Florine

How to judge your holiday leather souvenirs…?

15 August 2018

It could happen to anyone of you… You are on holiday to a warm and welcoming holiday destination and ofcourse you would like to take something with you home to remember all those amazing memories. What would be more perfect than those amazing looking leather products, handmade by true foreign crafts(wo)men? You will wear those boots probably daily in the fall or your colleagues will be jealous when you arrive at work with a chic looking laptop bag. Once home… those boots stay in the closet for the rest of the year… and the laptop bag does not look that chic after all… How to judge your holiday leather souvenirs which don’t break the bank and will be amazing once you’re back?

Cultural leather holiday souvenirs

Let’s take Greece as an example… I’ve been there for quite some times now and it is a real leather Walhalla. Everywhere you look you can buy the most gorgeous leather products. While surrounded by all those leather products, the summer heat and the kind salesmen you could take all the products from the store home if it was up to you ;).Though… your judgment will be a little bit influenced by all the other factors. If you want to know if it is something you would truly use once you get home, you will have to ask yourself the following questions:

Is it a fake product?

First of all, let’s start with the most classic vacation souvenir fail… When it is too good to be true, it probably is. Tourists are the perfect subject for fake bag sellers to persuade to buy fake designer bags. You are relaxed, looking for something to take home… and that lovely Kelly bag isn’t that expensive. Why not take one with us? Well, first of all, you could get in trouble with the border control and by then, your not so expensive bag might become really expensive. Second, the quality of original bags if often why you have to pay that much… The hours of the crafts(wo)men are the most expensive since creating good and sturdy products just takes time.

Where do you want to use it for?

If you don’t know the answer to the first question, then you probably don’t need it. When you do know what it is for, let’s say for grocery shopping, do you need another grocery shopping bag? Don’t buy it, if the answer is no. If the answer is no but it is a beautiful bag you will treasure for years, continue to the next question to find out if you should buy this holiday souvenir. If the answer is just yes, continue to the next question as well.

How are the quality, the finish and the details of this product?

Let’s say you want a bag for grocery shopping… The finishes and the details are poorly done… don’t buy it. You want a sturdy bag which will hold all your fruits and vegetables. Imagine while shopping the bag falls apart… If the bag is made with good care, continue to the next question.

What do you want to pay for it, and what are they asking for it?

Ofcourse, I know you would ideally want it for free… but only the sun shines for free. So, let’s say… do you want a 100% leather shopping bag for 10 euros… you might need to reconsider your price. If they offer it for 10 euros… don’t buy it either. As you might know by now, proper leather bags can’t be made for 10 euros. The complete opposite would be if they would charge you a 1000 euros for a simple cow leather bag. In some countries, it is the culture to bargain a bit but think about a fair price for both parties. If you’ve got one in mind, continue to the next question.

And most important: would you buy this if it was sold back home?

If you walked into your hometown, and you would see this bag. Would you buy it? Would it look as great on the sunny greek days as it would in the grey rainy days back home? Or, is it just a little bit too foreign to actually use back home?

If you’ve answered all the questions positive, sure! Try to bargain a bit, find the right product and prize and enjoy your holiday souvenirs. If one of these questions is answered negatively… or you don’t know the answer. It probably isn’t the souvenir for you. If there is an overload of leather bags you can try your luck at a different shop or play it safe and take something you will always use back home with you. Have a great holiday period :).

Different kinds of thread

14 August 2018

Over time, I’ve done quite some research on new tools, new techniques and different types of leather… but I seemed to be stuck in the same type of thread since the beginning. I know there are different kinds of threads but which ones… I don’t actually know. To enrich my knowledge of leathercraft and to give you a small overview the least I could do is look it up. I’ve only worked with two kinds of thread… so my experience with different types is limited. But maybe you could share your knowledge in the comments below!

Types of material

There are different materials your thread can be made of. The most common ones are probably the Nylon and polyester since they are synthetic types of thread. This makes it really strong but also less authentic. Besides these two materials, you can also buy linen or silk thread. Linen is made of the flax plant and is very strong and durable. It is used over centuries and is even a little bit stronger when it becomes wet. Silk is also a strong natural thread but stretches more easily. Which one is better, synthetic or natural is an endless debate on the internet and eventually, you will have to choose a type that suits your work and your preference.

