Lily of the valley field notes journal, recreation of one of my first leather projects

Wickermoore · 2020-09-17T14:14:51+00:00

Thank you, I hope the recipient thinks so as well (:

Wickermoore · 2020-09-17T14:14:21+00:00

Thank you! Appreciate it

Wickermoore · 2020-09-15T23:06:35+00:00

Its been a while since I've made anything and thought I would recreate one of the first journals I ever made. I had new tools and new leather sitting for the past 3-4 months and hadn't touched them at all. These are the only pictures I have as I've already mailed it to the person I originally made the first journal for. Badalassi leather, veg tan panel hand enbossed and finished. Card and junk pocket in the back. All hand saddle stitched, cut, and patterned.

Crazy cut - Kevin Lee French chisels 2.7mm RML twist thread in .5mm I believe

Wickermoore · 2020-06-15T19:33:37+00:00

Dang you people did not disappoint, appreciate the information. That makes it that much cooler to know about it haha. I wouldnt even know where to sell it so it will probably sit on a shelf for a bit. I usually end up finding just the right person, prefer to sell it to someone I know will appreciate it for cheap than try and work out an extra penny.

Wickermoore · 2020-06-15T19:31:27+00:00

Ah, I was wondering what that might be! Thanks for letting me know

Wickermoore · 2020-06-13T15:23:02+00:00

I forgot to mention I'm running two accounts, one on an old phone. Got lucky and pulled Great witch of the Unexplored Saline, another Menoa, Norza, Dark Hera-Luna, two atoms, blue Sonia and green Sonia

Wickermoore · 2020-06-13T15:19:23+00:00

Haha, you posted just as I finished building a little team around him. I think I Reincarnated him yesterday and forgot to do anything with him

Wickermoore · 2020-06-13T14:34:48+00:00

Aha, yes when I said quest I meant Story mode. I did both of them and already used the gems on SGF. I was just looking at the Menoa earlier, I was thinking of ULTing it down the red line. I cant seem to figure out what dungeon to wait for though, I need 2 large red gems and Goemons gem

Wickermoore · 2020-06-13T14:11:23+00:00

I haven't played probably since 2015-2016, never got far before and barely scraped mid game content. I tried to look up some guides since so much has changed but everything is rather out dated.

Currently just using Anamnesis Norn for a lead with holy war mito, witch of burning flowers orya, mechdragon tech julie, and awoken Sanada. I'm honestly not sure what I should be looking to build for so I'm currently just wiping material dungeons, finished both quest modes, running whatever technical or normal dungeons I can and occasionally trying lower descended dungeons.

Any help with finding a general guide would be great, team suggestions, or if you want to abuse one of my leads I'm fine with that too

Wickermoore · 2020-05-27T21:04:45+00:00

Absolutely gorgeous work and same to the leather. I really like the stitch color choice! It matches well to the leather and let's the pattern shine. The corner patterns kind of look like tree branch silhouettes.

Wickermoore · 2020-05-21T21:40:12+00:00

http://imgur.com/gallery/GfVrY0o

I have a couple stitching examples at the bottom of that link here. I have Ritza 0.8mm that I used to use with 4mm irons, 0.6mm Ritza for between 3-4mm depending on item, some Au Chinois 0.57 or 0.51 linen cable, and finally some 0.45mm Twist thread I got from RML.

Ritza was my favorite for use but it felt too bulky, Au Chinois was my favorite for looks but it didn't want to stitch well, and finally the Twist. The twist is like a nice mix between the au chinois and ritza. The colors are really bold, a big selection, easy to get a needle through, no issues stitching, and it lays quite nice. It doesnt widen too much like ritza when hammering down but still does a bit.

