Making and Placing Decorative Cuts

It is my belief that decorative cuts are just as important to a well-finished leather project as a diamond is to an engagement ring. It is almost as if you had a cup of hot water and called it a cup of coffee because it is in a cup. It is not coffee without the key ingredient. Adding decorative cuts to your project will give it a finished look. With that being said, decorative cuts can make or break a project as well. Poorly made decorative cuts can make a project look, well, as if something happened by accident.

If you are scratching your head asking, “Just what is a decorative cut?” that is a good question. There is not a stamp available, which can adequately make all decorative cuts; they must be made with a swivel knife. That being said, there are stamps are stamps that can be purchased for decorative cuts. Being “old school,” the best means for making decorative cuts is to use a swivel knife.

Decorative cuts are the last thing to be done on your project. Make sure that your swivel knife blade is sharp by stropping it on the piece of scrap leather with white jeweler’s  rouge rubbed into it. I have found that my best practices are to strop my swivel knife blade when it finish using it. That way I am assured that the blade will be sharp enough when I begin to carve a new project. Be sure to re-strop the swivel knife periodically during the process of carving the decorative cuts to the pattern.

If you find the leather too dry to carve you can spray a mist of water on it. Do not get the leather too wet or it could affect the appearance of your tooling by causing the stamped area to look bleached out. Make sure that your spray bottle is set to apply a mist rather than a solid stream so that you do not get the leather too wet. I like to give my spray bottle a couple a couple of squirts to make sure that it is primed and ready to give me the mist that I need.

I will attempt to describe the technique for making decorative cuts the best way that I can. It might be more difficult to try to describe the making of the cut than it is to make them. I will refer to a photograph that I posted earlier in this blog. (See below.) I like to start my decorative cuts by placing my swivel knife blade at a 90-degree angle to the direction that I plan to make the cut.

Stages of making decorative cuts

Looking at the photo above you will see a short “not-quite” carved line. That line was made by pressing the right-hand edge of the swivel knife blade into the leather while tilting it in the same direction, to the right. Use firm pressure to begin the cut, making sure to not press so hard that the blade will cut through lightweight leather. The cut in the middle shows how the first cut would look if it were continued to approximately one-half the desired length of the cut. The bottom cut is the completed version of the decorative cut.

In the photograph, the cuts might look gigantic when in fact the longest, on the bottom, is only about three-quarters of an inch in length. As previously described, I like to start my cuts with the trailing edge of the blade at a 90-degree angle to the direction in which I plan to make my cut. While exerting firm pressure on the top of the tilted swivel knife I begin to twist the barrel of the swivel knife and pull the blade around. During the process of making this turn or swivel, I begin to release the downward pressure in the swivel knife. This will give the impression of the cut being larger at the top than at the bottom.

Decorative cuts are something that take a lot of practice. I guess that I am still practicing because I can see a lot of room for improvement in my work. If you look at the bottom cut on the photo above you will see that the cut tapers off too rapidly. I let off too soon on the amount of pressure that I used to complete the cut.

I use the technique for making my decorative cuts as described above mostly on flower petals. With that being stated, I will occasionally make similar cuts on other parts of the pattern. The photo demonstrates that technique much better than I can describe with words. Besides that, I might wind up having you attempt to carve something on the hind leg of a mule if I am not careful.

Decorative cuts on a Copper Rose flower

The flower in the photo above is again the copper rose. Please look closely at the decorative cuts on each of the petals. They are all very similar in size, spacing, and how they were carved. It is best to make your first cut toward the outer portion of the petal and work your way toward the center of the flower. You will also notice that the decorative cuts are made in a left or right hand curve. The large cuts are spaced almost equidistant from each other. Looking at the decorative cuts on the flower petal on the upper right you will notice that the length of these cuts are a little shorter than those on the upper left petal. I like to do this when one petal is a little longer than the others are. I think that it looks a little better to fill up more of the area of the petal with the decorative cuts.

Looking back at the copper rose photo you will notice that the decorative cuts on the lower left petal are spaced a little wider toward the center of the flower. Here again, I do this so that it will fill more of the area. In addition, it is not necessary to put the little “tick” cuts as I call them between the larger decorative cuts. I began making the tick cuts almost twenty years ago because I felt that it gave a little more flare to my work.

