In other news, Satan has tiny hands and protruding front teeth.

In other news, Satan has tiny hands and protruding front teeth.

Whooops, I’m talking all biblical.
I’m always interested in how stitching changes inlay and overlay, but usually it’s an obvious aesthetic difference. The stitching seemed to add a layer of gravity to this piece, as if it were just random bits of leather trying to imitate a photograph before, but now it’s become both a reference to the original AND its own separate piece as well.

Cause for celebration: all of the lettering is completed on this pair of boot tops

I’ve often idly wondered how small I could inlay and stitch letters, and today I found out. If these had been 1/2 a millimeter smaller I couldn’t have done it.

Every once in a while, I agree to do a project and then realize that I’m not certain it’s possible or most importantly, whether or not I can do it. This boot top definitely fell into that category but… I did it! Off to the right you can see ALL of the pattern pieces used; every color in the boot top is a different piece of leather and I created a poster board pattern for every piece.

They say the devil is in the details and if that is the case, Old Scratch has made his presence known in the process of patterning and putting these boot tops together.

Oh, the things I create with leather…

These wing and countertips are ready and waiting for a boot.

It’s the start of something new!

Here’s a link to my latest YouTube video. In case you’re curious about them, I do a monthly video that’s 9-12 minutes long. The first 3-5 minutes are some technical explanation of a machine, tool, or technique. The rest of each episode is about my life as a boot maker; sometimes it features Morgan, or the farm animals, or my travels, or visitors to my shop.
In this episode, in addition to explaining how lasts work, I teach Morgan to make bread and sing with my cousins.