There’s an assembly aspect to leather that I haven’t tried on my own before this class. This aspect entails being able to cut straight from the hide without a pattern. Projects like wallets, bags, shoes and notebook covers just to name a few. Everything I’ve done up until this point has been done with a pattern that tells me what kind of leather to use, where to cut, where to punch, and how to stitch. But I wouldn’t call myself a true “Artisan” unless I could do the work I do WITHOUT a pattern.
Think of a Fine Suit Tailor. They don’t use a McCalls’ or Vogue Pattern to trace out pieces on fabric. They take the measurements of their subject, pick the finest suiting materials, and do their thing. Thanks to Tony, I’m now a few steps closer to being in their league.
This two-part class was on constructing a notebook cover. The first part was on the cutting, grooving and punching of stitch holes out of a thin weight veggie-tanned leather. We then left with our pieces unassembled so we could take time at home to tool our designs. I fought with myself for a few days over what to design. It was the first time, so it was practice, but what if it comes out great? I want it to be usable by me, if not salable. Call me crazy, but I can’t practice just for the sake of practicing. I find it wasteful. About 2 hours before the next class is when I finally had my idea. What can I say – I’m the queen of procrastination! I found a great image of Yoda, enlarged the head and went nuts.
It took me almost the entire next class, when I should have been doing the assembly, to dye Yoda to the point of being happy with him. Once he was dyed and sealed, I put in a soft liner and picked up a couple tips on how to hold the pockets in place while stitching, and how to finish off the piece so the stitching is symmetrical.
So I hope you love him – I sure do! Want one of your own? Want to design your own? I’d love to help out! Just send me the dimensions of your book and your artwork for the cover and we’ll get started!
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