First few hours of Leatherwork

[ShadowShaman]

Hi Guys, 

This is my first attempt at making anything in leather, it is only a basic key fob (without the hole cut for the keyring yet) but I though I would put it out there for you guys to take a look, I know I messed up the reverse side stamp with not enough force and I burnished the edge with a wooden spoon! (I have to order a burnisher/slicker yet) this was just to get to grips with the basic technique of saddlestitch (which went a little off in places), cutting and burnishing it took me about an hour or so, it's far from perfect I know, but I am reasonably pleased with it.

I hope you guys like it.

[kiwican]

well done on your first steps!

[bikermutt07]

Great first effort. I suggest leodis Leather on YouTube for stitching lessons. Watch the 40 minute then watch the 12 minute one over and over till it sticks. Of course Nigel @ armitage leather has many wonderful videos and I enjoy them. But I find him a little hard to follow on the stitching ones.

Good luck.

[Bodean]

Looks ok for a first attempt. Did you case the leather before you used the stamps? The impression is faint like you didn't.

[ShadowShaman]

Thanks for the comments and advice guys, @Bodean I did case the leather but I think I needed to wait a little longer for the water to properly dampen, and I also needed more force, I think I was too gentle trying to avoid stuttering with the stamp.

[Bodean]

17 minutes ago, ShadowShaman said:

Thanks for the comments and advice guys, @Bodean I did case the leather but I think I needed to wait a little longer for the water to properly dampen, and I also needed more force, I think I was too gentle trying to avoid stuttering with the stamp.

I see. I would practice on some scrap to see how to properly case it, and try out your stamping. That way you can get valuable experience, and not mess up the piece you are working on. Practice makes perfect,and it is a continuing educational process. LOL. 

[AussieMade]

Great job for your first attempt. The only thing I would critique is to keep the tension on your stitching even when drawing the thread through. This will even up some of the stitches as you are going.

Keep trying and dont give up.

[Mattsbagger]

On 4/8/2017 at 3:57 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Great first effort. I suggest leodis Leather on YouTube for stitching lessons. Watch the 40 minute then watch the 12 minute one over and over till it sticks. Of course Nigel @ armitage leather has many wonderful videos and I enjoy them. But I find him a little hard to follow on the stitching ones.

Good luck.

Hey he's  a lefty should make sense to you.lol

Edited April 10, 2017 by Mattsbagger

[bikermutt07]

36 minutes ago, Mattsbagger said:

Hey he's  a lefty should make sense to you.lol

You would think, right? It's more of the terms he uses, left hand priority, and the like. Ian doesn't use so much "proper" terminology. Not being classically trained myself I find him easier to follow. 

Now that I really understand the loop casting it is easy for me to stitch either direction.

This is how I explain it to myself.....

Poke holes from the front.

Front side stitch to the top of the hole.

Back side stitch to the bottom of the hole.

On the backside before pulling tight, simply pass the front needle under the back thread.

Pull tight.

If I really understand it, it doesn't matter which way the leather is pointing.

 

[ShadowShaman]

Thanks again for your advice and encouragement guys, here my second attempt seems to have much better stitching, I will continue to practice stitching then when I am more consistent I intend to try a couple of wallets and belts.

[bikermutt07]

51 minutes ago, ShadowShaman said:

Thanks again for your advice and encouragement guys, here my second attempt seems to have much better stitching, I will continue to practice stitching then when I am more consistent I intend to try a couple of wallets and belts.

Big improvement already. When you finish off your stitches, try to guide the extra ones right on top of the others. It takes a little finesse (and I'll admit I'm not great yet either) but will make everything look a little more even. Looks like you are already tapping them flat.

Keep up the good work.

[Brianm77]

The only thing I see that may help and has not been mentioned, are the lines left by what you are using to aid in pulling out your chisel.  One thing that helps with that is polishing your chisels. Some say to rub some beeswax on your chisel, I don't see any difference with wax. One thing that I have started doing is pulling out of the scrap underneath first this use as little pressure as possible. Sometimes set the strip between the chisel and the edge, it is less noticeable out there. 

Hope that helps,

Brian

[alpha2]

Don't worry about the wooden spoon, when you get a proper slicker, you'll find it's exactly the same wood as your spoon! 

It looks like your stamp bounced in the second attempt. It happens. Try to keep a firm downward pressure on the stamp while striking.

[cjartist]

2 hours ago, alpha2 said:

Don't worry about the wooden spoon, when you get a proper slicker, you'll find it's exactly the same wood as your spoon! 

It looks like your stamp bounced in the second attempt. It happens. Try to keep a firm downward pressure on the stamp while striking.

Yes, and I think your casing is not quite right.  Looks like you are either too dry, so no compression, or too wet so the impression relaxes again.

You are doing great though.  Keep at it.