Hi, I'm Jim Linnell with Tandy Leather.
I'm going to be showing you how to make a wallet,
and I'll be going through each of the steps
with each of the tools in enough detail
so that you'll know how to get the best results
out of your leather work.
A couple of tools that will get used kind of together
but they're two different tools, they do two different things,
is called a Stop and a Mulesfoot.
Usually when you use a Stop tool, which is a little tear-drop shaped tool,
you'll almost always use a Mulesfoot with it.
And there's a couple of places here where it would work really well
on this design.
One of those places is right here at the junction of these petals
on the acanthus leaf.
Right here where these two petals end or where that line ends,
would be a good place to kind of give a little flair to that.
But the Stop tool--
as I said it's kind of a tear-drop shaped tool,
it has a large bulb on the end of it,
and then a really narrow end on the other end
and by angling it like that, it makes it looks like
there's a little bit of opening where those two things come together.
That's where that tool gets used.
And then a Mulesfoot,
it actually kind of looks like what its name says.
It looks like a hoof print almost. It's a U-shaped tool.
It is kind of beveled if you were to look at it from the side.
You can see that the toe of it, this point, is much longer than the other.
So that's the end that's the end that does most of the work.
And usually when this tool is used, we use it in a series of impressions.
We'll start right up here, close to the Stop tool.
We'll use an impression that's fairly deep,
and then as we make a series of impressions in a row,
moving down the end of it, we get lighter, and lighter, and lighter.
So usually there's four or five impressions
when you use this tool.
And it gives kind of a nice flair to the end
of where that Stop impression is used.
And those are the kind of places that a Stop tool would normally be used
is in a place like that.
So now, we're getting really close to the final step,
which is the backgrounding step.
So we're going to let this leather-- we're going to moisten it one more time
but then let it dry some.
Backgrounding works best if you have it a little bit drier.
But that's going to be our next step.
Our final stamping step is to do the background.
And this will really make the entire design pop out
by adding a texture to all of these openings,
all of these gaps in between the design.
It really will make this design stand out.
I am going to use a simple matting-type of background tool.
I think the number is 104.
It actually comes in two versions.
There's a half-sized version of it as well,
which there may be some tighter corners where we need to get into.
But let me show you how this tool is used.
First of all, your leather should be a little bit drier
then when you've done the rest of it.
It works best if there's just a little moisture in it.
But not as much as when you're doing some of the other steps.
When you're doing the backgrounding,
what I like to do is, I'll take an area
like this large opening here between these flower petals
and I will go all the way around that opening with this tool,
making sure that I have backgrounded as deeply as these lines were cut.
So I want to make sure my backgrounding is 1/3 to 1/2 of the width of the leather,
however deep that cut was.
And by making sure that I've got it that deep around the edges,
then I'll come back and fill in this center area
and mat all of that down to match.
That way I get a good amount of contrast between the backgrounding
and the rest.
This tool can be walked a little bit.
Kind of like the beveler and the parashader
where you kind of let it hop along and overlap the impressions.
And that's actually how you get the best smooth results.
You can go over it if it doesn't come out
as smooth as you like the first time.
You can come back over it and kind of even it up.
But if you go over it again and again and again,
sometimes it starts to chew up the leather a little too much.
So try to get it even as quickly as you can.
But you can see what a difference that makes
by adding this backgrounding,
with having this different texture,
and having this pushed down as deeply as the lines are cut.
We can start to get this design to really stand out.
So this is an important step.
And once again, take your time with this.
If you have done just a really smooth, clean job
all the way along up to this point,
and then you just get a little careless,
and you take a bite out of one of these flower petals,
there's just no way to fix that.
So take your time,
make sure you've got each one of these impressions
where you want it before you whack it with a mallet.
(tapping)
As we finish up the backgrounding step,
you can see what a difference this is making to the overall design.
It really separates out the different parts of the design.
It really adds a lot of three-dimension, it adds color contrast
to the design as well.
And it really starts to look like a finished pattern.
(tapping)
And of course, take your time and double-check,
make sure you haven't missed anything.
But there's our design with all of the stamping steps completed.
And we will be ready here, in just a few minutes
to do the decorative cuts.
Thank you for joining me today.
Be sure to check back often here at our blog
and we'll show you more tips and ideas
on how to get the most fun out of your leather work.