Leather Craft and Design

Gladys J. Shaw

Description

Originally published in the 1930s. A beginners guide to leathercraft with many examples of methods and design. Contents Include : The Kinds of Leather Used Design and Methods of Decoration Blind Tooling Staining Modelling Embossing Filling Incising Other Methods of Decoration Lining Making a Lined Gusset Thonging To Thong a Flat Seam Stitching The Fixing of Press Buttons Tassels and Other Finishes The Construction of Examples Illustrated and Describes A Case for Visiting Cards A Case for a Pocket Comb A Circular Pocket Mirror A Slip in Book Cover A Shopping List A Cigarette Case A Tobacco Pouch with Rubber Lining A Folded Purse A Semi Circular Purse An Oblong Two Flap Purse with Squared Gusset A Bag with Piped Gusset, Draw Cords and Greek Plait Handles Including A Captive Purse, A Season Ticket Holder A Needle Case A Ladies' Handbag A Shopping Bag. The book is well illustrated. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781528761529
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

LEATHER CRAFT

LEATHER CRAFT
By
F. J. GLASS
HEAD MASTER OF THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS, DONCASTER. AUTHOR OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION IN LINE, FORM, AND MASS, DRAWING, DESIGN AND CRAFTWORK, ETC.
LONDON UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS LTD. 10 11 WARWICK LANE, E.C.4 1927
THE ARTISTIC, PRACTICAL HANDICRAFT SERIES
By F. J. G LASS
HEAD MASTER OF THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS, DONCASTER. AUTHOR OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION, IN LINE, FORM AND MASS, DRAWING, DESIGN AND CRAFTWORK, ETC.
PEWTER CRAFT LEATHER CRAFT PAPER CRAFT
With a large number of specially prepared designs and other illustrations. Cloth is. 6d. each.
To be followed almost immediately by
STENCILLING CRAFT
Other titles in active preparation.
LONDON: UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS
Printed in Great Britain for the U NIVERSITY OF L ONDON P RESS , L TD ., by H AZELL , W ATSON AND V INEY , L D ., London and Aylesbury.
PREFACE
E VERY normal person desires to make things. The creative instinct which is born in each one of us clamours for expression. In some no doubt the urge is more insistent than in others, perhaps because, having found a means of expression, the capacity for creation has not been allowed to atrophy. Most children love to make things, and should be encouraged to do so for many reasons. Craft lessons are of the greatest educational value, because they stimulate mental and motor activity simultaneously. It is generally admitted that when hand and brain are both employed much more is grasped and retained than when the brain alone is called upon to function. Furthermore, habits of industry are formed which are bound to be beneficial in the future. Children so trained are more likely to become useful and contented members of society in after-life than are those brought up with no craft instruction whatever. For if no other purpose is served, it provides them with useful and satisfying hobbies wherewith to occupy their leisure time. The tendency in commerce and industry is to shorten the hours of labour with a corresponding increase in the leisure hours. The danger of this lies in the fact that too few know what to do with their increased leisure. Often the creative faculties have become atrophied through neglect, and the adult is robbed of one of the greatest sources of happiness. We would advocate the teaching of craft work in every school, and would urge all those who desire to make things of use and beauty to seize any opportunity that may offer to gratify this desire. There is a keener appreciation of hand-made goods nowadays than there has been for many years. This is a natural reaction against the mechanically perfect, but soulless products of machinery. It would seem that the future holds brighter prospects for skilled craftsmen and also for craft teachers than at any time since machinery began its rule. There is certainly a revival of artistic handicrafts. Consequently a demand for instruction in the crafts has arisen, and it is to meet this demand that the present series of handbooks is being produced. They are intended to provide teachers and craft workers with concise practical instructions, and suggestions for the various crafts in a cheap, handy form.
F RED J. G LASS .
D ONCASTER , 1927.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
TYPES OF LEATHER AND DECORATION
CHAPTER II
THONGING AND MAKING-UP, PRESS STUDS, ETC.
CHAPTER III
STENCILLING, MODELLING AND EMBOSSING
CHAPTER IV
CARVED OR CUT WORK, STAINING, COLOURING, INLAYING, ETC.
CHAPTER V
METAL ENRICHMENTS, RUSKIN STONES, TOOLING, POKER WORK, POLISHING, ETC.
CHAPTER VI
HISTORICAL NOTE, METHODS OF TANNING
LEATHER CRAFT
CHAPTER I
TYPES OF LEATHER AND DECORATION
T YPES OF L EATHER
LEATHER is produced in many qualities, colours, textures, and thicknesses. It ranges from soft flexible kid and chamois, through su de, velvet calf, morocco, levant, etc., to sheepskin, calf, and cowhide. For the beginner who has not yet discovered the chara c eri s ic qualities of leather, or the manner in which it should be manipulated, soft su de or velvet calf is perhaps the be s . It is cheaper and more easily handled than modelling leather, though the decorative scope is more limited. It is not suitable for modelling or embossing, though it may be s ained, coloured, tooled, pierced, or inlaid.
P URSE
Paper Pattern.
We might ju s as well commence by making something useful, and the purse on Fig. 1 is as good as aught else. We fir s decide upon the size of the purse, which might be 5 inches wide by 3 inches deep. In order to avoid disappointment and wa s e of material, it is wise to cut a paper pattern, and to fold it into shape, so that we may judge of its effe c before beginning upon the leather. The purse is made in one piece, so it is necessary to arrange for the back, the overlapping flap, and the front, which forms the pocket of the purse (see pattern on Fig. 1 ). This procedure should be adopted for every piece of leather work, whether it is mentioned or not in future exercises, as it minimises the chances of wa s e and discouragement, consequent upon cutting the material without proper care and thought. Having made the pattern, lay it upon the leather chosen for the purpose. Here again the pattern is valuable, because we can alter its position upon the skin until we have decided which is the mo s economical. Cut the desired shape from the leather with scissors, or a sharp knife upon a sheet of card or glass.
P IERCED D ECORATION
The next s age is the decoration, which in this case is pierced, with a piece of leather differing in colour from the purse itself laid beneath to show through the inter s ices in the pattern. Plan the decoration fir s upon the paper, and transfer it to the smooth back of the skin by means of carbon paper. Now upon the sheet of glass or cardboard with a sharppointed knife cut out the parts which have been decided upon.

