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Leather Work and Selling
9 years ago
General
Not really sure why I feel like writing this but...
Lately people at work and elsewhere have been asking why I don't sell leather work. I suppose the honest answer would be that I don't expect anyone would pay for even half the time it takes.
For starters I use wire instead of thread so I have to do it all by hand. On the upside, wire is very durable and the look it creates is really spectacular, it adds a nice shine to a piece. Wire is much less painful to me to work with than thread or ribbon. Thread or ribbon can tangle in ways that can't be untangles, wire doesn't do that. Wire also lends itself to putting beads onto a piece of leather work, which is another level of ornamentation and allows for some very interesting detail work. Working with wire does have some downside. Any time I have to put more than one piece of wire through a hole, it all but guarantees that I will have to re-punch the hole to get the wire through. Leather has a strange habit of "self healing", which makes it necessary to do a fair bit of repunching. This is why I end up creating things like this http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18687141/ to help with the repunching issue. I would still rather use wire than any sort of thread or ribbon...using a needle doesn't really help with the re-punching issue. I have broken many a needle trying to stitching with thread or ribbon on a piece of leather.
One trick I have learned that makes some of the more complicated stitching a bit easier is to use glue. Glue makes it possible to do the really complicated designs like on the front of some of the bags, particularly this one http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20486646/ since it keeps the small things in place until I can get it stitched. I never rely only on glue for anything, everything is stitched but a glued piece will stay where it is put while I am punching it (when unglued things love to move) and stitching it.
The other great thing about glue is that it can keep the "self healing" on the initial punch work from being a problem when the back side of the leather has been liberally coated in glue and left to dry. It makes the first stitch line easier, particularly when the stitching isn't edge to edge. It does not help when multiple bits of wire has to go through the same hole but any help, any trick, is very useful.
So there you go, why I don't sell my leather work right now and why, if you commission me, it will definitely cost...but what you get is nearly indestructible.
Lately people at work and elsewhere have been asking why I don't sell leather work. I suppose the honest answer would be that I don't expect anyone would pay for even half the time it takes.
For starters I use wire instead of thread so I have to do it all by hand. On the upside, wire is very durable and the look it creates is really spectacular, it adds a nice shine to a piece. Wire is much less painful to me to work with than thread or ribbon. Thread or ribbon can tangle in ways that can't be untangles, wire doesn't do that. Wire also lends itself to putting beads onto a piece of leather work, which is another level of ornamentation and allows for some very interesting detail work. Working with wire does have some downside. Any time I have to put more than one piece of wire through a hole, it all but guarantees that I will have to re-punch the hole to get the wire through. Leather has a strange habit of "self healing", which makes it necessary to do a fair bit of repunching. This is why I end up creating things like this http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18687141/ to help with the repunching issue. I would still rather use wire than any sort of thread or ribbon...using a needle doesn't really help with the re-punching issue. I have broken many a needle trying to stitching with thread or ribbon on a piece of leather.
One trick I have learned that makes some of the more complicated stitching a bit easier is to use glue. Glue makes it possible to do the really complicated designs like on the front of some of the bags, particularly this one http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20486646/ since it keeps the small things in place until I can get it stitched. I never rely only on glue for anything, everything is stitched but a glued piece will stay where it is put while I am punching it (when unglued things love to move) and stitching it.
The other great thing about glue is that it can keep the "self healing" on the initial punch work from being a problem when the back side of the leather has been liberally coated in glue and left to dry. It makes the first stitch line easier, particularly when the stitching isn't edge to edge. It does not help when multiple bits of wire has to go through the same hole but any help, any trick, is very useful.
So there you go, why I don't sell my leather work right now and why, if you commission me, it will definitely cost...but what you get is nearly indestructible.
