Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: vegetable tanned leather

Put a Cog In It

It's been a long, long time since I have made anything. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever craft again. I really missed making things but I didn't have a reason to – there was nothing in particular that I really needed or wanted. And I have to admit, I've fallen into the habit of buying things at the shops in recent times because I've been time poor. It always seems like a good idea but I end up feeling a little empty when all I am doing is consuming.

All it took to break my crafting drought was to spend time with creative, crafty people. Being surrounded by materials and handmade objects got my imagination going and before long I was asking my friend if I could use some of this leather to make a wrist cuff. It was so good to be working with leather again. Designing a pattern and using graph paper for the first time to make it symmetrical was awesome. Although the advice I had was that once the pattern was transferred to paper and cut out, it would no longer be perfect. And it was true! But I love the finished piece anyway.

Part of the reason I chose to make this particular piece was that it looked super simple – no sewing! Like most things, looks can be deceiving and although this project was relatively straight forward, it did take up more time than I anticipated. Partly because I embellished the original simple design by adding a line all around the edges.

I also decided to stamp some designs on the leather so we headed into the nearby town of Deloraine to find some antique clock pieces. I've had a thing for those steampunk gears for years and had a hankering to add them on to this project. My original idea was to heat the cogs and then place them on the leather to brand it. Apparently this can be super tricky so my friend's mum suggested I wet the leather and stamp it instead. It was a great idea and I am super happy with how it turned out.

Once the cuff was scribed, stamped and all the edges bevelled, it was time to dye the leather. Another first for me – I usually leave my pieces raw and let time leave it's mark on the surface of the project. Finally, I conditioned the leather wth a beeswax polish so it wouldn't dry out my skin when I wear it.

I shouldn't stress about not crafting but I do. I always forget that there are times of rest followed by times of action. The lesson here is to trust in the process. In the moment. In where you are and what you need. And sometimes, what you need is to be with other people who are doing the things your soul is longing to do. At least that's how I feel about it!

May 3, 2023
All Bound Together

It's poetry month and time again for the Dirty Thirty Poetry Challenge on Facebook. Which means I need a journal in which to record all the poems I write during the challenge. Last year I made a leather journal which I love so this year I'm making another one. I can see journal making being an annual event. I love the idea of a having a collection of journals lined up on the shelf.

The leather is cow hide from a place down in Tassie I visited latest year when I was staying with some friends. I've used some cheapish watercolour paper for the pages as I like to write with felt tipped pens and occasionally draw pictures. Ink drawn on thinner paper ends up showing through to the other side.

There's something reassuring and familiar about using the same materials year in and year out. I don't alway like predictability, in fact I am a huge fan of variety, but in this case it feels like coming home. Sitting in my study in the morning before anyone gets up, reading the prompt for the day and then scribbling down my thoughts. It's linking my past self to my current self and I like the two Indrani's being in the same room together. Who knows, maybe future Indrani is in there with them as well. Only time will tell.

April 3, 2021
Craft Is Good

You'll be pleased to know that I do actually love the leather pouch I made when I was in Tassie. It's filled with so many happy memories of the people and place where I made it. It helped me to write and post about all the things that went wrong. Somehow acknowledging all my mistakes and dissatisfactions released them into the atmosphere so I could then focus on all the good things and there are so many!

My friend taught me so many cool new things. I got to do some leather carving and stamping using some funky tools. I'm positive I have some stamping tools in a box somewhere at home (bonus!). I discovered a new tool – a style – which you can use to get your design from paper and on to leather. I used the style to carve the design on the lid of the pouch and the stamping tools to create the flower underneath.

The pouch and straps are made from cow hide. The toggle, hook and gusset are made from kangaroo skin. The toggle is made out of one piece of leather cut and rolled in an ingenious way. I LOVE elegant design. And making it yourself and this toggle does with of those things. I never would have known about it if I hadn't been doing craft with my friend. Working with other people is so good – you get a fresh perspective and new design ideas.

I cut my first ever straps, sewed on a buckle and made a keeper for the buckle. For some reason I had convinced myself it was all too hard to do and I've been avoiding both for years. But really, like most things, it was super easy once I knew how.

I am super grateful for all of N's time, skills and knowledge. Most of all for his generosity in sharing his materials, tools and time. He was the best teacher – patient, funny and kind. And I have the most beautiful pouch to remind me every day that life is good and people are kind.

December 21, 2020
Craft Lessons

I had the best time in Tassie. The highlight of course was all the craft I got to do with my friend's 14 year old son. He's into all the crafts I love – leathercraft and woodwork – with the added bonus of being into blacksmithing, something I'd love to learn but haven't yet had the chance to explore. He has lessons with a local, self-taught blacksmith and has made his own forge. Unfortunately on this trip we didn't have time to fire up the forge but I definitely plan on going back next year for a blacksmithing lesson.

I am incredibly envious of his outdoor campfire with homemade bench and tripod where he often cooks his lunch. Then there's the shed complete with workbench, vice and wood stove in one corner. And of course the forge under the eaves of the shed. Watching over everything is the surrounding bush and the scree on the mountain.

He's making the most amazing leather bags and pouches as well as carving spoons of all kinds from wood on their property, forging pendants and tongs and making Viking chess sets. I could happily spend a long time looking at all the incredible things he's made.

Of course I wanted to make one of everything when I saw all his incredible handmade items but I settled on a leather pouch, a mini book and a needle holder made out of huon pine. It was a tad ambitious trying to cram it all into two and a half days and I made many mistakes along the way!

I managed to sew the straps on to the pouch backwards and the front went all wonky. I discovered both mistakes late at night when I thought I had finally finished the pouch. The next morning I got up super early to make the mini book while everyone was asleep. All was going well until it came time to cut the slits on the cover for the strap and I did them the wrong way. It was the ingenious strap design that I fell in love with in the first place (I love elegant and functional design) and I really wanted to make it work but I couldn't see how. I was super bummed at this point. Both the things I had attempted came up duds.

