I’m using Adobe Illustrator to draw and plan my ideas. Next thing: a key case.
Category: Leather crafting
Second leather project – Card sleeve
Continuing with leather project two, this is a card sleeve, or card holder in pull-up leather. Apparently only vegetable tanned leather can be successfully burnished so I added some beeswax to the edges to keep the fuzzy flesh fibers together. Don’t know if that’s something “you do” though. I’ve probably broken some rule.
I’m struggling with getting my head around stitching backwards though. The first stitch I did, the right one in the photo was easy enough, but then when I did the other one I had do it backwards, because I wanted to start in the same end as the other side. And that meant going from having the front of the item to the right when stitching to having it on the left. And that meant… what? Starting from the front? and putting which needle on top? Etc. etc. I need to look into that.
The blemishes going across the card sleeve is because this piece of leather is taken from the edge of the scrap leather I had. It’s some kind of creases from the tanning process. But I actually thought they were nice and gave some character.
Leather sleeve for Fisher Space Pen Bullet
This sleeve for a Fisher Space Pen Bullet is the first real leather item I have crafted and I’m very happy with the result! I had to go through two prototypes before I found the right size for it. The first to were too tight so it was very difficult to remove the pen. But it was good training in cutting, punching stitching holes and doing the stitching. The prototypes were made from scrap leather from an old backpack. The final sleeve however is made from a very nice piece of leather sent to me by Laederiet in Denmark. Unfortunately I don’t know what type of leather it is.
There are a few details I have to do better with my next project, like doing the burnishing before doing the stitching. I now had to skip a spot just were the stitching goes around the edge. But all in all pretty good for a first project, don’t you think?
Getting ready for leather crafting
After 31 days in transit the package (…plastic bag, as is common when ordering from China) with some of my leather-working tools from eBay has finally arrived! Now I just need some free time to figure out how to use it all. Some of the items might not be the best quality but I hope it will do for a beginner.
What we’re looking at:
- Stitching pony
- Rotary cutter
- Nylon hammer (seems very sturdy!)
- 4 mm diamond hole forks
- Screw hole punch
- Three kinds of waxed thread
- Stitching groover
- Edge burnisher
- Some awls (and needles which was just part of the package)
- Hole marking wheels
My first saddle stitch
I have recently been considering trying on leather crafting. I like how, by using certain types of leather, the items will age beautifully and get a personal patina. A couple of years ago I purchased an Atelier Pall iPhone case which I loved. Before that I had a couple of Sena cases. This got me started on getting other everyday items in quality leather, such as a Macbook sleeve from Mission Leather Co (Mintcases, at the time), a beautiful leather wallet from Joojoobs on Etsy and a small but very useful key pouch, also from Etsy.
But now I felt it was time to try to create something myself. So while I wait for my tools to arrive, I ordered a bunch on Ebay, I thought I would give saddle stitching a try. It’s a strong type of stitching you do by hand. Unfortunately I don’t have any real leather to practise on yet and no waxed thread. So I decided to use cotton thread, regular needles and cardboard instead. Not exactly ideal. Considering that, and that this was my first try after watching some videos on Youtube, I’m very pleased with the result.
