Legal pad Portfolio

[Stetson912]

My dad's birthday is coming up so I made him a portfolio to use on the job or wherever he may need it. It's 7/8 oz leather with 3/4 oz lining. It has a poster board stiffener to keep it from stretching while tooling, and a beveled mat board stiffener for added rigidity. The letters are carved inverted and everything is hand stitched. Hope you enjoy and thanks for taking a look. 

[beltbuckles]

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stetson912]

Thanks!

[GunnyStewart]

I like the border you did around the letters.  Unique!

[Stetson912]

Thanks gunny.

[LederRudi]

I admire People who are able to let the basket weave flow around a medallion!

Very nice work, Dad will love it!

[MendellLeatherOK]

Slick work!

[Double Daddy]

Fine craftsmanship, Stetson!  I agree with LederRudi about the basket weave...beautifully executed!

[Stetson912]

Thanks @LederRudi, I tried the arrow weave on my first attempt and it was my first go at it, didn't work well haha. So I went with what I'm more familiar with. 

@MendellLeatherOK, thanks. There was some "slick" work on the edges that's for sure hehe.

@Double Daddy,thanks for the kind words

[cjartist]

That looks great Stetson.  I have tried a couple of these type of projects and I always seem to make them just a bit too small, ha ha.  Looks like you nailed it though and it came out beautifully.

[Stetson912]

@cjartist, thanks! It didn't take all that long to do. The stamping took the longest.

I forgot to mention that, while it's a simple pattern, it is one from Don Gonzalez saddlery. My initial thought was to use some of the floral tooling patterns he offers with it but I decided I need a few smaller version of some tools first. So I did the basket weave, which my dad likes anyhow. My dad always flips his business cards vertical too, so I don't have to fret about the slightly smaller card pockets. So it all works out. 

[JKHelms]

Looks very nice. 

Been making some myself. 

[whistler]

I'm very new at this so pardon me for a couple questions that might seem obvious to some. 

The poster board stiffener and the beveled mat board stiffener  can you explain this a little bit. 

How do you fold the large piece of 7-8 oz leather. I get a kind of pooch at the fold that messes the appearance of the sides. 

Thanks

[Stetson912]

Sure thing @whistler. When I started the project I had to find where I wanted my tooling/stamping window to be. So I started by marking my stitchlines and then the border of the tooling/stamping window. I then cut a piece of poster board (really just thick paper) and rubber cemented/contact cemented it to the flesh side of the leather where the tooling would correspond on the front. This helps prevent the leather from stretching out when you stamp/tool it. It's important with all tooling but I've found that the basket weave especially likes to flatten and stretch out a piece of leather. 

The mat board is the exact same size of the poster board and is contact cemented to the poster board after beveling the edges of the mat board. What I mean by beveling is that the edges of the mat board are skived down to a feather edge. This causes any angle which is more appealing to look at when covered with the lining. Without the beveled edge there would be a bump on the edges where the mat board ends. The mat board also serves to add rigidity to the portfolio.

I guess I don't quite understand your last question. But I think you mean folding it in half to close the portfolio. If you look on the inside, the spine is not lined. If it we're it wouldn't fold correctly. I basically put some water on it and burnished it a bit and folded it in half when it was still wet. Then I put scrap poster board on it and a brick. This set the fold better so it stays closed better.

 I hope that answered your questions 

[whistler]

Thanks for the reply, I guess as a beginner I never thought about the stamping & tooling stretching out the leather but I can very well see how it happens. 

i will try the method you used to make the fold in the portfolio and see how it turns out. 

Thanks for taking time and helping out. 

In my first post I forgot to compliment you on your work. Very Nice!

[Stetson912]

Thanks @whistler, if you don't finish and seal the grain side of the leather you can wet that side as well. It'll make the folding much easier. In this case though, it was already dyed and finished so, I just wet the inside that wasn't lined. Also, this trick will only work on vegetable tanned leathers to the best of my personal knowledge. 

Cheers!