VII What Can Be Done With One Skin; Cut Leather Bags, Belts, Book Covers. etc.
There is nothing so handsome for a library table or cushion in a room of dark rich colouring as leather work. These articles are very expensive to buy and are sold in arts and crafts shops or women’s exchanges and some of the department stores. You have doubtless seen the dyed whole skin used on a library table, but have you ever seen leather appliqué? That is the design cut out of a leather background and lined, or pieces of leather applied to a background.
Different kinds of leather may be used for this work. The cheapest and thinnest kind is sheepskin. Leather is usually sold by the square foot and one has to buy the entire skin. Sheepskin costs about sixteen cents a square foot; some stores charge more for it, while it is possible at a wholesale and retail shop to get it for less. The skins come dyed in all shades. Golden brown, dull gray or moss green are the most artistic for general use. Many tailors like to trim ladies’ suits with leather and for this purpose many beautiful odd shades are dyed. Goatskin ranks next to sheepskin and is a trifle dearer. Chamois is good for belts or dainty opera bags. It comes in white or cream only. Calf is a beautiful substantial skin, as is also Russia calf. Pebble calf is what its name implies, very rough with a glazed finish. The other side presents an undyed appearance.
If you get a skin you should not expect to get a sofa cushion as well as a large table mat out of it. A skin carefully cut will give you one large piece and the rest of it can be planned for smaller objects, such as card cases, pen wipers, blotter corners, belts, picture frames, possibly a magazine cover or a bag. The diagram of the skin shows how carefully to cut out and plan every part of it (Figure 87).
Let us take the sofa cushion first. A bold conventional design can be used in each corner. One that has each part separate like a stencil design is one that I have in mind.
Cut each part out carefully so as not to impair the background. A cheaper grade of leather of a tone deeper or lighter can be laid under the design, though velvet is also in excellent taste for this work. Broadcloth, satin, and sometimes taffeta are also used. If a shaded effect is wanted a different coloured background can be pasted under each different section of the design. It is a better plan, however, for the amateur to restrict herself to one colour for the background as the finishing of different pieces is no easy problem (Figure 88). Library paste is the best means of making the leather and background adhere, also it does not spot as mucilage does. The majority of leather workers consider that the pasting completes the piece, while others feel that it is necessary to machine stitch along the extreme edge of the cutting. Yet again others prefer to work embroidery stitches such as open buttonhole or couching stitches. Both of these are explained at length in later chapters. A pen wiper can be made from a piece cut in circular, diamond, or triangular shapes. Cut two pieces of chamois leather the same shape. A plain piece of the leather also is needed to back the pen wiper. The chamois pieces serve as leaves on which the pen is wiped.
A card punch will be needed to make a hole through the four pieces for the ribbon or cord which holds them together.
It is most necessary to plan the design so that it will be appropriate to the object it is to be applied to. The leather should also harmonize with the colour of the room or gown with which it is used or worn.
For those who are anxious to learn how to design, books on this subject can be obtained from the public libraries. You should bear in mind, however, that practice makes all things perfect.
The different methods of applying the design had better be gone into before we proceed any further. Thick manilla paper or artist linen may be used on which to draw the design. The pattern is then thumb-tacked or pinned on a flat wooden surface, on the upper edge only, as it will be necessary to raise the paper off and on during the tracing.
An orange stick such as used for manicuring or hard pencil will be needed for the tracing. Trace along the pencilled design with a very heavy pressure so that there will be an indented line on the leather. A line once impressed is almost impossible to remove, so great care must be taken to keep the design true.
Every time you stop tracing there will be a deeper indentation; for that reason in tracing a curved line try to draw a full sweep without stopping. A ruler will be an aid in tracing straight lines.
It may be found necessary to dampen the leather so that the tracing will be distinct. In that case dampen the entire piece of leather with a wet cloth. Dampening in sections only causes water rings. Once the whole leather is dampened, however, it can be redampened in sections without fear of marking.
Designs for leather may also be applied by means of a perforated pattern and a stamping powder or paste or a transfer pattern may be also used.
The leather for cut-work may be cut with sharp scissors and manicuring scissors for round or curved places or two sharp knives of different sizes. A board of soft wood is the best on which to work.
The best kind of paste is one that has been recommended by a successful leather teacher and proves satisfactory to all who have tried it. “Bring to a slow boil a half-pound of flour in two quarts of water. Add to this mixture when cool, an ounce of nitric acid and a dram of boric acid and a few drops of clove oil.” The nitric and boric acid, as well as the clove oil, can be obtained from the drug store.
If knives are used to cut out the design, thumbtack the leather before commencing.
The paste is applied lightly on the wrong side of the leather, then the lining placed over it. Lay the article with the right side up and put it under weights until it dries. Any surplus paste that may happen to ooze through can readily be scraped off.
A wide range of articles can be made from leather appliqué, whether underlaid or overlaid, such as table covers, bags, belts (Figure 89), medicine cases, card cases, mirror frames, book or magazine covers, portfolios, memorandum pads, waste baskets, pocket books, bill folders, chair covers, besides numerous other articles.
Sometimes it will be necessary to have two tracings of the design, one on the leather and one on the other background. Leather is often applied to heavy crashes for portières, or pillow tops. A bold conventionalized poppy is an excellent design for portières.
Paper is often used to line centerpieces or mats.
Rough tinted cartridge paper can be treated the same as cut leather and the daintiest of candle or lamp shades can be made of them. The design is cut out as in leather and a thin China silk lines the whole. Each section of the design may then be coloured the right shade of the silk. For instance, a design of cherries can be painted with orange and red for the cherries and the leaves green, while the paper is of tobacco brown; a narrow gold braid finishes the shade at the top and bottom, while the shade is held together with four tiny gold rivets.