It was when I was having a shower that I realised what I needed to do. (I find showers are so good for inspiration and clarity. I get my best ideas and poems when I'm in the shower.) I figured out I could turn the front of the mini book into the back and sew a little piece of leather over the cuts to hide them. It was a really good reminder to turn my mistakes into opportunities to be creative.

And it was at this point I let go of getting everything made before I left. I realised I'd have to finish / fix my projects when I got home. Especially if I wanted to have time to make a needle holder.

I guess you won't be surprised to learn that didn't turn out quite right either. Somehow the hole I drilled went wonky so we couldn't make it super long. I can get four of the leather craft needles I bought at Simon Martin Whips & Leathercraft into the case so it's not a complete bust at least. And I discovered that I love using a draw knife and it's now on my list of tools to get. I can see many more needle holders in my future!

It was awesome doing so much craft in such a short space of time with such a great craft companion. And I am so grateful for all the lessons a super charged crafting retreat provided. I was reminded of the beauty of letting go, of seizing the opportunity to be creative and of loving the imperfections of my handmade items.

December 20, 2020
And Here It Is…In Brown

I couldn't help myself. I just had to make a version of the blue leather journal in brown. The blue leather clashed terribly with my brown scarf and mittens.

Excitingly, I found the banksia button you can see on the front of the journal in my sewing cupboard when I was looking for something else. I love finding little gifts from past me. She rocks!

The journal is the perfect size to fit one of my eco-dyed notebooks and a sketch folio.

June 30, 2020
Books Within Books

I've recently become obsessed with making leather journals. Since we've been self-isolating I've had a lot more time on my hands to make and also to write. And if you're going to be writing stuff down you definitely need more notebooks to write things in.

Of course once you've made a notebook you then need, ahem, a leather journal to carry it around in. One with compartments for the notebooks plus a little slot for your pens so you can be all neat and organised.

I made this cute little leather journal from vegetable-tanned kangaroo skin I got from Greenhalgh's Tannery about a million years ago (right now I'm feeling super grateful to past me for her most excellent taste in craft materials and good sense in buying up big when she had the time and money). It's to store the sketchfolio I made to store the zen tangles I'm going to draw. I know, nuts. But then I've always loved having lots of little bags which go in a bigger bag and then get put into an even bigger bag. This is just the book version of my bag obsession (hmmm, I'm spotting a theme here. I seem to be quite obsessive lately…)

I love it so much I think I'm going to have to make a brown leather journal to go with the eco-dyed notebook I made a while back. And perhaps some notebooks with blue/grey eco-dyed paper to go in this blue leather journal. After all, a gal's gotta be colour co-ordinated, right?

Like I said, obsessed.

May 26, 2020
My Morning Routine

For the last month I've been getting up early before the rest of the house wakes to write a poem each day as part of the Dirty Thirty challenge run by Abdulraman Hamoud on Facebook.

I light one of these beeswax candles and then write in this gorgeous leather journal. I made both the candles and the journal and it feels really special to sit down and use both of them. Having beautiful, handmade tools lifts my spirits. And there's a lovely sense of pride and satisfaction when you can use something you have made yourself.

It's become something of a peaceful ritual with which to start the day. It may not be the twenty pages of random writing as suggested by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way but it is writing when my brain is still halfway between awake and asleep. It's been interesting to see what I can come up with in response to the prompts. When I've left writing a response until later in the day it has been much harder. My brain feels sluggish and there are too many distractions to concentrate fully on writing.

Having carved out this quiet time for myself sets me up to take on the rest of the day and whatever it may throw at me. When everything goes pear-shaped as it all too often does, I have the joy of knowing I have already done something just for me. It's a priceless gift.

April 30, 2020
Leather Journal

When I make things, they need to have a purpose. I might want a leather pouch to store an almanack for example. Or else I get consumed with the desire to possess something beautiful and feel compelled to make it myself.

The latter was the case with this beautiful hand bound journal. My friend Kate came over to visit recently and she was sewing a journal to use at Uni. I fell in love immediately. The veg tanned cow hide was beautiful as was the stitch on the spine binding the pages to the cover. I was filled with must make!

Luckily for me Kate was happy to barter some leather for an avocado button I had made. You can turn avocado pips into pendants, buttons and earrings with a small knife and a bit of imagination.

When I first started making the journal I got very excited. I was having so much fun and it was so easy. I'd already ear marked money from next pay to buy some leather and was trying to figure out which paper would be the best to use for the pages. Not too heavy and not too light. Something with texture and durability. I imagines making lots of journals and selling them.

And then it took longer than I anticipated. And it got trickier that I first thought. And after that I decided maybe one was enough after all 🙂

April 7, 2020
Dive Right In

There are days when I leap out of bed, fired with enthusiasm. And days when everything seems to drag and I just want to bury my head under the pillow and pretend the world doesn't exist. There are projects that I zip through, completing in next to no time. And projects that languish on my desk for months. This pair of soft soled leather boots was in the languishing category.

This is only the third pair of leather shoes that I've made so I am still figuring things out. Once the boots were sewn and worn in, I needed to put on soles so I didn't ruin the boot itself. But I put it off cos it was fiddly, needed patience and as I'm still learning I knew that it wouldn't be perfect. It's hard to let go off that desire to be perfect and have everything just "so". But the more I do, the more I laugh and the more relaxed I become.

I finally did dive right in and get those shoes soled. It turned out all I needed was the right motivation. In this case, going to see the exhibition Inspiration by Design from London's V&A Museum at the State Library in the city.

June 11, 2015