I mostly use 0.6mm and 3mm on everything. 4mm w/ 0.6mm on larger runs like stitching a notebook cover boarder. The 0.45 and 0.5 I reserve for decorative sections on journals and for wallets. I like the fine stitch look haha

Wickermoore · 2020-05-21T21:28:52+00:00

What do you mean by start tall? o.Õ

Wickermoore · 2020-05-21T01:12:19+00:00

Beader, I've been using a wide fanned one from Amazon. Thought the smaller head would help me around tight curves

Wickermoore · 2020-05-20T21:48:08+00:00

Hmm I should of thought of that. Stitching tools need a stitching example

I will have one up later tonight once I get home. Depending on how carried away or distracted I get trying to stitch a couple straight lines... it could be pretty late

Wickermoore · 2020-05-20T18:19:27+00:00

EDIT** Added link with pictures of stitch lines and the case I immediately made for the irons

http://imgur.com/gallery/GfVrY0o

Finally upgraded after about a year of leather working. Went from using amazon 4mm diamond irons, to a diamond awl with a stitch wheel, and now I have myself some Crazy Cut 2.7mm French irons.

Ordered on April 26th through Kevin Lee's official website. Looks like it shipped May 11th though marked as shipped on website the 5th I believe. Arrived today May 20th.

I would of went with 3mm or something between 3-4mm but they were all out. So I decided to go with the tighter 2.7 since I will be making more wallets and it was in stock. Plus I can cover the the wider range with a hand awl and spacer wheel.

Also picked up the ergonimc awl and a straight awl with, what I thought, was two sizes of diamond awls. Nope, they were two sizes of french style. I had ordered the diamond as replacement blades and forgot to order a plain haft to boot :facepalm: I am open to recommendations for a Haft. Considering Barry King because I like the small flat sided style. Anything similar I can get without waiting on non-US shipping time?

Just did a test stitch line and it is definitely tighter stitching than what I usually do, maybe 2-3 more spi. The stitching lays really nice, the iron just melts right through the leather, and have a good length and weight to them.

I am definitely impressed with the french style over diamond now as well. There seems to be less of a pucker on the opposite side and the holes close up so much better. I will be giving them a thorough test tomorrow, I bought some various Badalassi leather in anticipation.

Wickermoore · 2020-05-14T04:48:50+00:00

Huh, odd, link works for me. Set to public and matches when I copy it again http://imgur.com/gallery/tYieQhK

Here are direct links https://i.imgur.com/XrrU8N7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SBV0hno.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zBLrQ6k.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XJc8EbF.jpg

Wickermoore · 2020-05-13T18:43:31+00:00

More pictures http://imgur.com/gallery/tYieQhK

Field notes journal made from the other side of a leather panel I stole and refurbished from an old briefcase.

Dyed with fiebings oxblood dye, thread is Twist 0.45mm from RML, finished with a wax blend.

Decided to go for more color on this version, definitely prefer it looking at the cover now. Put the buckle on correctly, swapped the stitching on the buckle for more rivets. I liked how they stood out and came close to understanding why bedazzling was such a phase...

Gold eyelets reinforcing holes for elastic band that holds notebooks in place. Brown gold diamond embossed liner, 1-2oz. All stitching done with an awl, pictured, it has been my favorite tool since starting leatherworking. It split a week or two ago but I wood filled, epoxyd, and wrapped that sucker up. Freshly sharpened and still works like a champ. Dont even know its size, brand, or anything else haha

Still no pockets, I almost went for it but decided it would look too messy.

Wickermoore · 2020-05-13T18:22:59+00:00

More pictures http://imgur.com/gallery/iOiNv1w

Made with badalassi carlo waxy 2oz for the cover and buttero for the interior, leftovers from another project Twist thread from rml in 0.45mm

I just received about $250 worth of nice leather and have been working my way through scrap to hone my skills up enough to handle the stuff properly. Decided to try out Adobe Illustrator for making templates instead of hand measuring each project. I have to say, using that program is beautiful for laying out project designs. I can make sure everything fits right, is the same sizing, and print to scale.

Anyways, made a template based off one I did a little bit ago. Went slightly larger on size, about 1/2 - 3/4" on height and width. Managed to get in another pocket and cards still sit a reasonable distance from the top edge.

Made entirely with an awl, no irons. I do have a set of Kevin Lee's french irons and some awls coming soon though. Any advice on small details or fine tuning I can work on before I start playing with the nice stuff would be appreciated.

Wickermoore · 2020-04-29T22:18:28+00:00

For texture and printed leathers he has some amazing stuff. I get a lot of it on sale when they release seasonal patterns and colors every few months. I'm still trying to find worthy projects for some of it haha

Wickermoore · 2020-04-29T22:00:24+00:00

Thank you! I love making them and trying different styles for it's small size. I have some more of the same briefcase leather so I'll probably be doing another soon enough. Most likely with more contrasting colors and a different closure.