In the photo below you can see some other examples of decorative cuts but these are on the leaves and stems. They do not have the pronounced curves that those on the flower petals have but `are created in pretty much the same manner as the ones on the flower. The main difference is that these cuts are straighter and longer than those on the flower petals. These cuts are made by keeping the swivel knife at the same distance from the edge for the full length of the cut. As you are pulling the swivel knife along release some of the downward pressure to produce the effect that the line is fading out as it gets farther from its point of origin.

Decorative cuts on leaves and stems

Do not worry if your lines are not perfectly spaced from the edge of the leaf. It is not mandatory and if I am honest with you, I have slipped more than once and gone over the edge of the leaf. The main thing with making decorative cuts is that it takes a lot of practice and a blade in your swivel knife that is well polished.

In addition, on the leaves it is apparent that the decorative cuts down the outside of the leaves are not the only ones on them. You can see shorter lines that start almost at the same point at which the longer cuts began. When you look at various photo-carve patterns you will notice that these cuts have been closer to the edge of the leaf than what I have done here. Here again, it is a matter of choice and what you think looks better to you. These shorter cuts were made in the same way as the ones on the petals. Here is something you may want to consider when you make the cuts on the curved edge of the leaves. Is it as easy enough to make these cuts closer to the edge than shorter and more towards the center of the leaf? Another thing you will want to keep in mind is when you make these cuts is do it so looks the best to you?

If you are just beginning in leather craft, you might feel that decorative cuts are too difficult than you are able to do. I will not say that you have to put them on your project, but if you want it to look finished, you will want to use them. Decorative cuts are like the colors in a flower, they finish it and make it that much more beautiful. Decorative cuts are something that you will not achieve greatness on the first try, but with practice, the quality will come. There it is again practice. I have been doing leatherwork for over forty years and I still need to practice. It is not only the hands and fingers that you are training; you are training your eye or visual perception as well. I think that I do most of my work well but I know that there is always something that I should have done a little different and that I might have done a whole lot better. When I get to the point that I feel that I have no room for improvement it will be time to put away my tools for good and find a good rocking chair to sit in to let the rest of me waste away with my desire to improve.

If you have any questions or comments please let me know, especially if I have confused you with my comments. I will not know if I am being successful in my attempt to help you learn leatherwork.

Have fun!

Using the Mule Foot Stamp

The last leather stamp that I will tell you about using, at least in a little more detail, is the mule foot. The mule foot is the neat little stamp that looks like a “V” when stamped on the leather. I like this stamp a lot because of its versatility and because it adds a lot of character to the pattern if well stamped. I will not say that it is the easiest stamp to use because it does take practice to make it look as if it was planned instead of something that just happened.

The mule foot stamp is just like most of the others in that it comes in different sizes. Some of them will be a little wider and some may be more rounded than others. The stamp that you use will be entirely up to your own desires. The way I decide which mule foot stamp I am going to use depends upon the size of the flowers or leaves in the pattern. If I am stamping a pattern with large flowers and leaves, I will use a larger mule foot simply because I think it looks better. It is not necessary to buy more than one mule foot stamp because you can more than likely use the same stamp on other patterns as well.

The photos that I have included with this post are not from a pattern sample that I hurriedly hammered out to get another post done. I took photos of the front of a portfolio prototype that I made somewhere around the year 2000. You will see other stamps that were used to complete the tooled pattern but you will also see how I applied the mule foot to various parts of the design as well. This pattern also has many decorative cuts on it as the finishing touch for completing the pattern. I will address the way to make decorative cuts using the swivel knife in the next post.

The photo below is probably the largest photo that I have uploaded for viewing on this blog so far. I wanted to show the whole design first, so that you would be able to see how the pattern looks after the project is completely finished. I will include some close-up views of various sections of the pattern to demonstrate how the mule foot can be incorporated. One other thing, please notice that you do not need to have ever square inch of the design stamped for it to look good. The decorative cuts work better for this.

Twenty year old portfolio cover

I did use the mule foot stamp in many places on this pattern but not all of them that I could have. I decided that enough was enough. Some people may think that the stamp was overused on this pattern anyway but I think that it is a matter of taste. I wanted to accent the prominent places where the leaves met the stems and any other area that I felt it might look good. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the opinion of this beholder is that it looks reasonably good the way it was done.

