ALWAYS HAPPY TO OBLIGE A RETURN CUSTOMER . . .

For a few years now, Mr. Legendary Leather has had

regular requests from "Mountain Man Bob" back in Georgia.

Bless his little southern heart, Bob is always very

generous with the compliments.

 

 

Mountain Man Bob requested a custom sheath for his Hudson

Bay Dagger, giving liberties to Mr. Legendary Leather in the

creatin' process. Sometimes this Missus is leary when

Mr. Legendary Leather takes bold steps while creatin'.

The bright red felt edging around the sheath made her gasp.

 

 

However, upon receiving photos of the finished product,

Mountain Man Bob was mighty pleased.

 

 

 

Thanks once again to Bob for putting his trust in

Mr. Legendary Leather's creative process!

 

 

 

HOLD YER BREATH . . .

Lookin' back, there are some custom creations

that Mr. Legendary Leather is a little nervous about.

It's important to him that he creates what the customer

wants and will ultimately be happy with. It seems as

though he holds his breath until he gets that final

approval from the satisfied customer.

 

 

Such was the case when Mr. Legendary Leather was

asked to create a sheath for this beauty of a bowie

(Sheffield) by Tupelo Flash. Mr. Tupelo is always very

kind in requesting custom work by Mr. Legendary

Leather and has done so in the past. However, this

knife was quite large and would require a little more

in the thought process to pull it off.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather even added a customized

style of stitching around the edges of the sheath creating

a flair of the primitive to the overall design.

 

 

Many kind thanks to Tupelo Flash for putting his trust

in Mr. Legendary Leather's creative abilities once again!



REPRESENTING BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH

When contacted for another custom request, Mr. Legendary Leather

had to travel back in time to the war between north and south. Civil War Bob

was interested in having two custom reproduction 'shot bags' made. 

Civil War Bob already had the leather pieces cut to his specifications by

another craftsman and wanted Mr. LL to create designs . . . one bag

design representing the south and the other design representing the north. 

 

 

There was to be no staining or sewing on Mr. Legendary Leather's end.

The carved pieces of leather would be sent off to another craftsman of

Civil War Bob's choosing where authentic antique Civil War spouts would be added.

 

 

We can only imagine what the finished product will look like,

however, Mr. Legendary Leather was proud being asked to be

part of the creatin' process!

 



CUFF 'EM!

Recently, Mr. Legendary Leather was paid a compliment when asked

to do another custom order. Mr. Raahauge requested a small, very plain

and simple, sheath case for his pocketknife. Mr. Legendary Leather was able

to accommodate him with an overnight finished product. Mr. Raahauge was

so thrilled with his new sheath that he asked Mr. Legendary Leather to make

two cases for his handcuffs. Handcuffs?? Once again, Mr. Legendary Leather

would be traveling the 'learning curve' road. The Missus has shared with you

many times on how Mr. Legendary Leather receives custom requests, and how

sometimes these requests are as far from his 'cowboy world' as a bobcat's tail

on a slow moving turtle! However, Mr. LL was up for the challenge.

 

 

A mighty fine thanks to Mr. Raahauge of "Raahauge Shooting Enterprises"

for putting your confidence in Mr. Legendary Leather's crafting skills!



A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE . . . .

Howdy All!

The Missus is constantly learning from Mr. Legendary Leather's

handmade leather creations. I like to share things that I find

interesting in hopes that you can join the learning curve. too.

 

 

 

Take a look at the above holsters. Both are 'pancake' holsters

(so called because of the obvious shape) that hold a 1911 pistol.

Do you see the subtle differences between the two?

 

 

The first holster is unlined, sports a retaining strap, and is

tooled using a copyrighted traceable pattern. The second holster is

lined and has a unique tooled design created by Mr. Legendary

Leather. Subtle differences that make a big impact. Since the

second holster is lined, it has a tighter fit so no retaining strap is

needed to keep the pistol from sliding out of the holster. Lining

a holster or sheath makes for a classy appearance however it is

labor-intensive. The lining always has to be hand-sewn . . . extra

labor and materials that translate into a higher price for the item.

Mr. Legendary Leather often makes items with these subtle

differences giving his (much appreciated) customers the option

that best fits their needs and pocketbook.

