11/05/2009

Steering Wheel Leather Craft

I do not work on making money all the time. Sometimes, I also do something new for a hobby.

I held on to my Pajero steering wheel every day. Through time, the leather shine just faded, it didn't look good any longer, and it doesn't feel comfortable anymore.

I bought a couple of those ready-made steering wheel wrap-around stuffs from car accessory shops but it just didn't fit my taste.

I even tried wrapping it with those strips they use for tennis racket handle, and at the start it felt quite nice, but later it just felt that it's not what I am looking for.

I also tried consulting car upholstery shops on how they can fix it, and they quoted me as much as Pesos 7,000 to refurbish my steering wheel -- I couldn't stomach the price, it was too expensive for me.

So one day, I decided to do it myself. I listed down the methodology and the material and dedicated myself to be patient this time, just to finish this obsession about my steering wheel.


Materials: (1) pure leather, (2) waxed thick braided thread, (3) leather puncher, (4) cutter.

Methodology: reverse engineering.



First, I removed the original leather wrap. I made sure it is intact, meaning I will only cut the thread but not the leather because I will use it later as a pattern.



Slicing the leather using a sharp cutter is quite easy. But I had to press deep and made sure my hand will glide steadily with a forward motion, no turning back.





So that's it. You see, perfect cut.



Now it's time to punch micro-holes on it. The holes must be equidistant and perfectly perpendicular to the corresponding hole across. It is necessary to punch holes because the thread is thick and the needle is also thick.



Double check the holes. Make sure they are equidistant. One of the method is to count the holes at the left side and then the right side and make sure they are equal.



Now it's time to stitch it. This is the most difficult part of the craft. So I had to buy another devise thay call clip-clamp to prevent slippage and error in positioning while doing the stitch work. It took me around five hours to stitch the whole leather completely onto the steering wheel.





And finally, that's the final product! Finest leather, hand-stiched on my steering wheel. My very own work of art.

Next time, I'm going to show you how to prevent rats and mice from dwelling in your oven. Yes! look at your oven, it has holes at the back. After you cook something in there, the smell will attract mice. It is also warm inside the oven even it is not in use. It is also enclosed so it is a very secured place to stay for mice. These factors make it a perfect for mice to reside in there. We had oven before that we had to dispose because it smells burnt rat hairs when we grill and we could not troubleshoot it. We just bought a new oven. Next time, I'll show you how to rat-proof your oven.

Bye!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice! Where did you get your leather and your leather tools?
-VicA

Rltr. John R. Petalcorin said...

There are many leather supply shops in Marikina where I reside.