Monday, May 15, 2017

Leather Quickie!

I have a stethoscope and veterinary thermometer in my grooming tote as part of my first aid kit. Up until last week, I kept my 'scope in a sock to keep it clean and somewhat protected. Then I got bored one night and in an amazingly short amount of time I made a nice little leather case -- and practiced my leather carving skills at the same time. It was so quick, I didn't get any in-process pictures taken, except one before I stitched the edges and one after.

Before lacing around the edge.
The whole project is just a square of leather folded over like a book, leaving one inch as a "spine". I cut in and tooled a commercial design of a flower and horse head, and then did a background of stamped basketweave and a half-round camo border. I left the back plain; no need to get overly ambitious. A few yards of 1/8" leather lacing made a nice finish for the raw edge, and also stitched in a heavy-duty zipper around the three sides.

If I had wanted to get super fancy, I could have glued in a shearling lining, and some elastic loops or similar to hold my scope and thermometer in place, but I think it's perfectly acceptable the way it is. And much better than a sock.

The lacing completed. Oh my goodness, it's so blurry.  Well. you get the idea, anyway.