new and feedback appreciated

These are gifts for family and friends.

my camera was not giving good color with the overcast I corrected as close as I could,

[Tiara]

Having keyboard trouble on the computer that the pix were stored in.

The fish/gator I didn't dye, just covered a metal cuff blank with the fish skin and attached the gator diamond. The caman and color shift green/yellow cobra I dyed and finished. The color shift was done with Pearl EX green/yellow pigment lightly mixed with acrylic base diluted with water. The green shows more on the dark areas and the yellows on the lighter. Basic background colors are shades of green and yellow with the black markings. Another pic will show the original colors. The caiman was a naked light tan before dyeing and finishing.

[mikesmith648]

looks nice....I am not into that kind of leatherwork....but I like it

[Tiara]

a few more

[mikesmith648]

I would suggest you work on the edges a bit though...just a thought

[Tiara]

Thanks Mike,

You are right. The edges are rough. I need to start stitching and doing my own punching and lacing for other items. Rounding edges, beveling and being more precise all around will improve the edges and overall look. This is good for me as fine detail work like this is a challenge for me. My handwriting is terrible as well as such things as drawing. I'm learning a good deal about leather, adhesives, adjusting for various thickness of materials on the outside or inside of the cuffs, effects of dyes plus finish as the color shifts enough between wet and dry that aiming for my final color is a guesstimate. I'll keep working on improving the details that are rough. I'm also examining the belts, jackets, shoes, wallets I own for details on sewing, hardware, edges and finishes. The quality of the workmanship varies a great deal. The best workmanship I've looked at has been my sweetheart's old baseball glove. Made in the 50's, used for years and needed another oiling. As I applied the leather treatment, I noticed how well stitched it was, the quality of the leather in different parts, the thin areas that had to flex, thick padded areas, and still in great shape. A good saddle is a thing to admire also.

[Chief31794]

Tiara,

Mike gave you some good advice on the edges, the only thing I would add is that some of your pieces have "overlays" where it appears you have cemented a different type of skin on top of the base material. That may work, but more than likely they will separate over time. Most times when we laminate two pieces of material, we sew them to make it permanent. The stitching can be quite attractive as well. I would recomment you try inlaying the pieces b cutting out the design, keeping the plug, laminate your inlay to the plug you cut out, we insert it from the bottom, glue it in with contact cement or leather glue and then put a stitch line around the inlay. That will take care of the inlay edges, then work on the base edges like Mike suggested and I think you'll see a differnce. Great job for starting out, learn the double loop stitch and round braid, they cover edges better and also learn to dress edges with a slicker if you're not going to lace them. Either works, and make the project look better, I refer to lacing and stitching as "part of the art", they not only provide construction strenght and durability they look very appealing as well.

Keep posting, we love to see your work.

Chief

[Tiara]

Hi Chief,

You of course are right also. Stitching and lacing are the next skills I plan on practicing. I started out 2 months ago with a plan to make a decorative trim for a custom drum with a tie dye skin. Since anything worth doing is worth overdoing, as soon as I realized I didn't want that trim to look shoddy on a good quality drum, I had to delve more deeply into leather than i had originally planned.

I did manage to get some snake skin dyed a fairly close match in color. But oiled it so much that I couldn't get glue or seam tape to hold long enough to stitch or lace on the small practice pieces. I'd gotten a couple of other skins already dyed sent in error and chose to buy them also to make some belts with. I soon realized I needed to work up to projects that large in stages. I did stitch a couple of Tandy kits for a sheath and cell phone with snake skin glued in place and then stitched through the pre-punched leather. I erred in a few spots on the gluing and lining up correctly and decided to practice on that more prior to trying stitching again. With the cuffs and hair pins, there shouldn't be much flexing or a lot of sustained friction. I did use Weldwood and roughened the smooth areas prior to gluing on the thicker skins. Seam tape to hold the thin cobra and whipsnake to the metal long enough to have leather cement set.

I don't want to glue the trim directly to the drum in case I need to readjust the drum skin or decide I want to change the trim. I may switch to caiman belly or backstrap as the ridges will prevent the drum from sliding--it's a bodhran played resting on my leg with one hand applying pressure on the inside for tonal change. This drum is light enough that it is twisting easily. No matter what I choose, I plan on stitching to a smooth backing leather and possibly velcro under to hold in place.

I'm also making some custom grips for the drumsticks, aka as tippers or beaters. The thin cobra glued to the shaft has enough texture from the fine scales to keep a soft grip and not have the tipper slip.

The cuffs and such are ways to use the scraps and in time make some better accessories.

I appreciate very much the time and information members share on forums such as this. Thanks to you both!

[Tiara]

Hi Chief,

You of course are right also. Stitching and lacing are the next skills I plan on practicing. I started out 2 months ago with a plan to make a decorative trim for a custom drum with a tie dye skin. Since anything worth doing is worth overdoing, as soon as I realized I didn't want that trim to look shoddy on a good quality drum, I had to delve more deeply into leather than i had originally planned.

I did manage to get some snake skin dyed a fairly close match in color. But oiled it so much that I couldn't get glue or seam tape to hold long enough to stitch or lace on the small practice pieces. I'd gotten a couple of other skins already dyed sent in error and chose to buy them also to make some belts with. I soon realized I needed to work up to projects that large in stages. I did stitch a couple of Tandy kits for a sheath and cell phone with snake skin glued in place and then stitched through the pre-punched leather. I erred in a few spots on the gluing and lining up correctly and decided to practice on that more prior to trying stitching again. With the cuffs and hair pins, there shouldn't be much flexing or a lot of sustained friction. I did use Weldwood and roughened the smooth areas prior to gluing on the thicker skins. Seam tape to hold the thin cobra and whipsnake to the metal long enough to have leather cement set.

I don't want to glue the trim directly to the drum in case I need to readjust the drum skin or decide I want to change the trim. I may switch to caiman belly or backstrap as the ridges will prevent the drum from sliding--it's a bodhran played resting on my leg with one hand applying pressure on the inside for tonal change. This drum is light enough that it is twisting easily. No matter what I choose, I plan on stitching to a smooth backing leather and possibly velcro under to hold in place.

I'm also making some custom grips for the drumsticks, aka as tippers or beaters. The thin cobra glued to the shaft has enough texture from the fine scales to keep a soft grip and not have the tipper slip.

The cuffs and such are ways to use the scraps and in time make some better accessories.

I appreciate very much the time and information members share on forums such as this. Thanks to you both!