Get In, Hang On

My Leatherwork

In the course of a single day I had 2 people try to buy my purse. Very flattering. But it got me thinking and I decided that it would be neat to post pictures of some of the things that I’ve made over the years.

You can find some of this stuff running through my blog under “The creative side of Life” category.

I started doing leatherwork more than 30 years ago. Needless to say, at this point in my life I have very little of it with me. Many things have been given away as gifts, usually with nothing more than my design sketches to remember them by. Mostly through happenstance, I still have some of the early things with me. So, I spent some time trying to photograph them - not easy without a good lighting source.

Starting with more recent things and working backwards in time:

July, 2008: Every time we go to a Renfair, I stop and look at the leather mugs on display. The problem is that the closest fair is in the fall, which is when I’m slacking off of doing leatherwork in favor of homeschooling. Last year when we went I told myself that making a mug was going to be a project for this summer.

Only to find when I got ready to do it, that no one posts patterns and information on the web, and the local Tandy store was also a wash. So, I had to work from scratch. I’m not totally pleased with the sewing, but generally it came out well.

June, 2008: I finally made the bowl for myself.

March, 2008: I did leatherworking sessions for the kids at the last InHome conference, and before I went I (and Girl) did samples to show ideas.

Christmas, 2007: I’ve been busy making more of the bowls and I’m very tempted to try to find a local venue to try to sell them.

This one is to be a birthday present for my sister, L.

And this one is a Christmas present for my mil. I still want to make one for myself, but I’m not sure what will be on it.

I also made a mess of these little hearts for the people in my chorus for Christmas. I found out last year that a lot of people bring small gifts to each other at the Christmas Party and I wanted to have my gift to be something distinctive to me. The chorus members wear a little heart shaped pin with a black eighth note on it and so these hearts on key chains seemed like a perfect match.

Summer, 2007: This summer I’m keeping rather busy. I made this dayplanner as a commission piece. I’ve also made a guitar strap for Hubby’s uncle.

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This past winter, I tried something new and made these bowls for friends back in New Mexico -

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This is a little cardcase that I made for myself. It is carved to match my purse.

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My mil wanted a little purse for when she’s shopping and I made this little one for her. Then after a year, she decided that the top wasn’t keeping anything in when it tipped, so I had to modify it. She also has a larger purse that I made for her a couple of years ago.

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My fil needed a new belt and wanted something with eagles on it. After deciding that I didn’t want to have to carve something as detailed as an eagle on a belt, I worked up this compromise.

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My purse that I’m currently using. It is designed after a cloth purse that my sister, P, gave me. I loved the design of the purse, but it didn’t even last 1 year of use. I used it as a model and then carved my own pattern (aspects of which I borrowed) onto it.

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Two wallets that I’ve made for Hubby. Initially, I made him the carved wallet (Actually this is a second copy of one that I made when we were dating. He was mugged and had that wallet taken.) After using it for many years, he decided that he wanted a more professional look and so I made him the simple black one.Due to the amount of wear, it is hard to see the latticework carving, but this was one of my first free-hand carving designs. I especially liked the way the letters hung off the lattice. The leaf was a little inside detail that I added. The black wallet is entirely handsewn and a first ‘professional’ looking piece I’ve ever done.
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My wallet and checkbook. Leather last nearly forever. I have kicking around somewhere (can’t find it yet) my father’s old wallet. I made it for him in the mid 70s and all it ever needed was fresh lacing. He carried that wallet in his back pocket everyday until he passed away in 2001. Both of these pieces are about 10 years old. I made them to match a purse that I made at the same time (still need to track it down as well). For the design, I just used a copier and reduced the design that I was putting on the purse. Both of these pieces (and the purse) were kits that I purchased, carved, and put together. Most Tandy kits come with a couple of carving designs to use.

Prior to about 10 years ago I nearly sold off all of my leatherworking equipment. Both of the kids were little and I had neither the time nor space to even consider getting the supplies out and working on anything. I was also very concerned about leaving the stamps, knives, and dyes out where they could get into them. I’m extremely happy that I didn’t follow through. Most of my stamps are no longer made and trying to replace them would have been nearly impossible.But it does mean that there was a period of nearly 7 years that I didn’t work on anything with leather.

This set of 4 plaques was made while I was pregnant with Boy.

We decorated his nursery in Snoopy (bet you couldn’t figure that out) and at the time, you couldn’t find premade decorations based on Peanuts. My mil made most of the decorations, but I carved these. The kids still have them up on their walls (2 each).

This is a portfolio for holding a pad of paper, loose papers, business cards, and a pen. I made it shortly after I started working and still use it on a regular basis. It was supposed to be carved on both sides with the floral pattern that I put on the back, but I had found the picture of the unicorn and really wanted to carve it. So, I put it on the front. It looks wonderful, but often caused me to carry the thing backwards so at professional meetings it wouldn’t stand out.

Just a little Robin Hood sort of hat that I made for fun and still have it kicking around. Both kids have found uses for it at different times.

This was a case that I made to hold some chess pieces I had purchased for hubby. The set is long gone, but I really liked the effect of the pieces on the board and have hung onto the leather.My second period (or first if we were going forward in time) of not working with leather was while I was in college. Everything else I’m posting was made from the time I learned to carved until I was 18. Most of this was made while I was in high school and was left at my father’s house. When he moved out of the house that I grew up in, I inherited boxes and boxes of stuff. These few pieces came with that stuff and I haven’t figured out what I want to do with it.

This was my main horse from 8th grade until I finished high school. Pirate Gold was some sort of grade mix gelding, but could jump as if there was no tomorrow. Some dressage training with a German riding instructor in the area made him into a pleasure to ride.

Just a picture. The pattern was in a leathercarving magzine (yep, there used to be such things) and I decided to make it. I don’t remember the details, but there was something in the background that I didn’t want to deal with and I changed it. Can’t remember what it was though.———————————————————————————————