Hey Folks, it's been a while since I posted here, mostly due to real life taking some bites as well as not having a lot to contribute to be honest. Seems being able to spend time in the workshop just to make something is waaaay down on the list of things to do, plus having a lack of motivation for it doesn't help.
But anyway, I'm fine and really enjoying myself at the moment. As my Brother's always saying. "Life's good!"
As for the reason for this thread. Back at The Moot last year I signed up to Eric Methven's leather work class and really enjoyed sitting there with my fellow classmates just enjoying the banter and learning so much from Eric. One of the things I was hoping to come home with was a new hand made cover for my Kindle. I'd bought ONE LIKE THIS off eBay and it served its purpose perfectly fine, but I wanted something I could call my own... as ya do.
So I took kindle cover apart with the plan of using the piece as the pattern for my new one. Eric supplied the 2mm veg tanned leather at and I got busy cutting and saddle stitching the thing together using artificial sinew. I found after just a few minutes my fingers ached, plus an old injury to a tendon in my thumb would kick in... but, like a trooper I worked through the pain (can I get a "big bwave boy" here?)
Sadly I don't have pix of it as it was when I got home from The Moot.
Around November I stained the inside and the results weren't that impressive to start off with but I soon got used to it. I always intended it to be a Steampunk themed piece, I just didn't know what design to do on the outside. Plus fear of failure delayed me from doing anything else on it. However, last weekend I bit the bullet and got busy with the stain and embossing the leather with a pattern. I wanted to create a blotchy effect in the stain to give it a fake patina, like it had been handled for years like a piece of campaign equipment from the 1800s and in keeping with the Steampunk theme.
Here's the end result.
Pic 1 After embossing the pattern into the leather and it had dried I painted on the stain to give it some darker coats in areas to create a deeper shade there. I used the gel pen to make the shadows even darker. I also got to use my name stamp I bought in a group buy from here at BCUK last year. It worked perfectly!
With the first coat dry I buffed on the second coat of stain then buffed some of it off to lighten it on the highlights. Having used this on a daily basis for months I think the natural oil from my skin also sealed the leather in some way making that edge along to right even less dark. I think it looks rather good like that.
The design on the front was just a random pattern I did to replicate machine parts of overlapping plates and machine screws.
For the back I covered the wet leather in cling film, put the printed design of interlocking gears over that, then traced the pattern using a Bic biro that had run out as the stylus. Pressing firmly with it caused the leather to accept an impression. Once it was done I continued tooling the leather using various bits I had such as the end of a T spoon handle to press the leather flat where I wanted the pattern to have a raised edge.
Here's the inside, obviously the leather already has a patina from several months of use.
The inside pocket of the cover has a plastic insert cut from the cover of a DVD wallet case to stiffen the front and protect the Kindle screen from direct pressure. It's worked well.
And that's it.
I'm rather pleased with the end result but I know it could be a LOT better. The curved edges on the cover flap bug me a lot where the stitching pulled too tightly and made the leather buckle. I was hoping it would develop that battered look over the years, but already it looks like it's been up and down the Sudan on several campaign trails. Trust me it's more by accident than design that that happened.
Anyway here's my Kindle cover.
Thanks for reading, sorry I blathered on so much.
Biker
But anyway, I'm fine and really enjoying myself at the moment. As my Brother's always saying. "Life's good!"
As for the reason for this thread. Back at The Moot last year I signed up to Eric Methven's leather work class and really enjoyed sitting there with my fellow classmates just enjoying the banter and learning so much from Eric. One of the things I was hoping to come home with was a new hand made cover for my Kindle. I'd bought ONE LIKE THIS off eBay and it served its purpose perfectly fine, but I wanted something I could call my own... as ya do.
So I took kindle cover apart with the plan of using the piece as the pattern for my new one. Eric supplied the 2mm veg tanned leather at and I got busy cutting and saddle stitching the thing together using artificial sinew. I found after just a few minutes my fingers ached, plus an old injury to a tendon in my thumb would kick in... but, like a trooper I worked through the pain (can I get a "big bwave boy" here?)
Sadly I don't have pix of it as it was when I got home from The Moot.
Around November I stained the inside and the results weren't that impressive to start off with but I soon got used to it. I always intended it to be a Steampunk themed piece, I just didn't know what design to do on the outside. Plus fear of failure delayed me from doing anything else on it. However, last weekend I bit the bullet and got busy with the stain and embossing the leather with a pattern. I wanted to create a blotchy effect in the stain to give it a fake patina, like it had been handled for years like a piece of campaign equipment from the 1800s and in keeping with the Steampunk theme.
Here's the end result.
Pic 1 After embossing the pattern into the leather and it had dried I painted on the stain to give it some darker coats in areas to create a deeper shade there. I used the gel pen to make the shadows even darker. I also got to use my name stamp I bought in a group buy from here at BCUK last year. It worked perfectly!
With the first coat dry I buffed on the second coat of stain then buffed some of it off to lighten it on the highlights. Having used this on a daily basis for months I think the natural oil from my skin also sealed the leather in some way making that edge along to right even less dark. I think it looks rather good like that.
The design on the front was just a random pattern I did to replicate machine parts of overlapping plates and machine screws.
For the back I covered the wet leather in cling film, put the printed design of interlocking gears over that, then traced the pattern using a Bic biro that had run out as the stylus. Pressing firmly with it caused the leather to accept an impression. Once it was done I continued tooling the leather using various bits I had such as the end of a T spoon handle to press the leather flat where I wanted the pattern to have a raised edge.
Here's the inside, obviously the leather already has a patina from several months of use.
The inside pocket of the cover has a plastic insert cut from the cover of a DVD wallet case to stiffen the front and protect the Kindle screen from direct pressure. It's worked well.
And that's it.
I'm rather pleased with the end result but I know it could be a LOT better. The curved edges on the cover flap bug me a lot where the stitching pulled too tightly and made the leather buckle. I was hoping it would develop that battered look over the years, but already it looks like it's been up and down the Sudan on several campaign trails. Trust me it's more by accident than design that that happened.
Anyway here's my Kindle cover.
Thanks for reading, sorry I blathered on so much.
Biker
