Can any material other than leather be tooled and carved?
I am a vegetarian and I think tooled leather looks beautiful and would be a fun hobby, but I would prefer to use an alternative to real leather, such as faux leather or any other type of material that might work. Thanks in advance for your answers
How can I soften leather to start working on it? I've recently started crafting, but my leather is hard and awkward.
What kind of “crafting” are you talking about? Stamping belts and key fobs? Floral and figure carving? Sewing type projects?What kind of leather? Vegetable tanned? Oil Tanned? Chrome tanned? Rawhide? Hair on ( Fur or sheepskin)?You are a beginner so a real simple basic project would be a stamped belt (vegetable tanned). Assuming you bought a belt blank some where and it’s hard and stiff. Don’t worry about hard and stiff right now. Just dampen the leather with water, DO NOT SOAK IT. Now stamp tour design on the leather, dampen again if needed, let it dry. Next step is color and finish, dye it, stain it (leather stain not wood stain) use magic markers whatever . Seal it (clear coat, wax, polish), I don’t know what’s out there now-days Let it dry again.Now to soften you belt you oil lightly, repeat if needed.Jim Y
Leatherworking: What is the name for that process where leather edges are somehow protected?
What you're referring to is burnished edges.The raw cut edge of the leather is skived (using a French beveller) and then a thin coating of gum traganth is applied, the edge is then rubbed smooth (with an edge slicker) until smooth. Then an edge coat of the desired colour is applied.Burnishing is extremely labour intensive, but gives an incredibly professional finished look to products.
Tips for making my own combat ready armor suit?
i have a maille shirt and shoulder doubler by weldedchainmail.com very good stuff. i went for the flat ring because it would be more early/roman. ice falcon makes some pretty nice plate, but damned expensive. so does hammerhand, but it is hard to persuade him to take any orders. hammered wombat will take your money and then you will never hear from him again. by the sword has some good stuff among all the renn faire costumes. how much metal working equipment and experience do you have? there are patterns on line (i have bought a few), but they are pretty daunting to folks who have not done that kind of thing before, and you do need some fancy tools if you don't have a village of peasants working for you. if you are making your own, full plate is a pretty ambitious way to start. for your first set, maybe you want something like a brigandine: a heavy leather tunic with metal plates riveted to it. wherever you get your armour, i definitely recommend you go for stainless. i know that's not period authentic, but unless you have real servants to keep your gear clean, it will rust about instantly. there are some good products available for "blueing" stainless so it isn't so bright and you don't look like a cast member from "excalibur". and definitely wear a gambeson (like a full body oven mitt) under your armour or else you will have bits of armour eating your flesh every time you move or take a hit. is this for reconstructing a museum example, wma, sca, emp, larp, renn faire, living history, or reenactment? what period are you going for? if you are going to be wearing this and trying to do anything in it, try to find some people who have suits and try theirs on. my first suit of armour was a gorgeous, and expensive, gothic full plate. and i hated it! way too hot, couldn't move, and noisy. so try on a couple of kits before you spend a bunch of money, energy, and time on a set when you might change your mind.
How can I repair peeling leather from my purse?
As suggested by fashion leather SLG supplier brands, peeling leather can be repaired. Listed below are the steps that need to be undertaken -Mix up a color that matches the purse leather.Wipe down the area surrounding each point of damage using a slightly damp, lint-free white cloth.Apply some tinted repair liquid over the peeled areas of the purse.Touch the flat metal portion of the heating tool from to the hot, flat plate on the iron, holding it in place for at least one minute until the tool heats up.Press the flat, hot portion of the heating tool on top of the grain paper, moving it around for a couple of minutes to set the repair.This should help.
What's the best market to sell leather products online?
I know every first answer is Etsy, but I never had much luck on Etsy. It was to time consuming and set up very much like social media. The more you socialized and visited other Etsy stores the more exposure your Etsy site gets.I tried setting up a display in boutiques in town, but the commission was 50 to 60%.I tried a website in the past, but that too was time consuming. I am going to revisit a website option in the very near future.What has been working, sort of, is attending festivals and events with craft booths. I did have to develop an economy line of products that are more likely to sell at these type of events. Additionally, I set up a display of my high end items,, talk g custom orders.
As a beginning quilter what tools would I need?
I joined a quilting group at a local community center. We were all making the same quilt. It was a sampler of 12 different 12″x12″ classic star patterns. The first thing we did was to trace our pieces onto pattern plastic, using a 0.7 mechanical pencil. We cut the plastic with a good pair of paper scissors, then traced the patterns onto our fabrics, then cut them with sewing scissors. We hand-sewed the fabric pieces, which required a pin cushion, pins, sewing needles, and appropriate color thread. Some people in the group used a rotary cutter and cutting mat in cutting the sashing for their quilts. I used my sewing scissors. I used my sewing machine to assemble the 12″ squares and sashing. For the quilting, I used a good quilting thread, which I pulled through bees wax before threading my needle. Thus, for my first quilt, I used pattern plastic, a 0.7 mechanical pencil, my favorite Gingher shears, a pin cushion, straight sewing pins, hand sewing needles, sewing thread, quilting thread, bees wax, and my sewing machine. My sewing machine was in storage when I made my 4th quilt, and it was done entirely with hand stitching. My 6th quilt was a log cabin pattern, which requires an endless number of straight strips of fabric. That inspired me, for the first time, to use a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and a 24-inch plastic rule.So you see, it’s possible to quilt without a lot of tools. But, as others have said, the tools you need depends on your project. Whether you learn from a book or a class, you will select the tools required by your project. Your book or instructor will give you the list. This is my all-by-hand quilt. The cushions and pillow cases were assembled later, using my sewing machine. I am not a master of the craft, but I love it.