Transcripts
1. Welcome to the class: Hi, everyone, and welcome to this class where
I'll teach you how to create your very own leather
book separator by hand. If you're passionate
about handmade crafts and looking to
learn a new skill, this class will be both
valuable and useful. The leather Book separator is a simple project
that's perfect as a thoughtful gift for someone who loves reading or
even for yourself. Making the separator is straightforward,
and in this case, I'll guide you step by step from designing the pattern to
polishing the finished product. So let's get started. I'll see you in the next
lesson where we'll go over the leather
tools you'll need for this project. See you there.
2. Materials for the class: Welcome back. Before
we begin our project, I want to go over the
tools you'll need. This book separator
is simple to make, but having the
right tools on hand will make the
process much easier. If you're an experienced
leather crafter, you're likely familiar
with the tools that are ideal for
this kind of project. However, if you're new
to leather crafting, keep in mind that many
of these tools can be substituted with similar
ones from different brands. The tools I'll be
showing you are the ones I personally use for
my leather projects. For this project, you'll need. A small piece of
cardboard or blank paper. Cardboard is preferable
because it's stronger and more flexible
than regular paper. A cutting ruler, a pencil, an exacto knife or cutter. Your preferred leather.
For this project, I'll be using natural
vegetable tan leather and navy colored leather. Leather edge paint
of your choice, Burnishing gum and a
small piece of canvas. A scratch owl. A leather pen,
optional if preferred. Two prong and six
prong diamond chisels, a wing divider or edge creaser
linen or polyester thread, bisux and stitching needles. A stamping tool for the
vegetable ten leather. 180 grit sandpaper, a
plastic bone folder, a wooden slicker
for edge polishing, a pair of scissors, a paint
applicator, a polymaled. I'll also use a leather hammer later in the class to flatten the stitches and leather
glue of your choice. Great. With all these
materials ready, we can start designing
the pattern for a book separator in
the next lesson. See you there. Oh
3. Taking measurements for your book separator: Welcome back. Let's
begin our project. The first step is to take the measurements for
a book separator, and this task is quite
straightforward. To do this, we'll need
a book and ruler to measure the distance from
the edge of any page inward. This process is
largely a matter of preference and it will depend
on your personal taste. While we could cut
the leather directly, having a physical reference
of a book will help you better visualize
the true dimensions you want for your separator. In my case, I plan to
set the length and width of the separator
at 5 centimeters, adding an extra 5 millimeters to each edge to accommodate
the stitching line. Next, I write down
the measurements in my notebook for
future reference. Even simple notes can be easily forgotten when you have
multiple projects to manage, so be sure to write
those numbers down. Now we can proceed to cutting the outer leather section
in the next lesson.
4. Making the template for your project: Now that we have our measurements
for the book separator, we can create a template
that will serve as a guide for cutting and
marking our leather. You can create a
template by hand or use your preferred design apps
such as a Doug Illustrator. In this case, since the
template is quite simple, I'll be making it by hand
using thin cardboard. For this project, a blank piece of paper will also suffice. There's no need for special
cardboard or stiff material. However, if you plan on creating
several book separators, I strongly recommend using
a sturdier type of paper. It will hold up better against we compared to
regular bone paper, and you can save it
for future projects. Feel free to use any pen or pencil you prefer
for this project. I will use a regular pencil
to draw square directly on the cardboard
with the measurement we determined in the
previous lesson. I'll also use a ruler
and square ruler to draw perpendicular line accurately once the initial line is made. Always double check your
templates measurements. And once you're satisfied
with the result, cut out a template while leaving some extra cardboard on
each side as shown here. I also like to run the edges of my template with scissors. This helps prevent accidental bending and where do you use? In the next lesson,
we'll begin working with our leather pieces for
the book separator.
5. Customizing the large leather piece: With our template complete, we can now begin working
with the leather pieces. In this lesson,
we'll personalize and cut out the main component. For this project, I'll be using natural vegetable tan
leather to demonstrate how you can personalize it using stamping tools and polymyald
if you choose to do so. The first step I
recommend is trimming any excess leather before
working with your final pieces, as this will make the
process more comfortable. Since the template was drawn
directly on cardboard, I'll use my scratch to mark the edges of
the book separator. Then I'll use my
ruler and scratch all again to indicate the cutting
lines for this piece. Next, I'll apply some moisture
with a spray bottle to soften the leather before adding texture with the stamping
tool and mallet. When using this tool, I
like to start the center of each piece and work my way
out in straight lines, as you can see in the video, always going beyond
the limit lines since those areas will
be cut out later. After finishing the stamping, I like to apply a protective
layer to the leather. In this case, using
carnova cream and then polish it with a
small cotton cloth. To remove any excess cream
from the stamped areas, you can use a toothbrush
like the one I'm using, which is helpful for
cleaning and removing any excess materials,
as you can see now. Finally, give a piece a
nice puffing to polish it, and you'll immediately
notice the difference.