 



. . . . AND YET ANOTHER . . .

As the Legendary Leather Clan prepares to sell goods of the

bovine hide type at yet another Ambush this weekend, the Missus

wanted to share another costume creation from the artistic duo

of Mr. Legendary Leather and Sugar N. Spice . . .

 

 

 

 

 . . . yup, the duo crossed over to the pirate side and made

a trip to the Renaissance Fair. Pirate Days was the lure

and the two had fun creating yet another costume. The

baldric for Sugar N. Spice was the highlight of her

costume and dad had a blast making it.

The Missus sees the purchase of another tub from

the container store to hold the plethora of new costumes!

THE ARTISTRY OF COSTUMING . . . .

Well, you varmints are surely in for a big surprise this time . . .

 

 

 

What in the world could Mr. Legendary Leather be up to this time?

 

 

 

For those of you who know Mr. Legendary Leather, this will

all make sense. And for those of you who don't, the Missus

will try her very best to explain things.

 

Mr. Legendary Leather has always enjoyed making costumes

for various events. When Sugar N. Spice was young, the Missus

created her costumes for Halloween. However, as Spice became older,

her tastes weren't so juvenile and that's where daddy stepped in . . .

and Spice caught the 'costuming' bug.

 

 

Sugar N. Spice enjoys playing Assassin's Creed (she obviously

takes after daddy in this category). During the time she's played

these games, she became particularly attached to Assassin's Creed III.

 

When Mr. Legendary Leather and Sugar N. Spice heard about

WonderCon 2014 they both agreed they wanted to attend. But what

to wear? Mr. Legendary Leather naturally decided to go "western"

(what else?), but this gave Spice the perfect opportunity to step

outside the box and create something totally unique . . .

 

 

. . . Assassin's Creed Western Style! And she knew just the

right person to help her with the leather details.

 

 

The Missus is happy to announce that both Mr. Legendary Leather

and Sugar N. Spice had a fantastic time at WonderCon. They both

claim that they were hounded all day to pose for photographs.

 

 

I think Mr. Legendary Leather is relieved in knowing that

he has a whole year before he has to put that much work

into creating another 'Sugar N. Spice original' costume.



CHANGIN' IT UP . . .

Mr. Legendary Leather will be the first to tell you how

frustratin' it can be to get an exactin' dye color on leather.

I think we can all understand how a variety of leathers

might show off the same dye color differently, but most of

us would find it hard to believe that the same piece of

leather can also reveal very different results.

 

A year ago, in May, the Missus blogged about the holster that

Mr. Legendary Leather made for Brother Scrub Brush . . .

 

 

. . . while the dye color was supposed to be closer to a shade of tan,

the leather chose to reveal more of a mustard color. Brother

Scrub Brush took politely to this little 'snag', however, he was

a might happier when Mr. Legendary Leather discovered

a way of changin' the color to somethin' a might more appealin'.

 

 

Naturally Mr. Legendary Leather tested this method on an old piece of

leather before he tried it on the holster he made for Brother Scrub Brush.

He was very pleased with the results and thought some of you fellow

leather artisans might be able to use this method down the road. This

method only works if you are going from a light color to a darker one.

 

1.

First, he rubbed some mineral spirits (found in most hardware stores)

 on the holster. Mineral spirits is basically an alcohol-based laquer thinner.

This takes off any finishing wax and dirt that is on the leather.

 

2.

He then let the leather dry. This doesn't take very long, about 15-20 minutes.

 

3.

Next, Mr. Legendary Leather applied the darker dye color. He kept applying

this until he reached the desired color (anything was going to be better

than that mustardy color).

 

4.

Then he let the new darker dye color dry overnight. In the morning he

was able to tell if the dye had dried evenly, which it had. If not, he would have applied touch-ups

and let it dry thoroughly once again.

 

5.

Since the mineral spirits is alcohol-based, it can suck out too much of

the natural moisture in the leather. So the next step was to apply an oil

of some kind to restore the moisture back to the leather. Olive oil works

good, however, Mr. Legendary Leather prefers to use Neatsfoot Oil

from Tandy Leather Factory. He applied one layer to the

holster and let it soak in for two hours.

 

6.

