If you’ve followed me for some time, you probably know by now that I like finding ways to use up my leather scraps. Here I made leather cube earrings out of very thick leather (4-5mm) which I use for midsoles when making sandals/shoes.
They look surprisingly lovely considering what they are made off. I made various shapes like rectangles, triangles, squares and painted them in bright colours. They are my new favourite earrings.
This cut-out leather bracelet is the newest addition to my collection of leather bracelets. I made it using punch shapes, which are hammered to make holes in the leather.
You can create an amazing variety of patterns with these simple punches, giving the surface a playful and vibrant character.
I’ve wanted to try weaving with leather strips for some time and finally decided to make my son’s new sandals this way. Most of the leather for the sandal tops is from my leather scrap box, so I used up some oddly shaped pieces that I couldn’t make anything with anymore.
I love the look of leather and fabric together, this is the first time that I’ve made something combining these two materials. As I’ve wanted to make a rucksack for ages it was a good opportunity to try it out.
Winter is nearly over (happiness) and I’ve started to make new clothes for my children. For spring clothes I usually make something from knit jerseys, often taking old dresses apart to make new t-shirts or mixing up new and older fabrics.
This dress I made for my teenage daughter from organic cotton jersey.
The dress is a little challenging to make because of the 3 panels front and back, you have to attach them to the right places but other than that it comes together easily. I really like its shape and swing.
I can’t wait to get out of socks and boots and into sandals! Here I made tooled one-strap sandals for my children’s grandmother who lives on the other side of the world in Chile, they are in the middle of summer now…
Tooling leather straps is one way of adding sparkle to your leather projects. It’s taken me so long to find out about all the different ways to decorate leather that I thought I document whatever new I learn with each project I undertake.
Here is one way to tool leather to get the look you see on the sandals above.
This wool coat I made for my six-year-old son, he loves fun and colourful clothes. Green is his favourite colour and if I always listened to him everything he wears would be green jumpers, trousers, socks, shoes, you get the picture….
I used a fabric called boiled wool, it’s 100% wool and available in many colours. The lining is of the same fabric, but a different colour, so it’s really cosy and warm.
Boiled wool is a woven fabric that has been felted and thickened, it’s warm, durable, windproof and water-resistant, which makes it a great fabric for winter kids clothes.
I cut the appliqué from handmade wool felt, it’s much thicker than the usual felt you can buy and a beautiful quality. The owl and fox I hand stitched onto the fabric. For the drawings inside the figures, I used chain stitch.
I’m always looking for unusual ways to decorate leather. This leather wrap bracelet I decorated by cutting into the leather resulting in an interesting texture. I will definitely experiment more with this technique.
Ever since I made a bag out of cardboard I’m captivated by the possibilities of this versatile material. You can fold, roll, sew and sculpt it and transform it into stunning furniture.
Here I made a cardboard coffee table, you can also make chairs, sofas, tables, shelves, cupboards, even beds I’ve seen.
This table is easy to make, because of its simple design. I saw a similar table many years ago, I wanted one then, but found it too expensive (although it was probably made out of paper too).
The one I’ve built now out of cardboard wasn’t expensive, just the cost of paint and varnish, how awesome is that.
I love hand embroidery on denim because it transforms the rather plain fabric into something beautiful that you don’t see every day and many colours look bright and shiny on the dark blue background. Here I embroidered denim fabric which I then sewed into a pair of jeans.
I used very basic embroidery stitches like running stitch and lazy daisy stitch (also known as detached chain stitch). The thread I chose is a silk and rayon mix, it’s very shiny and special looking. I used five different colours and added tiny beads for extra sparkle.