Types of structure

Besides the materials, you have choices in different kinds of structure. You can choose from S- and Z-twisted thread (mainly Z – explained in this video) or go for a multi-filament braided thread which should un-raffle less easily. When they decided to braid it they also made difference between round braided or flat braided. Is it starting to become too much?? Now I remember why I stopped at a certain point in my research ;). The difference between the types of structure is mainly important if you stitch your leather projects by hand. The direction of the motion of hand-stitching will influence the direction of the twist of your thread and makes it twist around itself..

Types of thicknesses

Every company decided to make it even more easy to choose… to create their own scales of thicknesses. Ian Atkinson tried to come up with a conversion table to translate the different sizes to the scales of others. Check this page of his website out if you are curious. What I do know about the different thicknesses of a leather thread is when you choose a certain number stitches per inch (SPI) you can adjust the thickness of your thread as well. The closer the stitches are, the smaller your thickness usually is.

Types of finish

So now you have decided on the type of material, the type of structure and you’ve chosen the right thickness for your project… that means you are almost done! Last but not least you can choose if you would like your thread pre-waxed or unfinished. Usually, beeswax is used so it slides more easily through the stitching holes and it protects the thread of influences from outside such as dust, water or durt. Whether you wax your thread yourself or if you buy it pre-waxed does not matter that much ;). Again, it’s all about whatever you prefer.

Personally, I would like to try the Lin au Chinnos but at the moment it is still a little over my budget and would make my products even more expensive. Therefore I use mainly tiger thread; a polyester, braided, flat woven, and pre-waxed type of thread from Riza. It is available in multiple colors and I like the look of it. If I am looking for a thinner type, I use a 100% polyester ultra-strong one for the sewing machine from our local craft store which I wax manually. Further, I have little to no experience with other brands and look forward to your opinions about it! Which one is your personal favorite?

Project – Market basket bag 2.0

9 August 2018

I’ve got a new assignment… clear up the pile of leather hides I have collected over quite some time. Well, even though I am not kidding about the pile, I actually got a new assignment for a new bag! Before I suggested to go to the leather store and buy new hides (I WOULD LOVE TO GO) I thought by myself… why not look first in my own little storage of leather hides. I had complete freedom in the design so why not use this amazing piece of woven leather I’ve had for quite some time in a renewed version of the market basket bag.

To many bag ideas, too little time

Whenever I go leather shopping I seem to get in my mind that a day has more than 24 hours in it… I’ve just got too many ideas for bags and too little time. But this time it was worth the wait. I can make someone happy and work with beautiful materials at the same time. Nevertheless, I will also try something new… make two of the same bags at the same time (one for here, and one for me haha). Let’s see if it works faster compared to the green/brown travel bag.

Inspiration

My inspiration for this bag is the all-time classic market basket bag. I’ve done a DIY last year while it became a big summer trend but it just doesn’t go. This summer there are still so many classic basket bags, round basket bags and well you name it, on the streets! The look I want to pursue is to give the market basket bag a more sophisticated update and make it a 100% leather.

Paper mall

Since the intended use of the market basket bag is to use it for grocery shopping on the market, its design is quite large. This could be the feature you’re after in a bag but in this case, I wanted a little bit smaller; the little sister of the market basket bag. To see how large the bag should be I often always make a paper design as I’ve described in a previous post. It might seem hard to create a 3-dimensional bag from nothing, but just get crafty and see how it works out. Too big, too small, no problem, you can just stick some extra paper to it or cut some off.

You’ve seen already a little bit in my previous post on how to work with woven leather and maybe you’ve seen the first steps on Instagram but there is much more to come! I will keep track of all the steps I make on this amazing bag and share it ofcourse in a ‘Making off’- post series.

How to work with woven leather?

7 August 2018

In a previous post (quite a while ago), we’ve discussed the technique of leather weaving. Nowadays it is not as common to do it yourself since machines have been invented for the hard work. Why hard work? Well, it does look great but also takes a lot (read A LOT)of time. S0 if you’ve got some time on your hands, this summer holiday, for example, you might give it a go! But once you’ve decided what pattern you like and cut all the straps and weaved your piece of leather how do you use it in a project? Well, I am currently at this point in a side project (will be introduced soon!) and might give you some tips and tricks on how to work with woven leather.

Trial and error…!

