MARVEL COMICS ROLEPLAY . . .

I know y'all remember how the Missus mentioned how Westernspice

likes to roleplay. And ya'll remember how she depends on Mr. Legendary

Leather to help her with any "leather needs" she may have, right? Well,

for this year's WonderCon, Westernspice wanted to dress up as

Agent Peggy Carter from Marvel Comics.

 

This meant carrying a leather briefcase and sporting a shoulder

holster for her replica 1911 45 caliber.

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather complains nonstop but really enjoys helping

Westernspice when she needs to "spice" up her costumes.

 

All in all, the leather additions are what really transformed

Westernspice into Agent Peggy Carter, wouldn't you agree?

 

  



HE'S GOT LEGS, HE KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM . . .

Recognize those "modified" lyrics from ZZ Top? Well, Mr. Legendary

Leather does and he's created some mighty fine half chaps for those legs.

 

 

In refining his Pancho Villa costume . . .

 

 

 . . . Mr. Legendary Leather wanted to create leggings that were similar

 to Antonio Banderas' interpretation of Pancho Villa in the 2003 movie

"And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself".

 

 

Liking the contrast of the green-colored leggings, Mr. Legendary Leather

created his own stylized version of those used in the movie.

 

So as promised in my last post, the Missus has delivered Mr. Legendary Leather's

latest (and long-awaited) in his leggings/half chaps creations.



True to form, Mr. Legendary Leather has continued on the

trail creating more bags. Variety is the spice of life and if our

garage is any indication, we've got as many bags as you can

name spices! The Missus has picked a few of her favorites to share.

 

 

This wild bunch is no where near as detailed as the Missus' last post,

however, Mr. Legendary Leather did manage to sneak in another

one of his favorite skull designs . . .

 

 

 

 . . . for the skull design on his barrel shaped suede bag, Mr. Legendary

Leather created a stencil. He then simply painted over the stencil with leather dye.

 

 

For his hairy hide pouch, he stitched the pieces together creating the pouch

inside out (not unlike making a pillow). The laughs started when the time

came to turn the pouch right side out. Mr. Legendary Leather was a bit worried

at first, but after man-handling the hide, he managed to beam with pride while

showing the clan his finished product.

 

 

That hairy hide seems no worse for wear after wrestling with Mr. Legendary Leather!

 

Many hopes from the Missus that Mr. Legendary Leather will have passed

through the 'bag phase' by time the next post comes around.! Either way, I do

believe I will have a mighty fine pair of half chaps (leggings) to share with you all.



CALL IT WHAT YOU MAY . . .

 . . . satchel, bag, pouch, tote, purse, or even carry-all. It's

all in a name and depends on whose carryin' it. Either way,

Mr. Legendary Leather has got a burr in his boots and can't shake

the urge to create as many (and in as many ways) as he can.

 

Not one to be confined within 'western' perimeters, Mr. Legendary

Leather is open to craftin' just about any theme . . .

even WWII Flying Tigers . . .

 

 

Another favorite in the Legendary Leather household . . .

pirates and skulls . . .

 

 

Mr. Legendary Leather is in the process of designing more bags.

What will the next post hold??

 



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!