6. Lining the leather: Welcome back. In this lesson, I'll show you how to line the main component to
enhance its presentation. For this project, I'll be using a very thin texture
leather in Navy, which complements the
natural creamy tone of the vegetable tan
leather we're working with. Before cluing the
pieces together, I need to trim any xs leader to ensure a comfortable fit
within the lining area. Once both pieces are prepared, apply leather glue
to the back of each piece and allow it to
sit for about 5 minutes. Then join them together, applying pressure with
your fingers to create an even surface and remove any excess glue that may
sp between the pieces. You can also place a weight on the assembly and let
the glue cure for about 20 minutes before cutting the piece to its
final dimensions. This will ensure a clean cut while the pieces
are glued together. Great. We're now halfway
on completing our project. In the next lesson, we'll work
on the front letter piece.
7. Making the small leather piece: With our main piece ready, it's time to work on the small leather section in this lesson. For this, I'll be
using a small piece of blue leather that I had in hand and glue it inward so we can have a completely
line piece to work with. Once the glue has
dried, we can adjust our template to the size of
the leather if necessary, as shown in the video and
mark the four edges again. Since this piece will
eventually be cut in two, we really only need to mark
three of the four edges. However, I may use
the second part for another book
separator later on. After cutting the leather with our exacto knife
and cutting ruler, we can apply edge paint to the longer section that
will remain exposed. In my case, I use my Vernice
heat double edge paint and apply to coats with
my paint applicator. Finally, once the paint is dry, we can polish the edge using
burnishing gum, in this case, from Tconol. I'll use a small piece
of canvas to apply friction to the gum and
smooth and shine the edges.
8. Stitching the leathers together: Welcome back. In this lesson, we'll be stitching our
two leather pieces together to create
the book separator. Since we're hand stitching,
the first step is to mark a stitching line
where we'll later make the stitching holes
using our chisels. There are several ways
to mark this line. Using a ruler and
pen works well, but I prefer two common
leather tools for this task. The first is a wing divider, which allows you to establish a precise distance
between the tips. This tool functions
like a compass, but is used directly
on the leather without leaving
graphite or ink stains. The second tool is
an edge creeser with a specific
offset on the tips. In my case, I typically use a four millimeter offset
distance from the edge of the leather to the
stitching line when using a thicker thread like the
one for this project. For thinner threads, I prefer a three millimeter
offset distance. Once the stitching line
is clearly marked, we can use our
diamond chisels and polymalet to create
the stitching holes. Start with a small piece, then glue it to the
larger piece and allow the glue to dry
for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, punch
the holes again, covering the entire perimeter of the books eparator
for stitching. For this project, I'm using navy linen thread to
match the dark leather, but feel free to get
creative with colors. The more muted or color
matching tone you choose, the more formal your
project will look. To determine how
much thread to use, measure the entire length of your stitching line and
multiply that number by four. Then add an additional 30
centimeters or about 12 " and thread both ends of your thread into
your stitching needles. Some threads come pre
wax while others do not. In my case, I need
to wax the thread before used to prevent it from coming loose
during stitching. To stitch the pieces together, I'll use settle stitching. This method keeps each thread
independent on both sides, ensuring that the stitching doesn't come undone over time. To start, pass one thread
through the other side of the project and adjust the
needles to the same length. Then pass the first
needle through, followed by the second and pull the threads tightly to
create a firm stitch. Repeat this process along the entire stitching line until you return to
the first stitch. When you're done, go back to stitches to
secure the thread. Then cut the s with
your scissors. Use a leather hammer to flatten the stitches and leather and
your stitching is complete. In the next lesson, we'll apply edge paint to finish
off the project.
9. Finishing the edges: Welcome back. We're almost
finished with our project. In this lesson, we'll
focus on painting and polishing the edges
of our book separator. Once the stitching is complete, the edges of the leather pieces may become slightly misaligned, so we need to level them again. For this, I'll use a 180
grits and paper as the edges are already securely fixed and will be easy to smooth
as a single piece. Next, we can proceed to paint the edges using our edge
paint and paint applicator. This time, I'll apply three
to four coats on each side as the areas we're covering are much wider than the
mode the piece, and we want the edges to feel as even and
smooth as possible. In my case, each coat took at least ten to 20 minutes to dry before applying
the next one. Always check the
drying time to ensure the surface is fully dry before
adding additional coats. Once the painting is complete, we can polish the edges using
burnishing gum once again. Use a small piece of
canvas to apply friction, leaving the edges
shiny and smooth. Finally, I use a plastic
bone folder to remove any excess loop between the ladders and our
project is complete. In the next lesson,
we'll discuss the final project for this
class. See you there.
10. Final project: Welcome to the final
lesson of the class. Before diving into
the final project, I'd like to recap what
we've learned so far. We've designed our pattern for the book separator from scratch, prepare our letters, glue and painted the edges
of our project, and learn how to stitch
everything together. Now it's your turn to create your own book separator
from scratch. While we focus on square design, I encourage you to get
creative and explore different shapes and designs that reflect your
personal style. Once you've completed
your project, don't forget to upload it to the project section so other
students can see your work. I hope you have enjoyed the
class and found it valuable. If you did and would
like to explore more leather crafting
classes like this one, I invite
you to follow me. I also share classes on
sketching and prototyping. Thank you so much for
joining the class, and I look forward
to seeing you in the next one. Have a
great day, everyone.
David Gonzalez, Industrial Designer
