I was asked to make a compass pouch for a friend of a friend for a Christmas present. I don't think the "friend" frequents the forum, but I'll leave names out just in case
It's not much to look at yet, but I'll add some pictures as I get more done. I just wanted to share my progress so far because I've never attempted something quite like this before, and figure there must be some other leatherworkers here that might have some insight.
I thought long and hard about how I want to do this without having a bunch of ugly stitching showing. My solution was to try molding the leather so that the only stiching would be along the back edge of the pouch. I cut up a piece of 2x4 and used a router to round off the edges. Then I cut an oversized piece of 4-5 oz leather, and submerged it in hot water. I was sceptical about how much the leather would stretch, but after much rubbing and pushing, it started to take shape. When I had it close to how I wanted, it occured to me that I'd need something to hold it that way until it dried. I had a piece of fairly rigid foam laying around so I used the wood block as a guide to cut out a matching cavity in the foam. Then I just layed the foam on top of it with some weight on top, and let it sit overnight. I kind of forgot about it until tonight, but I'm glad I checked it because the wood was already starting to mildew a bit.
Here's where its at now. The plan is to cut a back piece that is long enough to fold over the top and close with a snap or stud. I'll attach a belt loop to the back piece before stitching along the edges.
EDIT: One thing that concerns me is how well this thing is going to hold it's shape, especially if it gets wet. Does anyone know if there is a way I can help it "remember" how it was made to be? I'm thinking maybe submerging it in melted wax, but that seems like a very messy idea... maybe a few coats of polyurethane? Never tried that before either...
