Well that snuck up on me. I had plans to lay out a lovely leather carving for the third anniversary of my blog, but the time suddenly loomed so I whipped up a quick stamped leather oblong instead. Three years can be an awkward age.

I set out to clean my house and the first thing I decided to do was re-stain and refinish the love seats. ‘Cause that makes sense, right? Then I ran out of stain half-way through one cushion and had to run to the leather store. (I am only allowed to go in if I am on a tight deadline and have a specific list, otherwise I order online. That is a very expensive rabbit hole.)

I did get back in time to finish staining, put on a protective finish coat, and have enough time for it to dry before the family came home. (Poor dogs had to be locked up for awhile, but it was nap time anyway.)

The seat looks so much better. Maybe everyone will be in awe of the loveliness and not see the dust bunnies frolicking on the floor? Or the cob webs gracing the ceilings? I really did miss the “how to clean” memo, but I should have “I can fix that” emblazoned on a t-shirt.

My husband has had the same dopp kit bag since before Iraq, and it has been falling apart since (and even has desert dust still in it). So I made him a leather dopp kit. I used finished leather because I had time restraints, a heavy duty brass zipper, and cotton lining. The leather was soft enough that my sewing machine could go through, so I was able to machine sew the zipper and seams (with an occasional boost using the band crank). I hand sewed the lining to the inside of the zipper.

I’ve been meaning to make this for awhile. It is ironic that I made the time to make it, but there is still no travel for the foreseeable future. I may try my hand at another one, but this time in stiffer leather, which will have to be all hand sewn and finished. I rather like hand sewing, so it won’t be a hardship. Especially now that I know how they go together.