Before You Start a Project Part II

Here we are at part two of our prep.  Today I want to go over how to come up with a design and then how to transfer that design to the leather.  (These transferring techniques work for transferring patterns too.  I'll go into more detail when we get to it.)

First I want to note that picking a tooling design isn't necessarily done before you start.  You may have three or four steps to get through before you get to the "tooling" step and you may want to wait until then to figure out what you are going to tool on the piece.  (The important bit is getting your steps in order and knowing when you will be tooling.  Then you can make up the design when you get to that step.  Also, don't go all "free form" and try to tool without a design already in mind.  Unless, of course, you are an awesome leather worker in which case, why the hell are you reading this blog?)

You will want figure out what type of piece are you making.  You need to ask yourself some questions.  Who will be using the piece?  (If you are selling it then what type of person do you envision using the piece?)  Is it functional?  What can you do well and/or what do you like?  These all sound like stupid questions but you need to ask them so you can figure out what you want to tool onto the leather.

Sometimes I know exactly what I'm going to put on a piece the second I think of creating the piece itself.  Other times I don't know until I sit down to tool the leather.  Once you have your design ready in your mind it is time to head back to the paper.  Draw it out.  Work out the kinks.  Also make sure it will fit on your piece.  After you have worked out all the issues now it is time to pull out the carbon paper.  OR you can do an old trick my Dad taught me.  Turn the paper over and using a pencil shade the paper opposite your design.  Make sure you cover the whole area your design covers and shade it dark.  Then clip to your piece, trace the design, and now you should have a penciled design on your leather.  After you have tooled it you can erase the carbon or pencil markings left over.

That also can be used for patterns but I would put the patterns on the flesh side of the leather.  The other idea I use is just drawing the pattern right on the flesh side of the leather if you are measuring it out.  I use a pen when I do this.  (You can skive off the marks later.)

That is pretty much all there is to it.  Let me know what you think by dropping me a line.  Until then, Happy Crafting!      

Journals: Revisited

I decided to retry my hand at doing another journal cover.  I ran out and purchased two journal refills from Barnes and Noble that were slightly different in size.  One was 5x7 and the other was 6x8.  I wanted to try out the thinner leather.  I'm glad I did.

First I made my measurements and cut out the pieces of leather.  Next I cut out the lining for the pockets.  This time I decided to only use the lining for the pockets and leave the flesh side of the leather unlined.  On the larger journal I folded the pockets edge and, using the sewing awl, sewed the fold shut so the edge would be nice and clean.  The smaller journal was a bit too small for that treatment.

Onto the punching of the holes.  I clipped the pocket lining to the leather and using the four prong hole punch I punched all around the edge eyeballing it all the way.

Now it was time to tool something into the leather.  I was going to put the tree design that put on the notebook onto the larger journal but the transfer didn't go very well.  I decided to pull out some old designs to see if I was inspired by anything and I came across an old cross design I used to put on my wallets.

I decided to tool that design into the front of the journal.  The smaller journal was given a mushroom from the Mario Brothers Video Game.

Next it was just a matter of staining and stitching.  I used a dark stain for the cross journal and lighter stain for the mushroom journal.

 I stitched them using a double loop stitch and that was that.  One thing I do want to note, in my haste (apparently I have to learn lessons over and over again for it to sink in) I forgot to wet form the leather to the book.  The good news was that the leather was so thin that it didn't matter.  It would have helped slightly but the journals still look very nice.  Another thing I want to point out: I misjudged the measurements a tad.  I should have left a little more room around the edges as I had to trim the cover of the journals themselves so they would fit in the leather covers.  I only had to trim a quarter of an inch on the front and back of each but next time I was leave a little more room.

That's about all for this project.  I'm really pleased with the outcome.  My next project I'm really excited about.  I stumbled upon some really great leather artists on Etsy and they gave me some good ideas that I'm going to try in my own work.  So watch out for that.

Until then, Happy Crafting!

Cell Phone Cover Take Two

I finally was able to put together a second cell phone cover.  This second cover came together a lot easier than the first one.  I noticed as I put the piece together I was able to pin point places where I did it better the second time because I had rushed it the first time.

