Tag: leather

Military trunk

On By CarynIn repair

My Dad let me take his Army trunk on our last visit. I cleaned it up and did some minor repairs, because it is still in good condition.

Photo description: a misalignment with the closure on the trunk made it so the trunk didn’t close completely and the lock latch couldn’t close

The first thing I did was gently ease the metal edge back into place so the lock latch slid to the outside rather than hit the inside groove. I used a pair of smooth needle nose pliers so I didn’t scar the metal. The lock latch is missing the actual lock mechanism, but I don’t need to lock it, so I’ll leave it as is.

Photo description: trunk with the lock latch in place and the edge completely closed

I did remove my Dad’s social security number with some rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs, for security purposes. I left his name and rank because I want to remember that it is his. I wiped down the whole exterior with leather cleaner. I tried to polish the brass in a hidden spot, and it turned silver, so I stopped, deciding to leave the patina and the gold color.

Inside, I removed some old contact paper, which came out surprisingly well, with no residue, and cut some cedar liner to fit the bottom of the trunk.

Photo description: new cedar liner for the inside of the trunk

The main side handle had some stitching come loose.

Photo description: loose thread on the multilayer leather handle

I was able to find the end of the thread and sew the leather layers back together without having to disassemble the handle.

Photo description: leather handle with stitches restored

Good luck charm

On By CarynIn Craft

It is traditional for Sweet Adelines to give small gifts of encouragement or luck in the time leading up to contest. Last year I crocheted worry worms, this year I made small four leaf clover charms from dyed green leather.

Photo description: suede side of a 1 inch charm cut from green leather, sitting on my hand

I designed the cut out in Adobe Illustrator. The grouping of four hearts represents the four voices of Barbershop Harmony. I originally wanted to do a fill engrave, then a cut out, but overall processing time would be 1.3 minutes each. I needed 60 charms. I redesigned the charm to be cuts only, using open slits to delineate the heart-shaped leaves, which dropped the processing time to 18 seconds each. The slits can also be used to hang the charm on a keyring or similar. I’m quite pleased with the number of pieces I was able to cut from a 12” square of leather.

Photo description: view through the yellow window of the WeCreat blue diode laser cutter to show the tight formation of clover shapes

I did lose three cuts on the left because the leather wasn’t completely flat, but all the other charms came out well. The laser does leave a charred edge, so I washed all the charms with water to remove the soot, then let them dry overnight.

I designed, printed, and cut flat cards and used glue dots to mount the leather charms to the cards.

Photo description: 60 Good Luck cards with leather charms that have my quartet logo “Precious Tones” with the words “A small good luck charm for a big moment. Go Shine!”

Minimal wallet

On By CarynIn Craft

I designed a couple variations of minimal wallets by starting with paper mock ups.

Photo description: paper mock ups for two wallet designs, the bottom left has an angle access and a traditional quarter fold insert, the bottom right has a scoop access and an accordion fold insert, top middle is a credit card mock up

After getting my dimensions figured out with paper, I designed the leather cut out in Adobe Illustrator, and used a blue diode laser cutter to cut and emboss vegetable tanned tooling leather.

Photo description: leather with embossed design after cutting with a laser and rinsing with water, the folding

I stained the leather and let it dry, then applied a coat of resolene, which will make it water resistant.

I wanted the insert to have RFID blocking capabilities, so I used spray glue to adhere cotton quilting fabric to faraday fabric.

Photo description: cut cotton fabric glued to faraday fabric using spray glue on the back of the cotton

My favorite part of this project was learning a new-to-me edge stitch: triple loop lacing. It took a few tries on scrap leather to get the hang of it, but it was worth it. I love the braided edge look with the heavy waxed thread.

Photo description: using an awl to poke through the fabric using the precut leather holes as guides, the leather is secured in a book clamp
Photo description: close up of the edge stitching on two leather and cloth minimalist wallets
Photo description: finished wallets with gift cards in the center pocket. Each wallet has three pockets: front, middle, back

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.