Mr. Legendary Leather then came back and rubbed off the excess oil.

 

7.

He then waited another hour before proceeding to step #8.

 

8.

The last step was to apply a wax finish. This holds the moisture in the

leather and gives it a nice overall look.

 

 

The result was a more pleasing color which made everyone

involved very happy . . . especially Brother Scrub Brush!



KEEPING AN OPEN MIND - THINKIN' OUTSIDE THE BOX . . .

For those of you who are creative artisans, this may sound mighty

familiar . . . and for those of you who ain't, maybe you'll understand.

 

A few years ago, when  Mr. Legendary Leather was creatin' his first

leather carved projects, he made a recoil pad for his Marlin 1894 rifle

 and since then has made one for Sugar N. Spice.

 

 

Even though these are usually one-time creations, the Missus tries

to take pictures and post most items just in case there's a kindred

soul out there looking for the same thing. Now it just so happens

that "Mr. Buick" was lookin' for just that . . . a recoil pad.

However, he wanted one for his Model 11 Sportsman and he
wanted some extra inserts for adjustment to his comfort.
This posed a new dilemma to Mr. Legendary Leather. The
end of his recoil pad would not easily accommodate extra inserts.



 

Mr. Legendary Leather had to keep an open mind when coming up

with a new design for Mr. Buick. Sometimes this is difficult to do

after you've created somethin' a certain way. He would need to come

up with a way to fit the end cover "around" the end of the pad as

opposed to "inside" the end like he did on his own pad.

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather was disappointed with his first try. There

seemed to be extra leather that gathered at the finishing point of the

end cover. He would have to rethink his pattern for a cleaner look.

 

 

With a little advice from some friends, reworking the pattern, and

patience from Mr. Buick, Mr. Legendary Leather was able to create

a carved recoil pad that he was happy with . . . and more importantly,

one that Mr. Buick was ultimately happy with.

 

 

 

 

A mighty fine thanks to Mr. Buick for his trust and patience

in Mr. Legendary Leather's work and for his kindness in sharing

the previous three images. The Missus can most certainly

appreciate his fine photos!

THE TALENTS OF McSHAGNASTY . . .

Howdy All!

The Legendary Leather Clan would like to thank everyone for

their continued support and mighty fine comments on Mr. Legendary

Leather's creations over the past few years. We want everyone to know

that we give special-like thanks to those who have helped Mr. Legendary

Leather in many ways . . . especially 'behind the scenes'.

 

 

I'm sure y'all remember the purse that Sugar N. Spice requested from

her daddy. This purse with its fleur de lys design was her pride and joy

in her younger years. However, she has now become a young lady

 and felt she required somethin' a little larger . . .

 

 

So naturally Mr. Legendary Leather, who is always up for a challenge,

created a purse that was larger in size. However, instead of carving a

fleur de lys design, he had somethin' else up his sleeve.

 

Enter one of those 'behind the scenes' guys . . .  McShagNasty.

Mr. Legendary Leather has always admired the leather creations of

McShagNasty. A long-time member of SASS, McShagNasty shoots

with The Cowboys in Corona. Not only does he have exquisite leather

crafting abilities, he also designs/creates some remarkable conchos!

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather commissioned McShagNasty to create

a fleur de lys concho for Sugar N. Spice's large purse. Magnificent

work, don't you think? Truly one-of-a-kind.

 

 

Once again, the Legendary Leather household is happy. However,

I think someone should have warned McShagNasty that when invitin'

Mr. Legendary Leather over, beware! You might have a hard time

gettin' rid of that gabber! Thank ye much for your sacrifice!

 

 



SKULLS IN JANUARY?

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!

I think we can get away with that since it's still January.

However, the Missus realizes that there has been no

blog communication since November, so I thought

I would begin the New Year with an 'eye opener'!

 

 

No need to adjust your monitor . . . yes, those are skulls.

Mr. Legendary Leather never misses a chance to amaze

us with new and intriguing creations!

 

 

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather wanted to give Sugar N. Spice a

little something for the good grades she received her first

semester at the University. What better than a journal

with a hand carved leather journal cover??

 

 

He was happy with the results and is now busy designing

other covers to sell at upcoming Cowboy events.