Tracing Pattern and Preparation

Okay, for this post I promise to stay on track. I intended to give instructions on how to transfer your carving pattern to the leather. I will reiterate a few things as we go along with this topic just so that you will understand what I am trying to get across.

Here are some things that you want to do and some things that you do not want to do when you are going to get your leather wet either under the faucet for medium weight leather or with a spray bottle for lighter weight leather. Make sure that your hands are clean and have no hand lotions or creams on them. A little dirt mixed with hand lotion and damp leather will prove to be a difficult stain to remove. I have had a number of projects that required the use of a product to remove my fingerprints and those of well-meaning customers.

Rather than using the tracing pattern that comes with a kit to transfer the pattern to the leather, trace it with a pencil onto tracing paper or some kind of paper that will allow you to see what you need to trace. Do not use a pen to trace your pattern because many inks will seep through the paper and get on the leather. Two things that are very difficult to get off from leather are ink and blood.

When tracing the pattern onto the paper tape, if possible, either use some tape to hold that pattern in place to keep it from sliding around or weight it down with an object that will not get in your way while tracing. It really stinks when you find out that the pattern that you spent 30-60 minutes tracing is skewed by a half-an-inch. Guess how I know about that.

I managed to come up with an idea early into my leather-crafting career for making my copies of patterns last longer. After I had traced a pattern I would put clear tape over the top of it to make it last longer. This worked especially well for belt patterns that I had traced because most belt patterns are just repetition of leaves and flowers or leaves and acorns with a few stems and branches thrown in. One of the happiest moments I had with using the tape on my patterns was when I found out that I could just add another layer of tape to the first one without too much difficulty. What was even better was when I found clear packaging tape that is 2-inches wide. That would cover all of my belt patterns with one long, wide piece of tape instead of six strips of ¾-inch Scotch tape.

Ever since I experimented with using the tape on my tracing/carving patterns, I have taped all of them. I have made multiple items using the exact same pattern so putting the tape on it to protect the paper helped big time. I had some belt patterns that I had so many layers of tape on that I could almost rub them with a flat object to transfer the pattern to the leather without having to use the ballpoint stylus.

Okay, now if your hands are clean, the working surface is clean, and you do not have any debris on the back of your paper pattern or your leather you are pretty much ready to start putting the pattern on your leather. Oh yeah, make sure that the leather is not too wet. If it is still dark from moisture, do not start! If you are sure that it is good to go, line up that tracing/carving pattern with the edges of the leather. If you have something you can place on a corner of the pattern to keep it from slipping, please do it. If you use tape, make sure that you do not allow the adhesive side of the tape to stick to the grain of the leather. You will not like the end result if this happens.

After getting the pattern lined up with the leather it is time to start using the ballpoint stylus to apply the pattern to the leather. Simply trace over each line in the pattern with the ballpoint stylus, applying enough pressure to transfer the pattern to the leather. It is not a good idea to attach all edges of the pattern to the work surface because you will want to make sure at some point that you are able to lift one edge to make sure that you have all of the lines transferred to the leather. Let me tell you, if you miss transferring one line to your pattern, it is very difficult to get the pattern lined up in the exact place.

The picture below shows what a tracing pattern might look like. If you were using this pattern, each line would need to be transferred to your project.

Sample tracing pattern

Some patterns will have a carved border to which the pattern will run up to. In this case, it might be easier if you pre-carve your border so that you will have a ready-made stop for your stylus to bump up against. For myself, I have found that it works best if I carve my border and use a ruler to make the straight lines after marking and measuring to insure accuracy. If your project has curved edges, such as a purse, it might be better to use a wing dividers, it looks like a compass only with two metal points, to mark your border before carving.

Once you have traced the whole pattern onto the leather, you can begin using your swivel knife to carve it. Take is slow and easy and use both hands if necessary to keep your swivel knife steady.

I will have some photos available on the next post showing the techniques I use for carving leather.

If you have any questions about working with leather please take time to post them. I will be happy to help you if I can.

Have fun!