THE PIRATE SIDE . . .

Not sure if y'all recollect, but the Missus has talked about Mr. Legendary

Leather's alter ego -the pirate - a few times before.

June 2014

September 2016

Well, as of late, Mr. Legendary Leather has had the hankerin' to design leather regalia

that would carry one of the pirate's most important of provisions - rum! Or in other words, 

Mr. Legendary Leather needed something to carry water at the pirate events and 

he needed it to theme with the costume. Pirating at these events can stir up quite a thirst.

Ha ha ha!

Oddly enough, it started out with one that could still theme in with the cowboys.

Then the pirate side easily took over.

And the Missus' favorite . . .

There are so many directions that Mr. Legendary Leather can follow with his newly

designed leather carrying vessels. How about somethin' for the ladies?

AN EASY TRANSITION . . .

Howdy!

Well, once again the Missus finds herself apologizin' for her lack of bloggin'.

I know it's been a long dry spell for those of you who look forward to

updates on Mr. Legendary Leather's craftin', and for that, I am deeply 

sorrowful. He continues to receive new referrals for his leather work as 

well as continued requests from some of his old faithful followers. 

There have been many times that we have showcased his work requested 

by one of his most tried and true customers, Ron Stein AKA Tupelo Flash (The 

Cowboys of Norco). Tupelo continues to push the limits of Mr. Legendary 

Leather's craftin' skills. As a result, there have been some mighty fine

creations as he's pushed the 'leather envelope' and had to think outside the box.

Some of you may remember that Mr. Legendary Leather's bovine craftin' came 

about the way of his love of knives. Some of his collectibles were store-bought

and others were handmade by the Mister himself. And what's a knife without a

sheath? His earlier creations were primitive, but served their purpose.

And while most of Tupelo's requests are 'leather' in nature, as of late, he has

requested some updating on knives that he already owns as well as requesting

some new creations made from scratch. The knife below was one that Tupelo 

already had in his collection. Apologies for not having a 'before' photo to 

compare, but Tupelo requested 'blueing' of the blade and tacks added to the handle.

A mighty fine knife, however by making the adjustments requested by Tupelo,

the overall look of the knife 'ages' it, enabling it to blend in better with the old west.

Tupelo's other request required making a knife from the ground up. To do this,

 Mr. Legendary Leather purchased a knife blade and blade guard. He then used a 

piece of elk horn that he already had to make the handle. 

He aged the elk horn by soaking it in coffee. By adding the tacks, he's 

once again taken the handle to the realm of the old west, proving that the 

transition from leather to knife is an easy one for the Mister.

Many thanks to Tupelo for his continued, generous support and 

faith in Mr. Legendary Leather's craftin' skills!

NO APOLOGIES NEEDED IN A FRIENDSHIP . .

One of the things Mr. Legendary Leather had gained throughout his leather 

vending years are lasting friendships. A particular bond that has formed is with 

the "Buffalo Soldier Mounted Calvary Unit" 10th division reenactors. Whether 

it's jabbering with the 10th at their encampment or the 10th chatting at the 

Legendary Leather tent . . . learning history, retelling stories and fun are had by all.

Most recently the friends ran into each other at "Old Fort MacArthur Days" in 

Long Beach. As usual, the 10th Calvary Unit had their encampment set up and

invited Mr. Legendary Leather in for a chat. Wanting to rest his weary bones for 

a while, Mr. Legendary Leather accepted a seat - however, the seat did not accept

Mr. Legendary Leather. Yup, Mr. Legendary Leather's presence was a bit too 

much for that alluring seat. Naturally, the kind men of the 10th said it was nothing.

No apologies are needed in a true friendship. However, in this case Mr. Legendary

Leather felt he needed to make amends and set to work on a hand-crafted

leather "apology" piece to present to his friends at the 10th.

This journal cover was inspired by Mr. Legendary Leather's friendship with the 10th.

I have no doubt that when Mr. Legendary Leather has the opportunity to present

his journal to the 10th, they will accept it more in friendship than they do an apology.

Mr. Legendary Leather with Trooper Jay M. Collins 

For more information about the "Buffalo Soldier Mounted Calvary Unit"

please visit bsmcu.com

WESTERNSPICE CHANNELS A MODERN CATWOMAN . . .

Just to show you how diverse the leather making world can be, The Missus

has decided to share the latest request from WesternSpice for her daddy. 

I'm sure there are those in the cosplay world who would be envious of WesternSpice

if they only knew she had access to Mr. Legendary Leather's bovine crafting 

talents purely through her blood-line as his daughter. As you know, WesternSpice

doesn't limit herself to the cowboy realm - she also has a passion for the 1940's

(whether it be WW2 or civilian), Marvel Comics, Victorian era, blood-thirsty
pirates, and now the world of DC Comics. Yes, WesternSpice channeled
"Catwoman" for her most recent visit to Long Beach Comic Con.

. . . "holy ancient costumes, Batman!" We don't mean Julie Newmar!

In preparation for her more modern version, WesternSpice found it relatively
easy to find the necessary items to complete her costume, However, she didn't
 ponder long on the puzzling question of what to do for Catwoman's head gear.
And as you might have guessed, she turned to her daddy.

Once again, WesternSpice had a vision that she needed to convey to Mr.

Legendary Leather, and Mr. Legendary Leather had to interpret a vision into

a tangible hand-crafted leather piece. But how to get those Catwoman ears

and put a modern 21st century spin on them?

 

Fortunately it only took a couple of prototypes before the end result was achieved.

Not exactly what the "old school" parents were picturing walking around in Gotham 

City, however it was exactly what WesternSpice had envisioned.

And as always, a fun time was had by all at the "Con".

AS TIME PASSES . . .

Happy New Year to y'all!

2016 seemed to slip by so fast. We're hopin' that 2017 might slow down a bit.

It's been awhile since The Missus has posted the happenin's of Mr. Legendary

Leather, but truth be told, I didn't realize that time was passing so quickly.

Mr. Legendary Leather has continued to create several more of his unique leather

treasures - mostly for repeat loyal customers, but every now and then somebody

new comes along and poses a new challenge. 

Most recently, a fellow merchandiser from the The Cowboys of Norco requested 

a set of double bandoleers. Now Mr. Legendary Leather has created bandoleers 

before, so this wasn't something new to him. However, this customer was female

and she wanted them to be black. What made this a conundrum, you ask? Well,

a female fit would require a little different configuration and I think I've 

mentioned before the problems that black dye creates. 

While taking into consideration the overall fit for Miss Lily, Mr. Legendary

Leather was a little unsure since he didn't have Miss Lily available for fittings.

The Missus suggested creating an "adjustable" bandoleer. Since this hadn't 

been in his realm of thinking, it provided Mr. Legendary Leather the means

to create another unique leather item.

By adding a belt-like fitting to the shoulder of each bandoleer, Miss Lily would be

able to make adjustments to fit her costuming. If she chose to wear the bandoleers

over a jacket, she could adjust the strap. 

Mr. Legendary Leather also added a heart concho that he attached to a chicago screw.

This allowed for movement at the bottom of each bandoleer which would allow

it to sit more comfortably on its owner.

Now we really wish we had a picture of Miss Lily wearing her new set of bandoleers,

however because Mr. Legendary Leather made these unique adjustments to his creation,

it allowed him to "test" the set by wearing them in a costume contest at Calico Ghost Town's Calico Days. Oddly enough, Mr. Legendary Leather placed third in his category. 

Thank you very much to Miss Lily for puttin' her trust in Mr. Legendary

Leather's creative skills!