F IG . 1.
Planning Design.
A word of warning is necessary here, or the design may lack cohesion. When planning the pattern, see that each opening is as simple in shape as may be, and is bounded by leather adequately supported. Avoid long s rips floating about, with attachment at one end only. See that both ends are fixed, otherwise considerable difficulty will arise when the underlying piece is fastened in position. The treatment is exa c ly similar to that employed for a s encil plate, which if properly designed is compa c , and well knit together in every part, with the ties or binding pieces frankly accepted as features in the design.

F IG . 2.
On Fig. 2 some simple patterns are illu s rated designed expressly for use as pierced decoration, or, if desired, as s encil plates. The fir s series are simple borders composed of the easie s possible shapes, and are included to show that pleasing pattern is not necessarily complex or elaborate. A severe, geometric border such as these will often serve the purpose far better than a design which is elaborate and fussy. This fa c should be impressed upon the beginner in particular, for there is no idea so common, or so erroneous if the subje c is properly approached, as the idea that design is difficult, and only possible for the favoured few. There are really very few who are so unfortunate or so deficient in ta s e and ability as to be unable to make their own designs, if they only had a clear conception of what design a c ually is.
Good design depends mainly upon the article itself; anything which is added thereto should be included because it increases the beauty and the intere s . It is quite possible for ornamentation to cheapen and vulgarise an article. Hence it needs thought and discrimination. In a subje c like leather craft the design grows out of the a c ual work. It is the logical outcome of a proper use of tools and materials.
Naturali s ic Design.
Any decoration which may be added should sugge s itself, as the article grows out of the material, aided by the tools, and determined by the purpose for which it is intended. Too often these things are all forgotten, or ignored, when the beginner sets out to make a design. He, or she, usually wishes to produce something very elaborate, frequently naturali s ic, and in many cases quite unsuited to the work in hand. Floral designs are very popular, and frequently the aim is to make the elements resemble the natural forms as closely as possible, despite the fa c that the material employed is totally unlike that of nature in colour, quality, and texture; while the delicate drawing and subtle form of the original is absolutely beyond its scope.
Limitations.
How much wiser, then, to accept frankly our limitations and to work within them, than to attempt the impossible, which can only result in our falling between two s ools, as it were. For we fail in producing a good design, and also in reproducing nature. Art is art only because it is not nature. Let us seek our inspiration in natural forms, but at the same time let us express our own personalities in the work we are doing. The decoration of leather, then, should be determined by the materials, tools, and ultimate purpose of the article in hand. Bearing this in mind, let us return to our subje c .
Beneath the borders on the same figure are some conventionalised natural forms. They are rigid and severe in treatment, with no attempt at subtlety, but considered primarily as holes to be cut in leather, rather than as leaves, berries, flowers, or butterflies. No sensible person would attempt to foi s either of these motifs upon another as a s udy from nature. They are decorations based upon natural forms, and nothing more. They might easily have been evolved as decorative motifs without reference to nature at all;