THE CRAFTS 
WOOD CARVING AND PYROGRAPHY. LEATHER AND METAL. BASKETRY, ETC. 
Under the inanngcnicnt of Miss Emily Peacock, i6j Soiii/i Nuitli street, Brooklyn, N. Y. All inquiries in regard to the various 
Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but will be ansivered in the niaga.zinc under this head. 
SUGGESTIONS FOR LEATHER WORK 
Ann ah C. Ripley 
GIVEN a work-bench, cnliiusiasm and patience, a h\t of 
leather, and a high ideal — and what may be accomp- 
lished? It is simple to describe processevS — to explain that this 
tool is used to prodiice this elTect, that color to produce that; 
all of which is verj^ important in its way. But it is neverthe- 
less of minor importance as compared with the underlying cre- 
ative principles at the root of all successfid work, whether 
handicraft or some other form of self-expression. Before pro- 
ceeding therefore, to describe these certain processes, I wish to 
emphasize their secondary position as related to the whole. 
However fair your techniciue, remember that process is the 
meanSj not the end, and that it is the thought — ^the conception 
— back of the expression of it, that stamps your work as vital 
or as lifeless. 
Old Mexican .saddle flaiji. 
A work-bench provided (a soft wood table or carpenter's 
bench, and a high stool), the selection of a side of russet kid or 
calf skin, tanned without oil or soap stone so that it niaj^ be 
readilj' modelled, comes next, and brings yoii face to face with 
the question of what you mean to do with it. I have chosen a 
simple design as illustration. Whether you have studied de- 
sign or not you can at least, bj? a combination of forms — 
circles, squares, triangles, parrellel lines, or what you will — 
make some kind of a pattern; and this pattern, with the aid of 
some dull pointed instrument (an agate point if you have one) , 
you can certainly transfer to your leather. Make your drawing 
in charcoal, the result being freer than with pencil, and I would 
suggest making your first sketch on a somewhat larger scale 
than you expect to use, dispensing as far as possible with ruling, 
tracing and measuring. The natural irregularities will only add 
strength. When you imagine an Oriental rug, a Persian tile, 
Delft plate, old tooled book-binding, or any individual master- 
piece of craftsmanship, reproduced without its irregularities, 
you will readily understand the force of this suggestion. All 
vigor would be gone. 
There is an indescribable charm to an untouched piece of 
leather — ^IjeautifuUy tanned — full of possibility. The fin- 
ished work, however elaborate, lies somewhere within it, and 
the slow and laborious process of moulding it to express one's 
thought is distinctly fascinating. Nothing that has ever been 
done to leather before can prevent you from doing exactly 
what you wish to do to this ! It may be very bad — in which 
case you will not repeat it. At least so much is accomplished. 
There are many stjdes of leather work — illuminated or 
Cordovan leather, carved and embossed leather, leather inlay 
and applique, pyrography, and gold-tooling; and the descrip- 
tion of no one of these styles can begin to suggest all the possi- 
bilities of this most charming of mediums. From them each I 
think we may choose certain particularly strong features, com- 
bining them to produce our individual effects; and in the ex- 
ample I have chosen as illustration I have endeavored to 
suggest the application of these leading principles, advising 
the individual worker, when a general working theory is once 
even roughly grasped, to insist upon developing his own style. 
Each worker is his own best teacher, and each personal effort 
at expression does more to develop his work than any amount 
of definite instruction from some more advanced worker. The 
following process is purely suggestive: 
Fig. I. Shows the design cut in outline into the leather. 
Before emitting the outHne, lay the leather upon a slab of marble 
or stone in order to secure absolute resistance to your knife, 
and then wet the skin with water to soften it. If the leather is 
thin, sponging the surface will be sufficient — if heavy and stiff, 
soak it for several hours and then partially dry it. The illus- 
tration shows the kind of knives used for this outlining. For 
very fine work you will use a small blade, manipulating it in 
the fingers with a general finger and wrist motion; whereas for 
heavier, broader effects, by placing the tool in a wooden handle 
and holding it in the hollow of the hand, it is possible to obtain 
a strong, vigorous shoulder motion of great freedom. Hold the 
knife absolutely upright, drawing the forward point of the little 
blade firmly toward you. Always make. your cut bold and 
firm, making as long a stroke as possible. The knife is not used 
on Cordovan leathers — in fact, I think it is exclusively a Mexican 
suggestion, but one of great importance as enabling a free-hand 
stroke like that of a brush, quite impossible to get by hammer- 
ing in the outline. No amount of careful finish can coiuiteract 
a weak outline — it is the most important step of the way. 
Leather showing different phases of tooling. 