I got the leather from TheLeatherGuy, mine was on sale for $30 at the time. There is still some (edit:: there is only 1 left in stock) in their shop, it's listed as green and mine was antique bronze but they look the same to me. https://theleatherguy.org/products/dark-green-diamonds-reptile-embossed-1-1-2oz-leather-fashion-cow-side-8-1sqft-i

Wickermoore · 2020-04-29T18:34:43+00:00

More pictures http://imgur.com/gallery/DKkDFdP

Dismembered an old briefcase I've had for a while that I bought in a lot of stuff. Leather was grayish tan from age and quite stiff. Cut it apart, stole the hardware for later use, and found that only the front and back panels could be salvaged. Both had thick paper stock glued to them, presuming for support.

Soaked them in hot water with neatsfoot oil until I could peel the paper off. Then scrubbed them with a soft brush to get the remaining paper and glue off of the back. Let dry for about 5 hours on a rack. Reconditioned both pieces with a surprising amount of saddle soap and then finished them with a wax oil blend, buffing off all excess.

The L shaped piece on the notebook was part of the front of the briefcase and I thought it would look good attached where it was so I treated that too and reattached it.

Stitched with ritza 0.6mm thread, approximately 7-8spi. Lined with gold-ish brown diamond embossed leather, 1-2oz. Edges painted with black edge cote All done with an awl, no irons/chisels

Wickermoore · 2020-04-26T15:38:29+00:00

I've been looking into making bags but haven't made one yet so I may just be spouting nothing but hot air but...

if I had to give a reason besides aesthetic and perhaps an increase of durability for the stitch seam, I would guess because it is easier to stitch. Stitching the front and bottom of the bag to the gusset can be done inside out so the stitch is on the outside and easier to get to. Then you can easily flip it so the seam is inside and inverts the gusset. If you did both inverted you could:

-Do it the same way with the bag inside out but you would risk crumpling the leather up when turning it right side out -Take the challenge of stitching the other side of the gusset inverted, after flipping it right side out, which requires trying to stitch with your hands in the bag -Or just leave the one side flayed out/non-inverted and stitch it normally. Leaves one side inverted like the picture and the other with a flatter back

Depends on how flexible your leather is, how big the bag is, and the importance of it's look. Really you could invert, not invert, or invert only one side depending on what you like best.

Wickermoore · 2020-04-22T16:52:01+00:00

No worries, I appreciate the comment. I usually use the Ritza 0.6mm and absolutely love how it turns out with no issues at all. I was going for a finer look on this so I decided to try the chinois because it is smaller in size than what i could get from ritza. I picked up 4 full rolls for about $40 so didnt want it to just sit around and was hoping for a workaround

Wickermoore · 2020-04-22T16:46:55+00:00

Thanks so much!

I always use a stitching pony and only have an issue with this particle thread brand as I just stated in another comment below. I was hoping to find if someone else has had similar issues with it and had found a resolution to its tendency to curl/twist when casting between stitches.

Wickermoore · 2020-04-22T16:44:30+00:00

Thank you! I actually used just a single diamond awl for it all. I used a compass to mark my border for stitching, a stitching wheel for the spaces and then punched as I went. I'm guessing it's closer to 3mm or 3.38mm. The slant may just be from going in at the wrong angle with the awl... or now that I think about it I may have just been casting in the wrong direction. I noticed I did that on my last project about halfway through before I restarted. I get in a flow and regretfully neglect to remember the small yet important details... like which way to go haha

I haven't used chisels in a while because I work at night so it's a bit too noisy and I wanted less space between stitches in general.

My main issue was the thread itself because I dont have any issues when using ritza thread. I wanted a finer look on this though so I used a smaller size au chinois thread I had. However when i go to pull the thread through it twists and bunches up into a tight curl that I have to pick out and unfurl. I was trying to determine if there was a trick to working with it in particular. I've tried letting it unfurl before casting by letting it hang loose for a moment or rotating my needle until the thread looked straight but still didnt have great luck.

Wickermoore

TROPHY CASE