| Making a Carved-Leather Billfold and Leather Purse |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-148 |
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Chuck Smith, a master leather carver, describes the process of making a billfold or purse from a leather kit. He explains how to transfer a pattern, carve the design and use several different kinds of leather-carving tools. Most kits don't contain all the tools needed -- and most manufacturers recommend having some prior knowledge of leather carving before attempting to make such projects. Carved-Leather Billfold Materials:
Tandy Billfold Kit (containing a leather billfold back panel, a liner, inside pockets, laces, a needle and a pattern template)
Rubber cement
Vegetable oil
Leather lacquer
Two pieces of wool fabric
Stylus
Water
Sponge
Swivel knife
Leather tool stamps
Mallet or maul
- Use a slightly damp sponge to wet, or "case," the leather. Place the pattern template on the leather.
- Use a stylus to trace the pattern onto the back panel of the billfold (figure A).
- Carve the pattern into the leather, using a swivel knife (figure B).
- Use a maul or mallet with various leather-tool stamps to decorate the carved-leather pattern. This process gives your piece a three-dimensional effect (figure C). The basic stamps used for this project are the sunburst, the pear shader (thumbprint), the beveler, the veiner, the seeder and the background tool (figure D).
- After the tooling is done, add the final decorative cuts with a swivel knife (figure E).
- Dampen a piece of wool with vegetable oil, and apply a light coat to the billfold. This gives the leather a brighter natural color. Let dry for about an hour.
- With another piece of wool, apply a coat of leather lacquer to seal the leather.
- Apply rubber cement to the back side of the tooled billfold back and to the back side of the inside liner. Press both pieces together.
- Apply rubber cement to the matching edges of the inside pocket liner and the assembled billfold back. Press the leather pieces together.
- Using the laces and needle provided in the kit, stitch the billfold together. Your billfold is now ready to use (figure F).
Custom-Designed Carved-Leather Purse Master leather carver Chuck Smith explains how to trace your own design on a leather purse and describes a filigree cutting technique with a snakeskin background. You should be experienced at leather cutting before attempting these projects.
Tracing a custom pattern onto leather - Draw a pattern on paper with a pencil. Place the paper pattern on the leather piece. Place a small paperweight on top of the paper to hold it in place. Use a stylus to trace over the pencil lines, making an indentation in the leather (figure G ) (figure H).
- Use a swivel knife to carve the pattern into the leather, following the indentations made by the stylus (figure I).
Materials:
Purse components: leather back, front and side panels; liners; inside and outside pockets; custom pattern on tracing film
Snakeskin
Contact cement
Rubber cement
Vegetable oil
Leather lacquer
Two pieces of wool
Stylus
Water
Sponge
X-ActoB. knife
Swivel knife
Leather tool stamps
Mallet or maul
- Wet, or "case," the leather, using a slightly damp sponge.
- Trace the custom-designed pattern onto the purse's front panel with a stylus.
- Carve the pattern into the leather with a swivel knife.
- Use a maul or mallet and various leather-tool stamps to create the carved leather pattern and give your piece a three-dimensional effect. The basic stamps are the sunburst, the pear shader (thumbprint), the beveler, the veiner, the seeder and the background tool.
- Add the final decorative cuts with a swivel knife after completing the tooling.
- Use an X-Acto knife to cut out background areas and create a filigree look. Place the area to be cut on top of a thick piece of leather. This allows you to cleanly cut out a design and remove any excess leather without damaging the surface below or the tip of the knife blade (figure J).
- Apply a light coat of vegetable oil to the purse panel with a piece of wool. This gives the leather a brighter natural color. Let dry for about an hour. Or apply leather dye to create an antique finish. Dyes, available in leather stores, come in a variety of colors (figure K).
- To seal the leather, use a second piece of wool to apply a coat of leather lacquer.
- Apply contact cement to the back of the tooled purse panel, and press the snakeskin on the back to cover the area that was carved (figure L). Turn the cover over, and remove any excess contact cement from the front.
- Apply rubber cement to the back of the tooled purse panel and the back of the inside liner. Press both pieces together.
- Apply rubber cement to the matching edges of the inside pocket liner and assembled purse back. Glue the remaining leather pieces together.
- Use a sewing machine to finish assembling the purse.
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