Leather Work
My Leather Story
My interest in leather started when I salvaged lots of red leather from an old sofa. this gave me lots of material but with no tools. my first creation was very simple and made with very basic tools. after a few years, my partner brought me an amazing leather kit that had all the tools I could need and much more. this allowed me to do leatherwork to my heart's content. with my new leather kit and a creative curiosity and lots of inspiration from Pinterest, I have made a few bits.
Overview
My Corations And There Story
Pencil Case
This idea all started with a book I got from my old high school.it was the first thing I made with the new leather tools I spoke of. The book had a template of the shape to cut out, but with no means of printing and enlarging these templates. I wasn't able to use it. I, therefore, had to use a lot of guesswork on how to make it. Most of the dimensions were based on the size of a pencil.
When making this piece I didn't have a stitch punch. Instead, I was using a stitch marker around the border for making out all of the holes. Then I would use a leather awl to make every hole. The problem with this method is that when it comes to sowing it is very difficult to find the hole, it is almost as if they have disappeared. So I was having to remake every hole before sowing. which as you can imagine was very time-consuming. The trouble stems from the fact that when using the awl all it is doing is pushing the leather to the side. So given time, the leather contracts back closing up the hole.
In the book I was working from there was no mention of anything to harden the leather. So I decided to cut stiff card to fit inside the pencil case and use a new piece of leather (as seen in gray) to secure the card in place. This made the whole thing have a lot sturdier feel.
When I first made this I was unsure of the fastening method. I had originally used the two holes to thread a cord through and tie every time. But after trying it, I soon found it was a very impractical method that took a long time to open and close. After much thought and lots of digging, I found a bracelet clip. I then went about altering the case to include the clip as the fastening method, leading to great success.
Roses
Wallet
This was the very first leather project I hade ever made so it is very simple but was highly effective. I wanted to make a wallet that was slim and easy to have in my pocket. So I designed a wallet to fit my cards and have the capacity to hold a few notes as well. After lots of googling, I discovered that leather sowing is different from traditional sowing. I learnt that you have to pre-make holes in the leather. Then using two needles sew on both sides using the pre-made holes. At first, I was mightily confused but after watching many YouTube videos I soon got the hang of it.
I used this wallet for several years. It was brilliant as it was so easy to carry around with me. The downside to using it was with prolonged use I was slowly damaging my cards. This was because every time I pulled out a card it would rub up against another card and slowly wore them down.
These roses where an experiment to try out leather hardening. I had done lots of research and found I could achieve this by soaking the leather in a strong alkaline solution. Once the leather was fully saturated, I formed them into shape and left them to dry. These roses had a lot of waiting involved. I would leave them overnight and quickly do the next stage in the morning before leaving for school.
When I started making these I was quite excited for the end result. I started by making a paper template of the rose petals. At first, I was making single petals but discovered it would be problematic to secure them all together. After Realizing this, I went back to the drawing board and came up with a different template. This new template had 4 petals all connected in a cross shape. I then cut out the shapes in the leather and let them soak in the alkaline solution taking care not to get any on me in the process. Once the leather was fully saturated I moulded the petals around a ball shape and wrapped wire around them to make sure they would stay in place. I then left them to dry and harden. Once dry I added the second layer of petals and did the same thing as before.
Once I had made the petals I used a piece of copper as a stalk. After doing this I found that the petals moved around the place so I glue them together. Making the end product.
Birthday Card
This is the card I made for my partners birthday. It was coming up to her birthday and I had a revelation. I decided that cards where silly things as all they say is happy birthday ( although I'm doing that in person) and unless they're really special they get discarded. So I decided I would make a card that would last.
After much thought, I decided to use leather as it would certainly have a better Longevity than paper. I started off by using a permanent marker to write on the leather, but I decided I didn't like it as It looked rushed and wouldn't last. So keeping that in mind I decided I would try making the letters from copper wire. This took a lot of working out. I started by writing out the text on a piece of paper. This enabled me to bend the wire into the correct shape and scale. On each part of the wire that made up the letter, I left a short tail. This allowed me to attach each piece to the leather.
This conjunction of copper and leather works really well and will definitely last a long time.
On this peace, I tried out a new skill. I tried burnishing the edges with wax. I had a mixed success but due to the type of leather I have, I don't believe I will ever be able to achieve a nice burnished edge.
Keyring
I wanted to try something different and could not think of anything to make, so I asked my partner what I should do. She asked me to make her a keyring. So naturally, my first thought was to look on Pinterest for some inspiration. After some time this led me to leaves.
This keyring came together by its self really. I was looking at what I had in my collection and tried a few things out. I decided to use some of my decorative keys that I have. I also Chose to use some of my own homemade glass beads. The use of the blue beads makes the 3 petals have unity and gives them a common theme.
Case
I wanted to make a leather box to put my essential oils in so I started making this. I hardened the leather with glue so that it would be stronger and more resilient. Going along with this theme I added Copper tape and soldered over it. This finished off the edges adding more strength. I'm still not 100% happy with it though. I'm going to be adding copper wire to reinforce the edges more. I also need to add a closing method.
Ring
This started from when I was making the leather card for my partner. I was using wax to burnish the ends and discoed that when the wax it a quid it would soaks into the leather and slowly solidify and makes the leather really hard. I then thought about this concept a lot . And the outcome from this was this ring that is very stiff. The problem with it is I dident make it to any certain size so it is very large and a bit bulky.
Coming Soon
Holster
I wanted to make a belt holster for all of the things I carry with me on a day-to-day basis (phone, cards, keys ) I started drawing and planning out what I would need and making segments for them to go in. And then i needed to think about how I could physically make it. This took some time but I managed to plan it all out. In some places I was sewing 5 pieces of leather at once
Box
I wanted to make a leather box for my essential oils. This isn't traditional leather work skills. I hardened the leather by saturating it with PVA glue and then left it to dry. Once completely dry I added more glue and clamp the leather to the outside of the cardboard box the essential oils came in. From here I used copper tape over all the corners then soldered over them to create the metal edges.
Camera Case
Books
Below is a collation of all the different books and book covers I have made. The designs are sketched out on paper first then transferred to the leather. Next I use a swivel knife to cut along all the lines then using the leather carving tools to hammer the texture into the leather. Once I have made the design I can then make the product I'm creating at the time, once the item is made I then die the leather. After the die has dried I oil and wax the leather to give a lovely shine finish.