Jacket mod and holster belt

Quite a while back my friend Doug asked me if I could modify his WWII bomber jacket. It had an elastic panel at the bottom which wrapped all the way around and cinched in at his waist, which he didn't like. It seemed like a pretty straightforward project, so I agreed to take it on. Between the time that I said yes and the time the project actually got underway, I acquired a Juki industrial sewing machine. It mostly sat neglected as I was working on hand sewing projects, but with this project it seemed like the perfect time to have a crash course with the Juki.

Using a seam ripper, I removed the elastic from the jacket, and then hand-sewed the panel of leather that was to be installed. After getting more acquainted with the sewing machine, it was then used to attach the panel to the jacket:


The finished result. Finding leather that matched the jacket proved to be quite a chore, but luckily there were some scraps in my leather pile that were pretty close:


At the same time, this gun holster belt was in process. It essentially duplicates an existing belt, but adds a few inches to the overall length to account for an expanded waistline:


Up next - the mad scramble to start and finish all the commissions that are intended to be Xmas gifts. I won't be discussing any of the details until after the holidays, just in case any of the recipients stumble across this site.

Recent work

This large zippered billfold was a birthday gift and a lot of fun to make. Deerskin for the exterior and veg-tanned leather for the interior. Squirrel imagery for the tooling, and the whole thing is topped off with a hand-carved brass acorn zipper pull. Right after constructing this I had a request for a belt bag, to be used for the Texas Renaissance Festival and also for possible daily wear. Here is the result:

New work

First up is a front pocket wallet, nice and simple, with just 3 pockets for cards and a clip for currency. Next are a couple of knife sheaths, one for my semi-custom William Morris friction folder:


and another for my Jens Anso kiridashi. It came with a great kydex sheath, but no clip. I created this leather one out of elk and sewed the kydex into the leather, that way the chisel ground edge won't cut into the leather.

Here are a couple of experiments in leather. The first is a card pouch or simple wallet that utilizes a number of scraps that were laying around, and the second is a belt pouch or simple clutch that fastens with a magnetic snap. Both of these projects were fun ways to play with layering leather, but I'm not sure the results are stellar in either example. If I make more of the card pouches I'd want to hide the stitching on the interior, and maybe move away from snake skin as a liner. As for the belt pouch, even I think it's just plain odd. Thoughts?

Tool roll

Just finished another tool roll for one of my clients. Like the previous one, it's for carrying a set of hand bookbinding tools, but this one contains a spokeshave, a sharpening system, scrapers, an ebony folder and one impressive knife. There is a curtain of sorts, which covers the tops of the tools and prevents them from damaging each other in transit.

New wallet for me, new tampon case for someone else

Things have been busy around these parts. In addition to working on the commissions in the queue, I've managed to squeeze in an extra project or two when I can. Here's a zippered wallet that was created for myself:

Lessons learned - leave more of the zipper out along the edges, so the zipper itself doesn't rub on the interior pockets. On the outside is two different depictions of a Hand of Glory:


Also had an opportunity to customize another of the smaller Curse Purses. The request was for rockets and retro-futuristic robots:

Changes are afoot

As of today, 9-8-2010, I will no longer be taking orders for work. My waiting list is getting out of control and it's not helping that I've been squeezing in small orders here and there. It has also come to my attention that some of my construction techniques are not as refined as they could be. Instead of trying to work on as many projects as possible, I am instead going to focus on the commissions in the queue and on cleaning up my work. Thanks for your understanding.

Once the waiting list is at a more reasonable length I'll resume taking commissions. In the meantime there are plenty of paintings available, and as always there is work for sale on my Etsy store.

An unexpected project

Someone that I used to work with at my day job went on to work for a local hotel, and a very nice one at that. A chance encounter in a grocery store parking lot led to a discussion of what I've been doing with my time (leather working), and the conversation ended with "we may have need of your services." Fast forward to last Thursday, when I got an email from her asking if I could assemble 50 key fobs for an event that would occur that Saturday. I figured this was a challenge that couldn't be ignored, so of course my response was "Yes!"

After this rush project, I went on to create a biker wallet with North Western Native American imagery, specifically that of a thunderbird.

This also was a good challenge, as I'd never drawn anything in this style before. It was a good exercise for me, learning how to draw in that particular style and then adopting it to the shape of the wallet.

Up next - redo of a leather cuff that unfortunately was too short, a couple of front pocket/minimal wallets, and a small case for bookbinding tools.

Too busy to post

What a workbench should look like. This led to the two belts below:

More workbench porn:

And the end result is this briefcase for mixology implements. It involved lots of sneaking around and measuring, but I'm very happy with the end result.