(no subject)
Jan. 5th, 2012 05:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gala_applesDay five of the challenge: tell you about something that you like to do that's not fandom.
Well, the other major part of my life right now is crafting. I've posted some of my paper stuff, but I might as well show you the steps of the other thing I do. Leathercraft.
You can make whatever you want, really. I like making jewellry. Sometimes belts and coin purses. Here's me making a bracelet.
These are the things you need:
A hardened leather mallet. It's about 50 bucks. You can get wooden ones for 3, but they're useless after a time or two. Polymer ones are a bit better, they're 30. And then there's the stupid name brand one that's 95 bucks just because it's name brand. Bah!
Water and a sponge. Free!
Marble slab. Notice how mine is kind of pink. This is because I spilled my alcohol based dye accidently. That shit does not wash off. Oops. Between 55 and 105 bucks.
Stamp tool. The individual tools are 9 bucks. Alphabet packs are generally about 35.
Bracelet. While I know how to set snaps, I find it easier to buy the preset ones. A 25pack of bracelets is 74 bucks.
Not pictured- dye and finish. 7.50 each.
So basically, it's expensive to start with. But everything is reuseable (aside from the leather you're working, obviously) so when you've made 50 bracelets, your mallet's cost you a buck, your slab has cost you 2, your stamp 18c. It works out, as long as you like the craft.
So you saturate the leather. You can tell because it changes colour. Then you line up your tool where you want it. Make sure you check it's the right side up. It's like using a typewriter, there are no backspaces. Hold on to the tool with your left hand, and bang the shit out of it with the mallet in your right.
This occasionally sucks, because you need to hold the tool in place, or it'll stutter the image and having it even a milimetre off looks stupid. But all the tools have a grit to them, so your sweaty manly calloused hands don't lose their grip (you can see it in the first picture). So what I do is wrap the middle in normal scotch tape. It's still grippy enough, and it doesn't shred my fingers.
You need to bang each stamp between 3-5 times. If you're doing a word, you need to line up the next tool carefully, words look stupid when the letters aren't right beside each other. Shapes can be more freeform. There are also tools that are basically hole punches, and others that are exactos attached to finger sized U's, so your entire finger controls how the knife swivels when you draw freeform. Regardless of what I use, I can only do about 30 hammers before my fingers are swollen and I need to stop. You need to keep the leather wet the whole time you're working it (fandom brain piped up to say HAHAHAH crafty brain told it to grow up), hence the bowl and sponge.
An almost finished bracelet.
The last steps are dyeing it, and sealing it. There are alcohol dyes and waterbased dyes. Alcohols are nice because they're really strong colours. Waterbased dyes tend to need five or six coats because they start off light and get darker. On the other hand, I work above grey carpet, and alcohol doesn't wash out, and waterbased does. Not to mention that water based is more eco-friendly. Right now I have about half my colours in each type. Either way you need a sponge to streak it on, the dollar store sponge brushes are the perfect size. Once you start, don't stop. It's not like paint, if you miss an area and go back later, you can 100% tell because the edges of the missed spot will have 2 coats, and thus will be darker.
The picture above is an example of alcohol dye gone wrong. The bottles have foil tops like prescriptions do, I cut a hole in it instead of ripping the entire thing off, and the next time I opened it, dye was everywhere. Thank fuck not on the carpet. That was my hand after three washes.
All done!
So, yeah. Leathercrafting...I do it :)
Well, the other major part of my life right now is crafting. I've posted some of my paper stuff, but I might as well show you the steps of the other thing I do. Leathercraft.
You can make whatever you want, really. I like making jewellry. Sometimes belts and coin purses. Here's me making a bracelet.
These are the things you need:
A hardened leather mallet. It's about 50 bucks. You can get wooden ones for 3, but they're useless after a time or two. Polymer ones are a bit better, they're 30. And then there's the stupid name brand one that's 95 bucks just because it's name brand. Bah!
Water and a sponge. Free!
Marble slab. Notice how mine is kind of pink. This is because I spilled my alcohol based dye accidently. That shit does not wash off. Oops. Between 55 and 105 bucks.
Stamp tool. The individual tools are 9 bucks. Alphabet packs are generally about 35.
Bracelet. While I know how to set snaps, I find it easier to buy the preset ones. A 25pack of bracelets is 74 bucks.
Not pictured- dye and finish. 7.50 each.
So basically, it's expensive to start with. But everything is reuseable (aside from the leather you're working, obviously) so when you've made 50 bracelets, your mallet's cost you a buck, your slab has cost you 2, your stamp 18c. It works out, as long as you like the craft.
So you saturate the leather. You can tell because it changes colour. Then you line up your tool where you want it. Make sure you check it's the right side up. It's like using a typewriter, there are no backspaces. Hold on to the tool with your left hand, and bang the shit out of it with the mallet in your right.
This occasionally sucks, because you need to hold the tool in place, or it'll stutter the image and having it even a milimetre off looks stupid. But all the tools have a grit to them, so your sweaty manly calloused hands don't lose their grip (you can see it in the first picture). So what I do is wrap the middle in normal scotch tape. It's still grippy enough, and it doesn't shred my fingers.
You need to bang each stamp between 3-5 times. If you're doing a word, you need to line up the next tool carefully, words look stupid when the letters aren't right beside each other. Shapes can be more freeform. There are also tools that are basically hole punches, and others that are exactos attached to finger sized U's, so your entire finger controls how the knife swivels when you draw freeform. Regardless of what I use, I can only do about 30 hammers before my fingers are swollen and I need to stop. You need to keep the leather wet the whole time you're working it (fandom brain piped up to say HAHAHAH crafty brain told it to grow up), hence the bowl and sponge.
An almost finished bracelet.
The last steps are dyeing it, and sealing it. There are alcohol dyes and waterbased dyes. Alcohols are nice because they're really strong colours. Waterbased dyes tend to need five or six coats because they start off light and get darker. On the other hand, I work above grey carpet, and alcohol doesn't wash out, and waterbased does. Not to mention that water based is more eco-friendly. Right now I have about half my colours in each type. Either way you need a sponge to streak it on, the dollar store sponge brushes are the perfect size. Once you start, don't stop. It's not like paint, if you miss an area and go back later, you can 100% tell because the edges of the missed spot will have 2 coats, and thus will be darker.
The picture above is an example of alcohol dye gone wrong. The bottles have foil tops like prescriptions do, I cut a hole in it instead of ripping the entire thing off, and the next time I opened it, dye was everywhere. Thank fuck not on the carpet. That was my hand after three washes.
All done!
So, yeah. Leathercrafting...I do it :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 02:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 11:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 02:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 11:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 08:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-05 11:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-06 04:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-07 12:26 am (UTC)