Tag: leather

Leather labels

On By CarynIn Craft

I wanted to add labels to my handmade items, so used the laser cutter to make some from thin leather. I added pairs of holes to the edges so they could be sewn on, my signature mark, and the primary material used for the item.

Photo description: labels cut from leather with a blue laser cutter, pencil for scale

I’m really pleased with how these came out. I’m getting better at estimating laser cutter and engraving settings; I had only one test cut before dialing in to settings that gave me my desired result. For the cut I had a speed and power of 100, and the fill engrave was power 30, speed 100, line density 100. The labels are 1cm by 5cm, which is just about as small as I can go and still sew them into a circle.

Wrinkled leather

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

In my stash I have some nice thin goat skin leather. Unfortunately, it was wrinkled and was starting to feel a little dry.

Photo description: wrinkled goat skin leather

I used a generous application of Weiman’s leather conditioner to ease the wrinkles and return the suppleness.

Photo description: restored leather and a bottle of Weiman’s leather conditioner

Other leather conditioners, such as mink oil, would have also worked to add oils back into the leather.

Vintage linen calendars

On By CarynIn Craft

My sister brought me some linen towels from the 70s. I liked the prints on them, so decided to use them as decoration. They all had a narrow sleeve at the top, so I cut down wire hangers to make hanging rods.

Photo description: white wire hangers cut with lineman’s pliers and the ends looped with needle nose pliers

I took leather cordage and tied it to the wire loops.

Photo description: calendar towel from 1974 with wire and leather hanging hardware

I didn’t like how the wire sagged, so I tacked the linen to the leather about a third of the way in with cotton thread.

Photo description: closeup of tacked section
Photo description: same towel hanging on the wall, but with thread tacks and no sagging, towel has drawings of kitchen implements
Photo description: linen calendar towel from 1973 with birds hanging on the wall with new hardware along with chickadee art, and photos of a barn owl and field mouse by Oliver Hellowell

The production of calendar towels began in the 1950s and was an invention of Stevens Linen Works in Dudley, Massachusetts.

Throwback Thursday: wrap bracelet

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

This is a wrap bracelet that I made for my sister in April of 2015. It is made from red leather cord, 4mm garnet and quartz beads, and beading thread. The remarkable thing about it is that it was sitting next to my chair next to the fireplace when the house caught on fire in March of 2015. I had been working on it and it was in a project bag. I needed to give everything a rinse to get rid of the ash, but I was able to complete the bracelet.

Photo description: red wrap bracelet with four wraps of natural garnet and quartz beads sewn between two leather cords

I really missed an opportunity to do a morse code message in the beading.

Zelda Cosplay part 10

On By CarynIn Craft

Reveal! Here is a picture of the two leather cosplay pieces I made for a Link costume.

Photo description: leather pauldron, vest, and cross-chest belt made from EVA foam sheet and 3/4 oz tanned leather

I think the pieces came out well, especially for cosplay. I hope that they hold up to use. The sewn areas should be fine, it is traditional construction for leather. It is the foam and hot glue that I worry about.

I did put a sealing coat on all the leather to help protect it from accidental spills. It put a nice shine on the leather as well.

Photo description: finished pieces coated with Fiebing’s Resolene