My rucksack was purchased from COW member nihil and is the Mil-Tec reproduction.
I went with my own initials of "LN" since this is my pack and not Henry's.
I picked up some Tandy Leather products locally at JoAnn's fabrics initially, and then made a trip to the Tandy Leather store in Tacoma, WA for some tools, dye etc. JoAnn's had the leather sheet, needles and waxed thread.
I found this font in my vast library of fonts, I'm a graphic designer by profession.
It's very similar to what COW member Tundrarider (Michael) used on his.
I rather like the history of the font when I looked it up.
Released by the Barnhart Brothers & Spindler foundry of Chicago in 1922, it is a heavy version of Cooper Oldstyle, also known as Cooper.
I went ahead and laid the art out in InDesign.
It helped me know where to punch the thread holes and cut the letters.
I didn't know about wetting (casing) leather to trace on the letters and make cutting easier before I got going, so this tutorial will be updated should I created another.
Definitely go that route because it's so much easier.
This PDF has the artwork and can be printed at 100% to give you the correct size label.
The label size according to Michael is, 1-5/8"h x 2-5/8"w.
At first the letters were solid black but after learning about "casing" and tracing onto the leather, I changed them to outlines for easier tracing.
http://cyberwerks.net/Indy/Bags-Straps/ ... kLabel.pdf
After cutting out the label and sheet leather to match, I tacked them to a piece of fiberboard and box using pushpins. This held everything very snug while I was cutting and punching.
I used an Exacto knife with a thin point so it would cut and turn on angles better
Update: I learned about wetting leather and drawing on it to cut. See at the end of this tutorial.
After the letters were cut, I continued to punch the holes using the pushpins.
I used quite a few pins to keep everything snug in place, leap frogging from one hole to the next.
I made sure the point of the pin was going into the center of the dots so everything would line up nicely in appearance.
Update: I started using an stabbing awl to punch the majority of holes. I still use 4 pushpins in the 4 corners to keep the artwork in place.
After removing the paper template I went back and made sure the lines were cut completely and to a consistent depth.
Update: after learning about casing the leather its a lot easier to cut wet leather.
I'm going to experiment with dyeing on other pieces of leather from the sheet.
The sheet was 8" x 10" so you have lots to experiment with.
I went by Tandy's Leather and picked up some tools and a starter kit.
I practiced with the 6 stamping tools on some floral projects (my first try at leather craft.
This practice got me very familiar with how the tools work and when I got to beveling the edges of the letters it was a piece of cake.
Here are my results.
The darkness around the letters is caused by the "casing" technique of the leather to make it stamp easier and stay that way.
It kind of turns it clay-like.
Michael had recommended using acrylic paint but the kit came with some leather dyes so I first tried them.
The dye is so translucent that you just can't get the solid color of the straps.
My wife had some acrylic paints she uses for glass painting so I used some brown, green, tan and white to mix an olive color to match the straps.
There was a strange reaction using the acrylic over the water-based dye which caused an instantaneous antique cracking effect.
The dye was completely dry (2 days) but the moisture in the paint must have reacted with it.
I actually kind of like it.
Sewing on the Label
I applied some leather cement onto the center of the back of the label, and glued it in place, so while I was sewing the label it wouldn't move on me.
Be sure too keep the glue away from the edges so it doesn't ooze out onto the bag when you go to press it into place.
After it dried, I used a leather awl to poke holes through the label holes, the bag's canvas, plastic lining and into a cardboard box it was sitting on.
This allowed me to work the needle through these existing holes since these types of needles have blunt ends (than goodness).
I sewed on the label using the standard two needle saddle stitch technique.
Here's a good video to show the two needle saddle stitch. It starts at 2:57 into the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi3BRWO7 ... POFrVcru0o
I read to use 4x the thread of the length of what you are sewing.
The perimeter of the label is roughly 3"x2" so I came up with 10" x 4 = 40" of thread.
I cut about 43" of thread and had just enough left over, after back stitching a few more holes and tying it off.
I used some basic pliers to pull the needles through after I got them worked through the holes by hand.
Your finger tips quickly wear out pulling the knots at the ends of the needles after awhile.
I'd rather have the holes small then large and sloppy for the thread. Everything snugged up nicely.
I cut the ends of the thread leaving about 1/8" from the knot and then burned the ends until they melted to the knot. This prevents unraveling of the thread.
The thread is the Tandy white waxed.
I used some Kiwi brown shoe paste polish on the end of my finger to rub into the thread to darken it.
It's waxy enough to mix with the wax on the thread.
I figured dye might not hold.
more photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35223822@N ... 479842133/
Hope you find this experience helpful in creating your own custom label.
Cheers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Update: Since doing this tutorial I learned about "wetting" leather.
1. The technique is to glue the leather onto some chipboard (cardboard like from the back of a writing tablet). The chipboard prevents the leather from stretching while stamping it and also gives you something to maneuver it without touching the leather (less marks).
2. Wet the leather with a soaked sponge until the water no longer soaks into the leather.
3. Let the surface dry to it's natural color and use the "ball end" clay tool to trace the letters onto the leather. The letters will show up as dark lines because when the tool presses down it goes into the still wet leather just under the surface.
4. Cut the letters which is also WAY easier to do when the leather has been wetted.
5. Bevel stamp the letters while the leather is still wet.
6. Let it dry and either paint or stain and seal the leather with clear leather sealer.