The next photos are of the different sections of the design. I will call them out as they are displayed so that you will be able to get a better idea of what portion of the pattern is being represented. In addition, to keep the text of this post a little closer together I will be displaying the photos as they were taken, with the portfolio fold at the bottom. Most of these photos are wider than they are tall as well as being larger than those displayed on the previous posts.

The next photo is what would be the right upper corner of the cover as shown in the first photo of this post. I doubt very seriously that you will find any plants that look like this pattern but the idea of using this stamp is to add texture, character, and a little bit of filler for your pattern. I do not have any set number of impressions that I use in any one place or similar area. My desire is to make the number and spacing of each impression fit the area in which it is used. If you look closely at the area of the pattern stamped here, you can see that the impressions are larger closer to the joint and they begin to taper off a little with each succeeding impression. 

Right corner of the portfolio cover

If I did not say it before, it does take practice to get this technique down. The first stamp impression is made closest to the joint of the stems and it will set the tone for how you will want to proceed with the rest. To make the first impression with the mule foot I hold the stamp almost vertical. This puts more of the stamp’s pattern on the leather. It is important to make sure that the center of the “V” is lined up with the end of the line as well. With each impression after that, you will need to lean the top of the stamp in the direction you are intending to move. Be sure to tap the stamp a little lighter with each impression afterwards to give the “fading” effect.

Even after using the mule foot stamp for as long as I have I still have issues with it. Occasionally, I will not pay close enough attention to how I am holding the stamp and it might be turned a little to one side or the other. The point of the “V” may be perfectly centered but one side of all of those little “Vs” will be lined up, which spoils the spacing for the rest. The only place that you might enjoy this effect is if you are placing a series of impressions on a tight curve. What do you do if this happens to you when you are almost finished with a project? I say “Oh, shucky darn!” and proceed on to the next stage. Unless you tell people about the mistake, they probably would not notice it anyway. The reason I mention the possibility of this happening is because it has happened to me more than once and I want you to be aware.

The flower in the photo below is one of my favorites. It is called a Copper Rose and I think that it has the potential to look beautiful no matter how it has been stamped. In the center of the flower, I used a “flower center” stamp to get that design. What I want you to notice in the center area of the flower is not this particular stamp but the use of the mule foot at the end of each overlapping line where the petals begin. I adopted this use of the mule foot stamp over twenty years ago because I thought it made the flowers look more finished. You can agree with me or not.

Copper rose on the portfolio cover

 In the photo above, the mule foot was used in the same way on the lines for the joints of the leaves and stems. Another part of the pattern that the stamp was used in a similar fashion is on the flower stem. You can see if you look closely at how the stamp proceeds out from the flower that I got my alignment and spacing off by a little. This looks terrible to me but I did not toss this project because I already had a lot of time in it and most of the people viewing it would probably not see it unless they knew what they were looking for or at.

The following photo is basically a rehash of what has already been mentioned about the use of the stamp. However, if you look at the upper right hand corner of the photo you will notice that another error that is possible with the mule foot. I evidently got too involved in making sure that I followed the curve of the stem and tilted my stamp more to one side than the other. Notice that the left side of the “Vs” on most of the impressions is a little longer than the right.

Mid-section of the pattern on the portfolio cover

Something else to remember about placing succeeding impressions of the mule foot stamp is that there needs to be adequate spacing between the first few stamps. It is also important that you remember to tilt the stamp a little in the direction you are moving it to avoid over-stamping the previous ones made. What can happen if you do not do this is that because of the way the stamp is made it will cause the previous one to close up and not be as prominent. Using a piece of scrap leather, you should be able to imitate this problem and discover for yourself how to make mule foot stamp work the best for you.

The last photo in this post is a little more of the same stuff but with another pattern area, that shows how you can use this stamp to decorate it. In the center of the photo is a flower bud on which I used the stamp to represent “multiplicity” if you please. This time I sought to keep the impressions of the stamp the same size but I placed them side to side. The first stamp was placed at the top of the flower bud. In order for me to have this turn out in a decent manner, I have to turn the project so that the point of the bud is pointing at me. This allows me to place the succeeding impressions with the point of the stamp at the “top” of the “Vs” legs, for the lack of a better description. This technique is not “cut in stone” and it is up to the artist as to how he or she would like to see it done

Flower bud as stamped

Stay tuned for the next version of this blog in which I will discuss in more detail how to make decorative cuts to accent your stamped project. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Have fun!