Jim's iCoat

This is so not a quilty project, but I had fun...

I was trying a little experiment to see if I could sew with leather.  My first problem, I had no leather.    I put out a plea to my Friday Girls for an leather purse or coat that I could use and guess what... Kathy F.'s hubby had a beautiful old well worn jacket that he gave up, just for my experiment.  

I waited a few days, just in case he had regrets, but I got no call.  So I cut up this lovingly worn jacket.  I got a nice pile of leather bits to work with.

I was searching for patterns to make a blackberry case for my daughter.  I didn't find a blackberry pattern, but I did find this a free pattern for an iPhone case.  It's a great start and I can make minor adjustments to blackberry case.   

What I found out, is that when you sew leather together, you can't use pins.   Also, it's hard to mark on leather.  I tried my new quilters chalk pencil, and my new Frixion pen.  Neither worked.  So I came up with the idea to trace around the template using a piece of chalkboard chalk directly on the leather. 

I was afraid my stitching would be wobbly, so I stitched before doing the final cutting out of the case.  I used jeans thread in the upper and bobbin thread and a leather needle.  Everything worked like a charm. 

What do you think?   Here it is all trimmed.   I sure hope it fits.

Kathy F. is coming for coffee today and this will be a surprise for her.  I think she already has a nice iPhone case.... but will she be able to resist using this cute little case made out of her hubby's favorite jacket?