Stick Barrette for First Project; Advice Needed

[JenGranger]

I have been practicing with my swivel knife and stamps, that I inherited from my grandparents, on some old veg tan scraps from the Local surplus store, for about six weeks now and feel like I will be ready for my first projects soon.  I want to make leather stick barrettes for my mom and me.  I still need some more practice because I'm still not confident in my abilities yet, but I think I have almost everything I need.

 I'm going to buy a piece of belly from the surplus store to practice on since it's probably a little better quality than the supper thick, warped, dry scraps I've been practicing on.  I ordered an 8-1/2"X11" 6-7oz piece of leather from Springfield LC.  It was a nice piece, I liked the stiffness, but seemed a bit thin for the project, so I ordered a piece of 7-8oz and it should be here in a week or two.  Should the 7-8oz piece be ok?

for the stick, I'm using a dowel rod from Walmart, because that is what I use for my Native Amercan beaded stick barrettes.

I want my barrette to be black.  I'm brewing up a batch of vinegaroon right now.  I've done a lot of reading about it here on the site.  If it goes wrong, I have a bottle of black Feibings oil dye.  Do I burnish the edges before or after I dye, or is it personal preference?  I'm going to be burnishing with water, a wooden burnishing tool and paraffin wax.

something I'm really concerned about is the finish.  Mom wants the natural look and mine will be black.   Since the leather we will use will be some what flexible, I'm concerned that acrylic finishes will crackle. Unless I could wet form them into the shape we want, but I don't know how that is done.We need a finish that is moisture resistant because we plan on wearing our barrettes almost every day, which means we might have damp hair when we put our hair up. I have read on the site that a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and neetsfoot oil applied to the leather, then melted in with a hair dryer was a good way to water proof leather.  Would that work for this project?  Would burnishing the flesh side aid in making it water resistant?

On a side note, from what I understand, vinegaroon will turn some wood black.  I think I'm going to cut a piece of the dowel rod off and see if it reacts to the vinegaroon.  I'd like to have a black stick to go with my black barrette.  If that doesn't work, some of the oil dye will work on the dowel rod, won't it?  

Thank you for your time.

Edited December 11, 2016 by JenGranger

[NVLeatherWorx]

Sounds like you have most of it figured out and are ready go.  On your question about when to burnish, it is really personal preference but I tend to do it after I have dyed everything because I like that extra shiny look that you get from it when it has been dyed, just looks neat.  The 7/8 oz. will work well, I use 6/7 oz. for the ones that I make as it is a bit more flexible is all.  Don't worry about the acrylic finish issue as it really isn't one, as long as you are using a product that is meant for leather and not Mop-n-Glo or some other generic product for floors or wood, there is a difference.  I use a 50/50 mix of Acrylic Resolene and distilled water and just apply it one coating at a time (a total of 4) with at least 8 hours of drying and curing between each one.  To waterproof my products I just make sure that they get a good conditioning treatment of Pure Neatsfoot Oil (not one of those compounds) and then I let the buy know how to properly care for their leather goods; these things are going to be exposed to the elements and there isn't much can be done about that but it isn't an issue as long as they are cared for and maintained properly.  It is highly likely that you will see some transfer of color from the vinegaroon but also may not, the same holds true from any dyed products.  You can guarantee that the dye will color the wood as long as the wood has a grain that will allow it to absorb stains and other materials (it hasn't been sealed yet).  If you want to pre-form them a little bit I would recommend that you shape them around a standard sized can (vegetable can) while they are damp and let them dry in that shape, if you use the vinegaroon then that would be the time to let them dry to form, just make sure that your holes have already been punched.

[JenGranger]

Thank you so much for your reply and advice.  I have been reading on the forums for a few hours everyday for about six weeks so that I would be prepared for my first projects and that they would go as smoothly as possible. I'm very excited and a little nervous.  I don't want to ruin perfectly good leather or disappoint Mom.  I'm not too worried about a little dye rub off with the black barrette since my hair is already black LOL.