I’ve seen a lot of images of bags with amazing woven leather work but I always wonder … how do they finish their edges? Well, I’ve got still no clue so I will go with ‘trial and error’. In the previous post of ‘Technique – leather weaving‘, I’ve discussed how to finish the edges theoretically. Now I had to do it in practice and that seemed quite something else…

If you’ve taken hours and hours to weave the piece of leather you don’t want it to fall apart in seconds… Theoretically, you can twine the edges, as I’ve read during my weaving research and it should look something like the drawing below.

It’s a nice drawing, and quite clear… but where do I start ??? Calm down, and let’s see how to do this together. It took me quite a while to get the hang of if but eventually, I did succeed, so let’s break it in little steps.

How to twine woven leather:

Cut a thread about the size of 3-4 times the length of your edge.
Loop the thread around the last strip of your woven leather. (make sure the length of your thread is even on both sides)
Twist the thread twice as in the image above
Loop the next strip between your two strands of the thread (see image below)
Twist the thread twice
repeat step 4 and 5 until you’ve reached the outer strip of your edge
Knot it tightly and push the loops towards the piece of woven leather

If you’ve followed these steps until the end of your edge it should look something like the image above, during the twining, and something like the image below at the end. You could repeat the twining step once again to make sure it is secured tightly. You can trim the end pieces if you want. Although if you want to use your piece of leather in combination with other leather you might want to keep the ends long until you’ve punched all the holes in the leather just to be sure it does not escape your twining.

Combining woven leather with other leather

Since it is quite hard to construct a bag from this leather, it is often combined with other pieces of leather. In my new project, I will do this too and found a second method to secure the leather weaving. If you are careful, and leave the ends on, you can punch holes in the middle of the final strap to sew it together with your second kind of leather. Make sure you punch the holes with confidence since it is still somewhat movable at this stage.

Next, you can carefully sew the strap together with your piece of leather and this hides the ugly ends but also makes it a lot stronger! No escaping possible anymore. Don’t you love the color combination of the cognac leather and the beautifully woven leather?

Just to set your mind at ease… I did not weave all this leather myself 😉 luckily I found this amazing piece of leather (already quite some time back) of 100% woven leather; some left over from a Dutch designer collection. Are you curious what I will make with this amazing piece of woven leather?? Well, stay tuned since I will introduce it sooooon! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more updates in between posts!

From design on paper to paper design

2 August 2018

The first step in each new project is to translate your thoughts, wishes, and ideas to a design to paper. You might have seen the post about the inspiration and the Boston collection of the Florine bag, my newest project. The next steps of my ‘design-in-10-steps’ method would be to make the practical design and the mall. These latter two will go hand in hand. But let’s take a closer look at this process. How do you come from a design on paper to a paper design?

Shape

The first step would be to get an idea of the overall shape, the looks from the front and from the sides. Usually, I grab a pile of A4 paper and start to fold, tape them together if I need a larger sheet and cut corners, gussets or straps. Overall I start with the main body. Should this be one big rectangle or do you want it more like a trapezium or even round-ish? Next are the gussets. this shape can also vary greatly. Do you want it pleated, just square or more triangular…? You can also make them all from paper and try it on the main body. This is all followed by the straps. You can go for a single one, double or even convertible straps. The sky is the limit (our your pile of paper). While you are experimenting anyway, why don’t you try to see which details could work and what kind of interior you would like (fully lined, pockets, clips, you name it)? Once everything is taped together it is time for the next step.

Size

The next step would be to judge your mall or paper design for its size. You could take a few steps bag and evaluate if the proportions are right. Does the height correspond to the depth and width? Is it actually big enough to store for example your laptop? At this moment, I had to start over since I was not satisfied with the size of the bag. If I would make a bag just for me… at least it should be the perfect size! So once again where do I start? As I have mentioned in my 10-step design posts, I first check what the wishes and requirements were. Did I meet them all? Did I forget anything? Nope, when finished go on to the next part.

Sure?

Last but not least you should be able to sell that little paper version of your bag to your customer. Not literally but the customer has mostly no idea what the final bag would look like. In this case, I am my own customer and I know what I want it to look like. Although is it also possible? Could I make it from paper? Does it feel right? All questions you have to answer before you start on your hard cardboard cutting malls. ARE YOU SURE? Alright then, time to buy some leather and don’t forget the hardware details!

I hope you get a little bit more of an idea of how I go from a design on paper to a paper design. I might sound for some of you maybe straightforward but if you’ve never designed a bag before, I wish I would have known this all ;). It would make me feel more prepared for the actual ‘making of’ of the bag! So please let me know if you want to know anything else or what your method of designing a paper mall is.