Finally getting back to it! (Finished portfolio)

[blink1688]

Hello,

This is a project I started a LONG time ago but didn't get back to it until this year -- kinda embarrassing since my wife's initials have changed since I started this when we were dating. Plenty of things to blame such as teaching high school science but excuses aside, I finally started to get back to the craft. Probably helps that I'm looking to make a career change and I'm hopeful that I can make leather work a big part of that change. I'm currently trying to learn about tack and saddlery because there's high demand in my area but doesn't seem to be anyone to supply to that demand. I'm still trying to find someone near-ish Cincinnati, OH, USA to learn from so if you have any leads, please let me know.

Anyhow, back to the project and my questions for you:

I made the front and back panels and originally intended to use them for a three ring binder with laced edges. I then learned that my wife preferred to have a portfolio similar to my personal portfolio but with stitched edges and pockets/pouches for her pencils, calculator, and phone (she's an actuary so she does a lot of calculating). Also, she really doesn't like pen/pencil loops so the internal snap pouch is what I came up with.

• What do you think about the coloring and finish, particularly the silhouette on the back panel and fading on the horse?
• How can I make the transition to a new thread for my saddle stitch less apparent?
• What do you think of the construction?
• Is this something you would have used an edge kote on -- I don't have any yet and I'm unfamiliar with its behavior?

[blink1688]

[Rohn]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I think you did an excellent job on this project.  I think that if I had done this I would have laced the outside edges instead of sewing them.  Your tooling looks great as does your coloring and finishing. What dyes and finishes did you use?

I live in Niles, OH.

 

 

[blink1688]

It's been a couple years since I did the dye work so here goes my best efforts to remember in order:

1. Satin sheen (maybe 2 or 3 coats?) to provide a bit of resist in the silhouette
2. Eco-flo dyes on the flowers and leaves (emerald green, scarlet, and sunshine yellow)
3. Fiebing's solvent dye on the backgrounds, initials, and the horse (black and light brown of various strengths with multiple passes)
4. Satin sheen (slightly diluted) on the flowers and leaves for partial resist
5. Super sheen on the horse
6. Eco-flo gel antique (tan) all over back panel, spine, leaves and flowers, and boarder of front panel
7. Satin sheen (full strength) on background, initials, and flowers and leaves
8. Eco-flo Pro waterstain (tan) on interior and over all non-tooled surfaces (before stitching and assembly)
9. Rubbed-in / hairdryer-heated-and-rubbed-in Aussie (after stitching and assembly)

P.S. - After posting, I realized I got carried away with pictures in my excitement -- I started this project in late 2012 / early 2013 and then life took over until May 2017 >.<

Edited July 18, 2017 by blink1688
add P.S. - maybe too many pictures

[Rohn]

Thanks, Blink.  I would like to get into more and better coloring of leather. I guess I am afraid of ruining a project by dying it the wrong way.

As far as the pictures go, I don't think you can post too many.  I love to see lots of pictures.

[MendellLeatherOK]

Looks great! Especially for taking so long of a break!

[blink1688]

I am right there with you! It's nerve-wracking for me every time becasue I can't resolve myself to the old adage of "You can always dye it black" if things go wonky.

I started with learning to use the Eco-flo gel antiques to obtain a solid even finish on other projects. They can be nightmare-ish at times because they have a tendency of going green (apparently not just in the environmental sense -- sorry I'm a dad and a dorky chem/physics teacher), especially around the edges when your sponge/applicator is too wet. There were also a LOT of trial and error test samples I made from the belly of the side I used for this project. Since every hide is different, they'll differ somewhat in how much dye they'll accept in each application and how they'll react to the antique, particularly when using the antique to desirably "fade" previously applied dye. I've found that doing some tests on different parts of the same hide that you don't intend to use will give a decent indication of how the piece you've selected for the project will behave.

I highly recommend checking out How to Color Leather by Al Stohlman. It was instrumental in this project.

[YinTx]

What are those two thingies in the lower pockets on the left side?  

