Vegetable tanned leather water bottle - tutorial

THE NECESSARY MATERIALS

To make the flowerpot you need:

• 2 pieces of PREMIUM natural vegetable leather - 20 x 30 cm - Thickness 2.5 mm
• 1 box of Meisi M50 wire - 0.55 mm
• 2 round-tipped saddle needles
• 1 bar of beeswax

And the following tools:
A : a pen for tracing
B : A former for marking stitches and an awl for piercing leather. I haven't yet invested in a real diamond-shaped awl for piercing leather; it's more of a punch. In any case, it does the job required for this project well.
C : one or more cutting tools (scalpel or cutter). Note: use new blades.
D : a bone edger / bone smoother. These two tools are used for finishing edges.
E : Sewing needles / brown thread. The needles are round or curved. The thread is synthetic and sold as "leather-grade." It is very durable.
F : paper, pencil, ruler, printer. Used for the pattern making stage.

1. MAKE THE PATTERN

This is the basic step. As mentioned in the introduction, I kept it simple and stuck with a round shape.
To draw the circle, if you have a drawing compass, it's not particularly difficult. In my case, I used... a salad bowl for tracing!
Then we trace the neck. After a few adjustments, we obtain a pattern like this.

Here, the diameter is 25 cm, which is quite a size. I would recommend starting with a smaller template, 10 centimeters for example.
I also pre-marked the stitches on this pattern. If you have a stitch marker, this isn't necessary... although it can be very useful for beginners.

2. TRACE AND CUT THE LEATHER

Place the pattern on the leather, crust side down, and trace around it using your silver pen/pencil. This will give you a first side.

If you have marked the stitching points, turn your pattern over before tracing the second side: this way, when it comes to piercing, the marks for the future seams will coincide without any problem! You will have two circular sides that you can cut out using your cutter.

3. SEW THE LEATHER PIECES

• Pierce your leather using your awl (or a sharp needle). First, lightly wet the leather and let it dry until it returns to its original color: your piercing will be cleaner.
• Sew using a saddle stitch. The main difficulty with this step is positioning the two pieces of leather. I recommend using a sewing clamp, or if you don't have any, small clamps.

I made a double seam: this reinforces the strength of the bottle.

I chose not to glue the pieces before sewing with neoprene glue given that it is an object intended to contain a liquid I preferred to avoid contact with all kinds of solvents.

To finish the leather gourd, square the outer sides and lightly sand the edges with sandpaper (120 grit) after moistening them.

4. SHAPE THE LEATHER

The goal of this step is to give volume to what is still only a two-dimensional shape.

First, you need to completely saturate the leather with water. The easiest way is to completely submerge the water bottle in a basin of water. Be careful with the water temperature! It should be hot but not boiling, otherwise you'll "cook" your skin...

To avoid an accident, it's very simple: dip your hand in it... If it's too hot for you, tell yourself that it's also too hot for your leather!

From the moment you immerse the bottle, small bubbles will form on the surface. This is perfectly normal; the leather absorbs water through all its pores. The disappearance of these mini-bubbles after a few dozen minutes will indicate that your leather is waterlogged.

Now for the shaping, you'll need a rigid template to hold your water bottle in place by clamping it only on the sides. It's recommended to make wooden outlines that will clamp the water bottle using clamps.
Here is the model used for this water bottle. You will obviously adapt its size to the size of your own water bottle.

Install the clamps on the leather gourd.

5. FILL THE WATER BOTTLE

Fill the bottle: you can use sand for example, or any other similar element (corn grain, wheat, clean litter, etc.)

6. PACK THE SAND

Pack the sand down regularly with a stick to gradually shape it into a gourd.

7. MOISTEN THE LEATHER

Remember to regularly moisten the leather with a water-saturated cloth during this step. It must remain malleable and supple.

8. SHAPE THE GOURD

Gradually fill the bottle, making sure to pack the sand firmly on the sides. The bottle will gradually take on its final shape. Check the profile regularly to ensure the filling is balanced.

Allow to dry for approximately 24 to 48 hours. The leather will visually change color and lighten. To the touch, it will stiffen and take on a cardboard feel.

Once completely dry, empty the sand by turning it over.

Personally, I add a blast of air compressor to blow out any grains that might get stuck in the seams.

The shaping stage is complete, you can move on to wax dipping.

9. BEESWAX DIP

• Before you begin, make sure the work surface is well protected to avoid getting wax everywhere.
• Protect your hands with gloves or mittens thick enough to avoid burning yourself.
• Wear a blouse or old clothes that you don't mind damaging.

Prepare the amount of beeswax you will need.

For a volume of 1 liter, count approximately 250 g of beeswax. In my specific case, not having enough wax, I supplemented with paraffin pellets. These are easily found on supermarket shelves and are used for making homemade jams.

10. MELTING THE BEESWAX

Melt your wax or wax/paraffin mixture in a double boiler. Be careful not to burn yourself!

Watch the boiling carefully. After about ten minutes, your wax will begin to melt; stir with a wooden spoon to homogenize the mixture.

11. POUR THE WAX INTO THE GOURD

Stand over a basin (not plastic) and pour the wax into the gourd.
Using back and forth movements, coat the inside of the bottle and pour the overflow back into the basin.

Work quickly, the wax will harden as it cools and may form excess thickness.

I recommend proceeding with the following method:

• Fill
• Close and turn the bottle over 1 or 2 times
• Empty immediately
• Repeat the previous steps (2 or 3 times maximum).

The leather will gradually darken, indicating that the wax has penetrated well. Here is a photo after applying a single coat: you can see that the bottle is only partially soaked, the light area being devoid of wax.

As you can see, I've already punched holes for the hanging strap. It's helpful to do this at this stage, as this will make it easier to handle the bottle.

12. FINISH THE BOTTLE

This step is optional but allows you to obtain a nice finish on your water bottle.

• Apply a thin layer of beeswax to the outside of the bottle. This will strengthen the seal, especially at the seams.
• Arm yourself with a lint-free cloth and rub until the stickiness of the wax is removed and a nice shine is achieved.