Leather carving

So, I've decided to sign up for a five-week leather carving class being offered starting in January by our local leather store. I've been wanting to start learning some decoration and ornamentation techniques to make my projects a little nicer, so its a good opportunity. It also means I'll learn to use some of the gear that Avelyn bought me for Christmas last year that I haven't really been using.

Of course, so far most of my projects have been using garment weight leather so carving wouldn't really be helpful there. But I can see doing some heavier-weighted pouches, belts etc. I could also experiment a bit with carving hardened leather for armour, archery bracers etc.

If I do start working with heavier leather I'll probably need to work on some different stitch types, plus get some more specialized equipment. I'm working pretty basically right now with straight needles, an awl and a rotary punch.

Anyway, hopefully the class will be interesting. I may be missing rapier for those 5 weeks (rapier may be moving to Wednesdays, which is the same day as the course runs).

New Leather

So I was at an all day training session yesterday for work, and it just happened to be about 15 minutes from our local leather store. Since I can't usually make it there on weekdays before they close at six, I decided to pop over during my lunch break.

I probably spent about 20 minutes combing through the shelves. I was hoping to find some leather that I could use for making pouches. I want to experiment a little bit but don't really want to use the really nice (and expensive) red leather we bought in Hamilton, and the rest of the leather I have at home is either too heavy (bought it for armour making purposes for Avelyn) or much too light for the style of pouch I'm working on (garment weight pig skins that work really well for some pouches but don't provide any structure).

I was struggling to find something that would work when I stumbled on a great find. I found a 23 square foot skin, probably about 5-6 oz, in a nice faded green. It was on consignment, so I was able to pick it up for super cheep, which means I won't worry as much about it if my pouch experiments don't work out. But, if it works, they will still look good.

Kingdom A&S Project complete

So, I managed to find the time the other night to finish off my project to be submitted for Kingdom A&S. It's a fairly basic pouch style, without any real ornamentation. But, it's functional, based on a period style of pouch and completely hand-sewn. Not the complex project I had hoped to do, but at least its something.

I used a pattern from my Period Patterns #93 (Bags, Purses and Pouches (http://www.mediaevalmisc.com/pp-093.htm) as the starting point. I think next time I might enlarge the pattern a bit though, the pouch is pretty small for functional use (although my documentation says they were made in a variety of sizes and shapes depending on the person).

I used some of the really nice red leather that we picked up in Hamilton this summer, probably about 4-5oz. I suspect the tanning process was modern (Chrome tanned) given the colour and softness of the leather, but for a beginner level project that's fine.

I've started pulling together my documentation. So far I have about 6-7 links to online images from period illuminations showing un-ornamented pouches like this one, without a buckle or strap (they most often had a strap to keep them closed from what I can tell but not always).

In addition to my links to period images, which I will print out, I also have Purses in Pieces, which has several pages of information about the history and use of this style of pouch. There's also some illustrations and pictures of archeological finds. I'll also have to check the documentation in the Period Pattern set, they sometimes have relevant information about the patterns (although probably all pulled from Purses in Pieces originally anyway).

Latest News - Kingdom A&S

Well, it still looks unlikely that I'll have anything ready to submit for Kingdom A&S in November, but I've at least started work on a project that I could enter in either the beginner/intermediate category. It's much simpler than the other projects I was considering, but it's practical and I can maybe get it done in time.

I've cut out the pattern I need to use, chosen the leather (I would have preferred to use a couple of different colours but I don't have any pieces that would match that are the right type of leather - oh well), and just have to start cutting out the various leather bits and start hand sewing. Maybe I'll have a bit of time over the long-weekend, we'll see how things play out.

Otherwise, the Kingdom A&S site is up and running, the fall issue of the Chronicle is out and I've been spending most of my A&S time lately working with Emelote trying to plan future feasts and event food. I've bought so many period cookbooks lately, it's taking some time to go through all of the possible recipes and pick out ones to try.

Update - Kingdom A&S Project

Alas, it would appear the chances of having the time to do a project and supporting research for Kingdom A&S are slim to none at this point.

Real life has bitten me in the ass, and the past week + has been a write off. Given that I'm just starting work on building the site for the event (mock-ups sent to the Autocrat for review) and I have two issues of the Chronicle due between now and then (next issue is in a couple of weeks and another one would be do either for Kingdom A&S or Feast of the Hare), it's not looking promissing.

I did do some research into what project I might be able to do, but creating something specifically for entry at Kingdom A&S isn't a project you want to half-ass.

I suppose I'll wait and see how things go with the various projects, but my hopes are slim.

Kingdom A&S - To Enter or Not to Enter?

So Kingdom A&S is coming up in November and is being hosted by our Barony (I'm actually working on the web site for the event as we speak).

I don't really have any projects underway other than my shoes, which isn't at a stage where I would be entering it into any sort of A&S competition. I haven't entered anything into a competition before, mainly because I don't really care for the judging etc, but I could probably use some constructive input on some of my work to give me an idea of what to work on.

I have tons of research from our trip to the UK, with lots of pictures of leather artifacts we found at the various museums, so there's no shortage of projects I could do. I also have lots of pouch patterns, plus my new books with patterns and historical information. It just comes down to time and desire I guess.

New Leather - Hmm, what to make of it

Well, it's been kind of a crappy week around here. Haven't really had any time to work on leather projects as I had hoped to do while everyone was at Pennsic, but we did get to visit a friend in Hamilton on the weekend. While we were there, we made a pit-stop at her Laurel's leather shop (Tundra Leather in Hamilton) and picked up some new leather. It's always nice to stop in at new leatherworking shops, although I can never seem to leave without buying more stuff. (This time it wasn't my fault,  Avelyn was enabling my hobby).

The first piece is a really nice Ealdormere red, full skin (about 40 sq ft), about 4.5 ounces. We discussed it and it would be good for pouches, shoes etc. Avelyn got really excited by the idea of making shoes with it. :) If only I could figure out how to make them.

The second piece is about 14 sq ft and probably 2-3 once in a really nice plum colour. Could make a nice pouch, maybe parti-colour if I can find some leather than has the same weight to it.