Let's get started:

First I took my pattern and traced it onto the leather like I had the first time.  This pattern is fairly simple and you just need to cut along the lines and punch where the dots are placed.  The larger the dots, the larger the punch.  

I decided to try something different this time with cutting the leather.  In the past, included the previous cell phone cover, I was using a ruler to guide my cuts.  For me this was not working out very well.  Every cut I made was wavy and it just didn't look nice.  So I decided to cut free hand but take it very slow.  This actually worked really well.  If you look closely you can see in a spot or two that it was done free handed but compared to the previous attempts with a guide it was head and shoulders above them.  The key is to take it VERY SLOW.

Here are the pieces that were cut out.  I was really pleased with this result.

After I cut the pieces out it was time to punch out the holes.  The previous attempt I had waited until I had stained the piece before I punched.  I advise against that as the guide marks you made when using the pattern will be covered up by the stain.  By punching out the holes now you can use the guide marks and if you did your pattern transfer properly you don't have to worry about the holes being off.  I used my standard drive punch:

After I punched the holes I tooled the piece.  I did the same Apple Logo along with a border, cut by a swivel knife, on the main piece and the four small pieces that hold the piece together.

(NOTE: This is in regards to the first cell phone cover I made before.  Here is where I screwed up the last time.  As I mentioned before I hadn't punched the holes yet in the previous attempt and I stopped for the night.  I should have stained the piece before I left it, not to mention punching the holes.  But I didn't.  So when I sat down the next night the first thing I had to do was stain the piece.  BAD IDEA.  If your first order of business when sitting down to work on a piece is to stain it, then understand that you will probably be doing that and only that on that day.  Always try to set up your work day to have staining being the last thing you do.  If it can't be avoided then just accept the fact that you will stain the piece and come back to it on another day.  It is possible for stain to dry in an hour or two but I do not recommend moving onto the next step until it has dried for at least six to seven hours.  It may feel dry but it may still be wet inside.  And as you work with the leather the wet part will surface, get on your hands, and smudge the top.  It doesn't hurt anything to just walk away and come back later.  I didn't do this on my first cell phone cover attempt.  I stained it, waited an hour, then started to punch the holes, lace, and rivet the piece.  This is a big reason why I wasn't 100% satisfied with the outcome.  This showed me that it is very important to plan out your project steps.  Don't just blindly dive into a project without thinking it through first.  I won't make this mistake again. )

On my second cell phone cover I stained the piece BEFORE I walked away for the evening.  I used the same stain.  After it sat for an hour I stained the underside of the main piece and the four small pieces.  It was at this point I let it sit for the night.  

Now, because all the punching had been finished, I could jump right to the lacing when I came back the next day.  This time I started with the thin strip flesh to flesh with the main piece and laced the piece together like so:  

(You will see why I did this in a moment.) Here is what it looks like finished:

As you can see below I then flipped the thin strip over and it started the belt loop:

After lacing the second part the belt loop was finished.  I just continued to lace the rest of the piece.  (I was using saddle stitch by the way.)

While I was punching the holes I followed the pattern to a "T" which wasn't good because I wanted to make this piece a little more compact than the pattern calls for.  I wasn't thinking and accidentally punched a hole where there was not supposed to be a hole.  You can see it below:

After I cursed a few times, I came up with an idea.  I put a rivet there and it looks really nice:

Here is the piece fully laced but before riveting.

I put the rivets in and finished off with the snap and that was all she wrote:

I was really happy with this outcome.  It fits the phone very well and I like it very much.  It is over on the store if anyone is interested.  I'm working on some new projects now.  I'll have those posted as soon as I can.  As always, drop me a line if you have any questions or comments.  Thanks!

Happy Crafting!

Stitching Projects Part Three: Saddle Stitch

This is our next installment of our stitching series.  Today we are going to talk about the Saddle Stitch.  It is probably one of the simplest stitches you can do.  What makes it great is that, assuming you are using quality thread or lace, is one of the strongest stitches in the world.  (Again assuming you are using quality products.)

You take a piece of lace, about 1 1/2 length of the distance you will be lacing.  (Example: Your project has holes punched that add up to about one foot in length.  You will need one and half feet of lace.)  You should be using a quality waxed lace that is good for this type of lacing.  Take two needles (you will need this type of needle for the job).  The way you attach the lace is quite simple.  Thread the needle with the lace . . .

 then push the needle through the lace (puncture the lace about half an inch away from the end of the lace) . . .

 and pull the needle through.  It will attach to the end.

