The Leather Tag

Thank you for all the positive comments and feedback on the leather tag! Several of you have asked me how I made it and with what tools. Here is a tutorial for you in case you would like to make your own initials tag hat.




You need:
1. cutting mat

2. polymer or wooden mallet (do not use a metal hammer or metal tool as this will damage your leather stamps)
3. leather
4. alphabet stamps for leather
5. hole punch (2mm)
6. stamp handle
7. rotary cutter (or tapestry knife)
8. ruler
9. sponge
10. polymer cutting board or a wooden cutting board (not shown in the photos)

Cutting the leather
Cut your piece of leather into strips and cut each strip into several tags. My initials hat tag is 85mm long and 12mm wide. I also make other sizes depending on what kind of garment I am using them on. When making tags for hats I let the brim of the hat decide how wide and long the tag should be. For slippers I make a wider tag, and so on. I use the same rotary cutter I use for fabrics, a metal ruler and a cutting mat to protect my kitchen countertop.

Surface casing
You need to moisten the leather before stamping, this is called casing. There are two basic methods of casing, surface-casing and thru-casing. Which method is best depends on the thickness and size of your leather to be stamped. If it is a heavy weight leather and a big piece, you should use the thru-casing method. If the leather is lightweight and small you can use the surface-casing method.

My leather tags are small pieces of lightweight leather so I have used the surface-casing method. Surface-casing is when you wet the leather with a sponge on the skin-side of the surface. I however, did it on both the skinned side and on the flesh side (yes, I experimented a bit). Fill a glass bowl or a plastic container with water (metal containers can cause the leather to stain). With clean hands, apply the water as evenly as you can and dry of excess water that forms on top of the leather, (I have not done that yet in the photo above).

The rule of thumb is that if the leather is to dry when stamping, you will have to use excessive force and the leather will not accept the stamp impressions (This is exactly what I experienced with my first initials hat). If the leather is too wet it will form deep initial impressions, but will not retain the impression after it has dried. Try to moisten only the leather you are going to use there and then. If not you might have to re-moisten the leather too many times (which is not good).

When the leather begins to return to its natural colour, but still feels moist to the touch; begin stamping.

Stamping the letters
Place a polymer or wooden cutting board on a firm surface like a table or kitchen countertop. Place the leather on your cutting board, which will be your work surface. Place the letter stamps on your leather. Place the stamp handle in one of the letter stamps.

Make sure you hold the handle down firmly while striking with the mallet. If you are stamping more than one letter, place the stamp handle on the other letter, place it on the leather and repeat the procedure.

Use the hole-punch to make holes in the tag. Place the hole-punch where you would like the holes and strike with the mallet (but not as hard as when you were letter stamping). Your are now ready to sew your tag onto your knitted garment.

There are several alphabet stamp fonts. I bought the bottom one in Barcelona this fall, but I think my favourite is the one in the top. There are many different fonts and sizes in leather shops, hopefully you can find one that is right for your project.

If you decide to make an initials tag after reading this tutorial, and you blog about it, I would be happy if you link back to this post, as thanks. Oh, and please let us know what you plan to use the tag on, to continue the upward-inspiration-spiral. Thank you!

To read more about casting leather, visit this article by B. J. (Kirk) Kuykendall

the toy basket {tutorial}

I finally got around to finish the tutorial and boy do I have a new found appreciation and respect for people making sewing tutorials on a regular basis. It makes the sewing process completely different when you have to stop and think about every little step you do. I forgot to take photos a couple of times, hence the drawings, but I think it worked out ok. Have fun with it!

Iron the outer piece and flatten the seams. Place the outer piece on top of the Viledon and cut the Viledon a bit bigger than the outer piece (approximately 0,5 cm on each side).

Place the outer piece on the Viledon and iron (I have Viledon with adhesive). I bought my Viledon at "Stoff & Stil" (a shop in Norway) but you can also buy online. If you are using something other than Viledon make sure you pin before you sew (and if you are a control freak like me you also pin when using Viledon).

A few words about the Viledon in case you haven't used it before. The reason I use Viledon instead of cotton batting or any other batting is because the Viledon is a bit stiffer. It keeps the shape better, and since I am going to hang this toy box I need it to be sturdy. However, if you wash it several times it will lose some (or all) of its stiffness.

Now we are going to box the corners of the lining. With the sewn lining still rights sides together, match the side seam with the bottom (it must be the in the middle of the bottom. Where you normally would have the bottom seam if you had made the lining of two pieces of fabric instead of one like we have done).

This will create a point or “peak”. Make sure that there is as much fabric left and right of the seam and then pin to hold in place. The more exact you do this, the better the corners will look. Press the seam open.

From the 6.5 cm mark you position your ruler and draw a line perpendicular to the seam line. Sew along this line. Remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam. For added strength you can sew across this line two or three times.

Trim away the corner. Now you do all the "boxing corner steps" for the other corner of the lining. And when you are done with that you repeat the process for the corners of your outer layer. When this is done you have one outer toy basket and one lining toy basket. Set them both aside. Next we are going to make the velcro straps for the toy basket.

Begin by cutting your 20cm long velcro into four 5cm pieces (or the size that makes them fit you fabric strips). Set aside. Now take your 32x4cm strips and sew into straps. 

My first velcro rectangular is placed 2 cm from the top end and the second one is placed 18 cm from the top end. I have placed the velcro acording to how far down I want the fabric toy basket to hang. You could also put more velcro squares to have the possibility of changing the length of the straps.

When you have sewn the four velcros on, fold the straps, pin them and sew the open side to finish of the straps.

Pin the straps on each side og of what will be the back side of the toy basket. For sturdyness sew two or three times over the same place when sewing the straps on.

You are just a few steps from having your fabric toy basket, so hang in there for the last steps. 

Now take your lining basket and put it inside the outer layer basket. Right sides together. 

Begin pinning the two baskets togeter in each of the two corners, before you pin the rest.

Sew the two baskets togeter and turn the basket right side out through the opening in the lining.

Pin the toy basket again so that the layers will not move while you sew. Sew right below the edge of the basket. Sew the opening in the lining by hand with slip stitch.

Believe it or not, you are done, your Toy Basket is finished.

Hang it up on the day bed & begin tidying toys you would like to put out of the way but have near by.

If you make one for toys or if you make one but use it for something completely different, I'd love to see it!