I really like this portfolio, and hope to be able to tool even half that good someday.  Thanks for sharing!

YinTx

[tearghost]

Amazing tooling.

[Rolandranch]

That is very nice! I can see you put a lot of work and effort into it. Are you trying to hide stitching completely?

[blink1688]

@MendellLeatherOK, thank you! Admittedly, my heart sank a little when my wife said she wanted the edges stitched. I hadn't done a lot of edge finishing without lace work and part of the long was trepidation since I wasn't confident saddle stitching such a large project yet -- lots of intermediate practice and experimenting before I felt up to the task.

@YinTx, those are Texas Instrument scientific calculators. My wife uses them daily. Thank you, for your words about the tooling. You'll get there too; just keep practicing and make sure to case your leather (Hidepounder's post on casing combined with some experimenting was HUGE for bringing this project to a new level). I'm still not to the point where I can design something like that on my own -- my memory is a bit foggy but I think the front panel design itself is from a Tandy Craftaid and I partially designed the back panel with the aid of a scanner, my computer, a book with some small designs I could combine, and hours of trying to draw stems to connect everything in a way I liked. One word about something I wish I had done much better -- be very careful with your swivel knife cuts... they generally shouldn't cross  and they should always taper off because thin points like the flower bud at the top of the front panel get flimsy and will peel up when rubbing in dyes and finishes.

@tearghost, thank you!

@Rolandranch, thank you! Most definitely a lot of time. No, not trying to hide them, I just want to reduce the bulkiness when I transition from one thread to the next. There are a lot of very noticeable transitions that I don't find aesthetically pleasing on this project.

[JLSleather]

Looks good!

I like a velcro or elastic "holder" to retain callculators / phones / such, just since the leather will likely outlive the electronics. 

Still, I like what you did here!

 

[savagesupplyco]

These portfolio folder really look awesome. We also deals with portfolio. So you can also visit us here 

Edited July 28, 2017 by savagesupplyco

[Rolandranch]

@blink1688 One way you could eliminate some of that bulkiness is to cut a small groove with your swivel knife where the bulk will be. You could also cut that groove with a stitching groover. A cut with the knife will hide or close-up the stitching a little more. A cut with the groover will counter-sink the stitching but won't close it up as much.

Here's a sample of what I mean: (Note that I went over both the cut and groove areas 3 times with my sewing machine to show you how they hide bulk.)

I hope this helps!

Ryan

[Dun]

can I ask about your wetforming? Did you not use a negative mold to press the edges down?
 

[blink1688]

@Rolandranch Ahh, don't know why I didn't think of using the swivel knife. I'll give that a try next time. I almost always use the stitching groover.

@Dun Nope, I haven't ever used a negative mold. I just get the leather wet enough that it feels like clay and use a bone folder and the rounder end of a wooden hand-held burnisher to smooth the curves.

@JLSleather Thank you. That makes sense. I can think of a few projects where that approach would be helpful. Luckily, the calculators will most likely stay the same for years. Do you use micro velcro? For the elastic, what do you use and how do you attach it?

@savagesupplyco Thank you. What address were you intending to link to? The link in you post just lead back to this page.

[Dun]

Just hand tools for wet firming? It's really clean looking.

I'm really impressed!

[blink1688]

On 7/29/2017 at 11:45 PM, Dun said:

Just hand tools for wet firming? It's really clean looking.

I'm really impressed!

Thanks. I babysat it on-and-off for about 30min to an hour while the drying process started and went over the edges a few times. The wooden blocks (pine, hand-shaped with files from a planed board) used for the forming seemed to help draw moisture from the leather more quickly.

I did have a bit of a surprise that I had to fix after drying... when removing the c-clamp holding down the bone folder, I discovered one of the most vivid "MADE IN TAIWAN" stamps I've ever seen and it was imprinted on my work. I forgot about that mark on the bone folder when I put the clamps down >.< Luckily, super-saturating the leather on that spot and rubbing it with a modeling spoon did a really good job of making it disappear.