Do this on both sides of your lace.

Pull the needle through the first hole and pull the lace about half way through.

Then you push the left needle through the "outside" of the leather to the "inside."

Next you pull the right needle (through the same hole the left needle came through) through the "inside" hole to the "outside" hole.

Repeat.  (It doesn't matter which side you start with just as long as both needles are going through each hole.  You are making a type of a figure 8 with the lace.)

 When you reach the end of the lacing just back stitch about two or three holes  . . .

then you tie the ends of the lace . . .

pull it tight . . .

then cut the ends off.  

Your done.  (Told you it was easy.)  I do want to caution you to try not to split the lace as with the needle as you go.)  

I originally was going to do this series in three parts but I have decided to add a fourth part as I have not used the final method yet and I don't feel comfortable talking about a sewing method until I have used it.  It will be using the sewing awl.  My next project, after the cell phone, will probably use it so I will update you then.  That's all for now.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Cell Phone Cover

About a month ago I found a pattern for a cell phone cover that I liked.  I decided to give it a try.  I cut out the leather and put a design on it.  I decided to put the "Apple" logo on the outside of the piece.  This was due to the announcement of the iPhone 4S but it remained relevant when the news of Steve Jobs passing hit the wire. I found out right after I finished tooling the piece.  Anyway, I then punched the appropriate holes, stained the piece, and used a saddle stitch to finish it off.  (I will be posting the saddle stitch entry soon.)

Finally I riveted the pieces together and added the snap.  When I was surveying my work I realized I rushed it. This is not my favorite piece and I'm disappointed that didn't take the time to finish it properly.  I know exactly what happened.  I finished this piece over the course of two evenings.  At the end of the first evening I had gotten so far with the piece I realized that I would only need an hour or so to finish it.  This meant this project was only about a three hour project from start to finish.  (Not counting drying time for the stain.)  So I went to bed then the next day I started to work on it again.  Because I thought I was so close to the end I rushed the final bits, especially the riveting and the snap, that when I was done and I wasn't happy.  I will be doing another one of these projects but I wanted to put this up as a cautionary tale to those who want to rush things.  (It is obvious that I am one of them) Don't do it.  Take your time.

I will be putting this on the store but it will be a bargain buy.  I cannot charge what I normally would.  If I had taken my time I may have been able to sell this item for twice what I'm selling it for now.  All because I couldn't slow down, maybe take another day to work on it.

I will update you with a finished photo when I upload it.  I'm going to be making another one of these very soon and I will go through each step and explain what I did wrong with this piece versus the one I will be currently making.  It's a little more work but I think it is worth it so you can see how not to do leather craft.

That's all for now.  Happy Crafting!

Three Ring Binder Part II

Now that I have completed the tooling of my three ring binder I am going to move onto staining and assembling the piece.  One thing to remember, if you are going to mark the leather with guide markers for the holes for stitching, do this before you stain.  I did not but it wasn't the end of the world as I wanted to use double loop stitch anyway.  So I stained the piece and let it dry.  Before I put this piece together I need to shape it so it will go together properly.  (Unlike the journal entry this piece could be shaped before you punch the holes or after.  The important part is I waited until I was one tooling before I shaped it.)  The instructions called for a "V" gouge to cut a groove into the flesh of the back cover.  I do not have this piece so I used my swivel knife instead.  Basically I found the exact center of the back cover and drew a line on the back using my t square.  Then I measured an inch from center on both sides and drew a line for each.

Now I just wet the leather and cut with my swivel knife on the outside lines.  The instructions also call for a bone folder which I do not have either.  (I must say I don't really find it very useful as I just use my t square or something rigid to shape my pieces.  If anyone out there using a bone folder and swears by them please drop me a line and give me your take.)

Now it is time to assemble.  In the kit there were three cardboard pieces that are to be placed between the lining and outside cover to give the the piece a rigid back.  Using rubber cement I glued these to the flesh side of the leather.  There are two larger pieces that go on the each side and small thin one for the spine.  After they set for a few minutes I then cemented the other side and the flesh side of the lining and placed it on top.  The instructions go into a complicated way to do this last step but I decided to do it my own way.  I slowly rolled the lining onto the piece and made sure all grooves were lined.  After an initial goof I reapplied and it worked wonderfully.  Finally I glued the pocket on in the appropriate place.  Time to let it dry.

