Friday, January 09, 2015

Most of my Xmas work

Now that the holidays have come and gone, I can finally post some photos of the Xmas presents I made for my family. But first, a couple of larger zippered pouches. These are roomy enough to hold a smartphone and can hold cash on either side, and the divider can hold cards in either of the two pockets. The brown one was for the Arts and Drafts holiday party, which always features a white elephant/gift stealing extravaganza. The dark blue pouch is still available:

 



My mom requested another purse, this time of the slouchy variety. It's constructed out of the same dark blue/violet leather as the pouch and has enough adjustment in the strap that it can be worn crossbody or on one shoulder:

 

Laurel also asked nicely for another purse, as her lavender one was getting fairly worn. It's the same basic construction as her last one and my mom's, but she wanted the leather to be milled vegetable tanned. It's really soft and supple, and it's been left undyed so as to acquire a natural patina:



My sister wanted some leather bracelets, so this seemed like a good opportunity to use a variety of construction techniques. Not pictured (because I forgot to photograph it) is the vibrant blue one that almost perfectly matches her purse:


My brother-in-law ended up with a travel case for neck ties:

And my brother wanted some sort of vessel to empty his pockets into at the end of the day. There are a lot of companies and makers that offer a basic leather change tray, with the corners pinched together with rivets, but I wanted to do something nicer. This was my first time to do intrecciato (woven leather), and I like the results: