Made by Me. Shared with you.: father's day

Showing posts with label father's day. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

DIY Leather Bookmark Tutorial

Another simple leather scrap project for Father's Day. My husband is an avid reader, and being on summer break, he's catching up on his hobby. I thought some nice leather bookmarks might be appreciated, especially since there is usually a junk mail envelope, or receipt holding his place in his current read.

These are super simple to make. No photo tutorial for this one, but I think that you'll do just fine without.

Materials:
Leather scraps (upholstery weight-not too thick)
Thread
Leather Sewing Needle

First off, you need to cut two right triangles of equal size. Mine are about 2 1/2 inches long on the right angle sides. The hypotenuse (the diagonal), will be longer. Just make sure that the square sides are equal in length.

Next, this is optional, stitch along the hypotenuse edge of each of your triangles. This is purely decorative, but I can't resist.

Next, place your leather triangles wrong sides together, and back tacking the start and finish of the stitching lines, sew the pieces together. I stitch 1/8" away from the raw edge of the leather. You can lengthen the stitching length if you'd like. Contrasting thread is always a fun touch with leather as well.

As with sewing any leather project, I recommend using a non-stitch presser foot. You can also reduce the amount of tension/pressure on your presser foot, to help the leather slide under the presser foot.

Slide the book pages into the open hypotenuse edge, and mark your place in your favorite book.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

DIY Leather Cord Strap

After making up some fabric cord keepers for Mother's Day, I figured that it was time to tackle the problem of unruly cords in a more masculine fashion. Leather is such a great material to work with, and is a great gender neutral material. I love it so much, that I have a really difficult time throwing out leather scraps. I have a whole bin full of small leather scraps, and fortunately, there is plenty to do with them.

These little leather cord straps require a piece of leather that is only 5/8 inch-3/4 inch wide, and only needs to be about 4 1/2 inches long. I made a few different sizes, just to see what I liked best, and to be honest, the smaller the better, four and a quarter to four and a half inches in length seemed to be just about right for phone chargers, and usb cables. If you need something for a small but bulkier cord, five to five and a half inches would probably work well.

Materials:
Scrap of leather 5/8"x 4 1/2"
Sew On Hook and Loop Fastener (velcro) 1/2"
Leather Sewing Needle
Sewing Machine Thread

Take your strip of leather, and sew around the perimeter of the leather using your leather sewing machine needle. Lengthen your stitch length if desired.

Sew on your hook and loop (velcro) fastener. You will attach one side to the right side of the leather, and one to the underside, on opposite ends of the strap. Done.

If you really want to get organized, you could stamp the name of the cord that belongs to the strap using leather stamps. I had a clever reader mention that she used her embroidery machine to label her fabric cord keepers. So smart.

If your leather is particularly thick, or has a difficult time moving under the presser foot, reduce the tension on your presser foot, and use a non stick or teflon presser foot.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Father's Day Printable Round Up

How about a Father's Day printable Round-Up. Timely right? You still have a couple of more days to pretend that you were totally prepared for the holiday.