After letting the cement set I placed some bulldog clips on the piece to be sure it will hold.  (If you do this be sure to put a folded paper towel under the clip on the tooled side so it doesn't mark up the leather.)  On to punching the holes.  Using my 1/8 punch I stropped it and punched four corner holes.  Then I moved to my four prong 1/8 punch.  This made the punching easy.  I went around the edged eyeballing the line keeping it as straight as possible.

 When I would get to a corner I would re position the punch so it would not mess up the corner hole.  (If you are off a little here it isn't a big deal.  Especially if you are doing a double loop stitch.)  When you cover the rest of the edge you are ready to stitch.

I finished this off with a double loop stitch and I think it turned out great.  I really like this piece and will have a really hard time letting it go.  I'm glad I still have the design to work with so I can make more of these on different items.

That's all for now.  I'm working on a cell phone cover now.  I think you will like my design.  I had originally intended for it to be in the spirit of iPhone 4S announcement but the passing of Steve Jobs overshadows that.   We are able to do the things we do today on computers because of him and his revolutionary ideas.  It was almost two years ago when I picked up my iPhone for the first time having never owned an Apple product before.  It has changed my life.  The way I interact with the world has been fundamentally changed because of Apple.  I realize I'm repeating what countless others are saying, and I'm sure they are saying it more eloquently than I, but I still feel I need to say it.  

I hope you have found peace Mr. Jobs.  iThank You.

Thanks for reading and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Three Ring Binder - Part I

Many years ago I did a lot of community theatre.  A lot.  Throughout those years I had always wanted to create a scrapbook of sorts that had all of the playbills from all of the shows I took part.  During this time I came across a sale of a three ring binder leather craft kit.  I snapped that up and started to make my plans to tool that cover and get it ready for all the playbills.  It was never to be.  Every time I sat down with the cover to work up a design I would come up blank.  (This was mostly due to my attempt at keeping the theme within theatre.)  It had never occurred to me to try something else instead of a theatre theme.  So eventually I just stuck it with my leather stuff and worked on other projects.  When it came time to open our shop on Etsy last year, I had every intention of putting something on that notebook and selling it.  But I kept forgetting that I had it.  Not to mention I did not have all the right tools to complete the project to my liking.

Fast forward to this year.  We reopened the shop and I finally picked up the cover and started to think seriously about what I would design.  Now that I had broadened my horizons beyond just a theatrical design inspiration came pretty quickly.  Recently I have seen a lot of "tree of life" imagery and decided I wanted to incorporate that into the design.  While looking over the internet for the right tree to stand in for my tree of life I remembered that one of my favorite shows, Carnivale, incorporated a tree into it's symbolism.  In actuality the tree in Carnivale is the "Tree of Usher" and is the location of the final showdown between good and evil.  (At least it was for the climax of season 2 before the show got canned.  Damn HBO.)  Anyway I drew up a design of the tree that I really liked.  The problem was I have a lot of real estate to cover with this notebook.  The tree would take up about half of the front and that is all so I had to have some more.  I briefly thought to have "Management: KEEP OUT" underneath the tree, which fans of the show would have appreciated, but I decided against it.  For another time then.  But the show did feature tarot cards as a fairly large part of the plot. So I found a sun and moon and have incorporated them into the design.

As you can see the tree is on the front with the sun above it while the moon is on the back.  Both the front and back are surrounded by an arch.  I really like this design for many reasons.  It hints at a favorite show of mine while appealing to much larger audience.  I keep the design simple in that I only cut using my swivel knife and then I beveled with my small bevel tool to get into the small creases of the tree.  (I used my large bevel tool for the arch that surrounded the front and the back.  It made the job quicker.)  After I finished beveling I did some decorative cuts and that was all she wrote.  Now this is ready to stain and stitch.  

As you can see the piece does not have pre-punched holes around the edges.  The next entry I will go over how I did that and how I put the whole thing together.  

Until then, Happy Crafting!