This project included leather tooling, carving and painting, copper electroplating, making a silicone mold and casting pewter, and more. Straps are made from 2 layers of 3-4 oz. vegetable tanned leather. Both parts are glued together to create a strap with the grain side of the leather on both sides. This way a dye or finish could be applied to the bottom side of the strap. Once glued, the holes are punched and the design is carved.
The carved design is colored (dyed), then protected by leather finish. An antique gel is applied. An linen waxed thread sewn around the strap using the strongest of the stitches – the saddle stitch. For the strap holder I created a polymer clay model, then used it to make a silicone mold to cast pewter.
The pewter object was copper electroplated and then aged using boiling copper sulphate patina. Liquitex paint was used to paint the dragon. This acrylic paint is recommended for the leather work. It is very elastic and no cracks appeared after the flat image was bent into a relatively small diameter tube.
