My fourth week of class

Here it is, my very first real object, "portaocchiali," eyeglass case. 

Each case consists of six pieces, two sets of each: pelle (leather), fodera (lining), and gomma (foam interior). These all have separate modelli (patterns). Once I cut the pieces (with the trancetto!) I had to run the leather through the "spaccatrice" which decreases the thickness of the leather. Then I had to use the "scarnatrice" which cuts it even thinner, but only around the perimeter of the entire piece. This prepares the edges of the skin, making it easier to wrap around the fodera.

Next I glue the foam to the lining, only on the corners, and then glue the lining to the leather. While this sounds easy I can assure you that it's not and I made several mistakes. You have to be very careful where you put the mastice (glue). You cannot put too much and you have to put just enough. You just have to instinctively know how much to put, although Mao always does one for me to show me how it's done. If you don't put enough the pieces do not stay together. If you put too much you run the risk of seeing the glue through the leather.

Next step is "rimbocare" which is one of those words that does not have an exact translation in English. It literally means "to wrap the edges". This is the most frequently used word throughout our day. The edges have to be just right, in fact, every corner has to be cut at a 45 degree angle so the edges can be wrapped properly. Not only does the angle of the leather have to be at 45 degrees, but the actual cut itself, the slice with the trincetto, must also be done at this angle. This removes excess bulk that would otherwise be present when you wrap the corners.

I know this might be technical so those of you who can't follow that... just trust me when I say it's a lot of work! And others (hello HD-FUR) will know exactly what I'm talking about. 

These are not quite complete, but I think you get the idea. I stitched down the top, this is the area that will be visible, so the lining inside had to be perfect. I used shoe cream to remove excess mastice (glue) as you will see the lining at the opening of the case. Then, I pulled the loose ends of the "filo" (thread) inside, glued those down, and attached the two completed pieces of the case. Last but not least, I stitched the remaining three sides to complete the porta occhiali. Ten times!

Next project: Porta passaporto. To hold my passport which has my nice shiny pretty little visa (thank you consulate woman, again). I told you things are moving quickly now! This involves a couple of the same steps as the porta occhiali, but I was introduced to some new machines during this process. One machine called the "fustella" is used to cut precise pieces, which I used to cut those small flap pieces you see above. It's kind of like a cookie cutter for leather. Wouldn't life be peachy if you could just put the leather and the lining together and stick it in this machine to do all of the work for you? There are a lot of steps of preparation before taking the pieces to the machine. I had to cut the pattern pieces of the fodera and pelle, and then run the two edges of the flap that will be sewn into a seam through the spaccatrice and scarnitrice so they will sew nicely. Then, I put them in this machine to get a really nice clean cut.

A particular object (borsa/bag, portafoglio/wallet, portaocchiali) will have a metal pattern piece (die) cut for it if it will have a production run. The school makes these cases constantly.

Another new machine I used on this project was the "lattice" which applies a different type of glue. It is more like a spray gun, and it applies an even thin coat of glue. I attached the fodera (lining) to the pelle (leather) that will make up the body of the case with this. This particular design needs to be more flexible as it will be opened and closed frequently, therefore, the glue must also be flexible to enable the movement.

This is where I left off on Friday evening. I am in the process of painting the edges of the flaps that will be visible in the case. Of course, this like anything else, had many stages of preparation. I painted it once with the metal point tool you see on the right, and then had to put the pieces through the "scartatrice" which makes the edges "liscio," smooth. Then I applied another layer of black "pintura" (paint) very carefully, as this stuff is not easy to remove from the leather once it is applied.