When I first started making shoes back in the 70’s it seemed every museum in Connecticut had shoe upper patterns cut out of that brown paper often seen on a broad roll in the General Store. Never used the stuff myself because it was too flimsy. I still have the boot pattern My Master made for me using this stuff when teaching me how to measure the foot. He always used a pencil. Didn’t matter what the leather was, it was a pencil every time.
In my turn, though, I almost never use a pencil, and don’t fancy using paper. Once I mastered it under his tutelage after fumbling through it, I judged it a little too time consuming. Indeed, Waldomir confided in me that his precision with brown paper was due to the fact that it was what the Nazi’s gave him in the labor camp to work with and he was well aware that he was a Luger Round away from oblivion. Once he learned it that way he did it that way for years and years. Talk about cool under pressure…
The other lessons taught me over the years, some conversationally and all casually incidental, have proven valuable enough to pass on.
Manila folder and poster board. Love the stuff. Even paper patterns I make will get transferred to them before going near leather. The former because the fold, when acting as a spine, will give you reliable evenness every time…much more so than using graph paper. The Latter will hold up for a long time unless you have a heavy hand whilst drawing on leather by ruining the edges of the pattern. You can make the fold on the posterboard. They are both cheap and easy-peasy to store. Both respond well to a razor sharp Box Cutter ( I don’t like to run my clicking or round knife over paper) through both layers of folded material.
If you are just starting out, or have not yet acquired enough experience to trust your hand, try drawing your patterns on the flesh ( underside) side of your leather using a red gel pen or a black gel pen. When cutting on the flower side of the leather brown dye will obliterate the former and black dye the latter, assuming you leave a few marks when cutting. Working on the underside of your leather will hide marks if you do not have the patience to go back over your cut and trim away the markings. You’ll also learn to cut more precisely. You can ditch this otherwise amateurish technique as you gain experience and confidence. I use ink on site so the tourist can see what I am doing once I draw the pattern.
The softer leathers, such as Elk or Deerskin, present their own problems for you because they tend to stretch and travel a little when drawing or cutting. That’s where dead weights help. A Coyote from my Cowboy Action Years named Doc Ivory cut me this half inch steel square from his metal shop that will pin a pattern or secure a rivet for me. The craft stores sell these cute little anvils that will do the same.
The softer, more supple and darker leathers you can get at rendezvous ( usually seconds from a factory or split hide) can be your worst nightmare for patterns because almost anything you use to draw on them will be tough to see. I wish I could remember the name of the guy who taught me to use a small cotton ball and some talcum powder to mark my patterns.
Witness this piece of trash that probably embarrassed the cow it came off marked as such. Loaded up with grease the final product justified itself and produced a really nice belt bag that I flipped before photographing it.
Work with enough leather and you will see your precision and techniques improve to the point where you can pick your writing tool to suit yourself. Waldomir taught me on the first day to stick with a practice that you do well. I never saw him use a pair of scissors on his leather, something he regarded as unmanly. To this day I work with a clicking knife the way he taught me because I judge that, no matter what you are using in your project, the most efficient way to cut a pattern and lose the drawn line is with a razor sharp knife and an oak plank as a cutting board
My clicking knife and skiving knife were made from a piece of industrial band saw and I have no idea where Waldomir got them before giving them to me.
On the stiffer leathers, drop your forearm on the cutting surface and drag the knife slowly enough, and you will be surprised at how neatly and efficiently you work. On the softer leathers, as long as your hand is behind the cutting path, you can use the fingers of your free hand to separate the leather as you cut. Using both hands like that will help keep the hide stiff enough while working on it. I only use the rubber cutting board in the picture when working on cowhide.
That’s another post, though.
Tight Stitches,
Capgun
