Newbie questions/issues - Shrinkage after dying

[smokycity]

Hello all, this is my first post here.  Over the past couple of months I have discovered the joys of leather and canvas crafting (even though they are usually very separate tasks, there is some cross over.)  I have been trying to make journal covers and note pads out of 4/5 oz veg tan.  For the most part I have had success, mainly by paying attention to threads here and taking a couple basic classes. 

Over the last couple days I cut a piece of leather to 13x9 inches to make a notepad cover for a 5x8 mini legal pad.  The leather was very dry feeling as I worked with it, some of the edges I made seemed to crumble as I beveled them.  I wet the leather and put some stampings into the part that will be the cover flap, beveled the edges, same with the pieces that will be stitched to the inside to hold the paper pad and a section for loose pages. Next, after the water had dried, I rubbed a light coat of neatsfoot oil on it to give it some additional moisture and let it sit overnight.  Yesterday I dyed the pieces and let them dry overnight.  Today, I noticed the large piece had curled some and as I was buffing the dye, I realized the big 13x9 piece had shrunk considerably when I fit the pieces together to compare how they had taken the dye.  When I remeasured the piece it is now 12-11/16s x 8-3/4s.  I finished buffing it and rubbed some leather cream into it to replace what the might have dried out.  

My question is, what would make the leather shrink so much? I know it's a natural/organic material and can shrink some but, I didn't think it would shrink this much.  Would the dye (Fiebing's) make it shrink this much? Would the dryness of the leather before dying have anything to do with shrinkage?  The other pieces didn't shrink and are still the size I cut them, but I may have cut them from a different piece of leather ( I cut a few pieces from another hide in other projects and started on a new one for this project) Is there anything I can do to make it expand again? 

 

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[TinkerTailor]

Some leathers shrink more than others when they dry, but all veg tan tends to somewhat. This is why some leathers are listed as being suited for forming. Crappy leather and tandy leather can be very inconsistent. In addition, leather from some areas of the hide act different. Sometimes squares shrink into parallelagrams. Can't always be fixed, however just like wetforming, you can stretch it when wet, however it will distort the image and cause you to lose carving definition. Stake it with tacks to a board to keep it from shrinking while drying. Heat also causes leather to shrink. Allowing it to take as long as possible to dry without growing mould is the key. I cut pieces too big and use tacks to stake it while drying all the time. Really the only time i don't is when i am forming a pre stitched item by sticking a mold into the inside. Usually here i want it to shrink tight anyways.

[smokycity]

Tinker, thanks for the reply.  If I cut all the pieces from the same hide and the same area, shouldn't they (in theory) shrink at the same rate? I'm thinking about just starting this particular project over again.  

[TinkerTailor]

Call it a mousepad and call it done. Sometimes its less work to start again.

[Boriqua]

The alcohol in fiebings will certainly further shrink your items some but the amount your talking about was probably due to the water. I kind of count on the shrinkage and how to control it when making formed objects like holsters.

There are a couple of things I might due with your particular project and YMMV. If I am going to stamp and or wet the entire surface then I stick the leather to a piece of contact paper. Some people use packing tape but I prefer the clear contact paper and its pretty cheap. I buy it by the giant roll. Stick your leather to the contact paper, make sure you have good adhesion and then take a sponge to the surface and work away. Leave the contact paper on until the piece is dry.

Second thing is .. and I am doing it right now is I dont cut some projects to final size until the wetting is done. I have a piece I am doing that has a lot of background stamping and a somewhat elaborate design carved in. Its for a holster so final size is critical as it is for your cover. I cut out a square larger than my finished piece and lightly scribe in my final shape. I do all my wetting and carving and stamping and some initial dye then I go back with my pattern, scribe in my holster shape and cut. Hope that helps

Alex

Edited November 3, 2016 by Boriqua

[smokycity]

Boriqua, thanks you for the tip on the contact paper.  This is the third note pad cover I'll have made (5th if I count the journal/diary book covers too) and the first to shrink, or at least shrink this much.  It's also the first one that I was asked to make for someone specifically.  So, I want to say Murphy is adding his .02$ to my project.

Other items (a few basic belts, and some bracelets in addition to the covers) I've made and just given away to friends have worked out fine.  I did have one cover crack on the fold line because I didn't put a conditioner on it after dying, but before I tried to fold it.  It was also the first one I put a liner into and I think that added to the stress of the fold line.  

These are all lessons learned and it seems things don't always work the same way when I try to repeat something or I try to enhance an item.

I'm going to recut the pieces for this project from a different hide tomorrow and hopefully they won't shrink, or if they do they shrink at the same rate.  I'll also try cutting them a little bit bigger to compensate for shrinking. I can alway cut more off if I have too.