Hello fellow forumites,

I started to make a sheath for my 13th century eating knife. I did use a thin vegetable leather, dyed it red, let it completly dry for several days. Today I let the leather soak for a short time and dry a bit, before I started to work with it. Then I applied some lilys and lines and patterns using a stamp, overstitcher and lining pencil. Then I stitched it while wet onto the blade, but, well, the leather didn't hold the pattern that well. It didn't stay crisp. What am I doing wrong? I think the leather could be too thin (it's only about 1,5-2 mm thick) or should I have let it dry some more before stitching? I will finish the sheath, but somehow I am not yet satisfied with the outcome. Any suggestions?

Regards,
Thomas

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Hi Brian,
thank you very much for your advice. Next time I'll try it your way. I think the leather was too wet and some stretching while stitching it onto the knife made the pattern become blurry. :o( But I think, I nevertheless got some exp and skill points today out of it :o)

Thomas

So, I nevertheless finished the project today. The problem with the sloppy pattern still exists, but I think the sheath has now a somehow very medieval look and feel, as if it has been used already a lot. And that's okay for my kit.

I added two photos of it for you, so have a look...

Thomas

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Very nice. It's really not too bad. Perhaps do a little light buffing, with some extra buff on the edges to give it a little age.

Thanks for sharing!

B