A couple of month’s ago I acquired this vintage Leather sewing machine and I have been waiting for an opportunity to try it out. From my research I think it dates back to the early 1900s so like so many of the tools in my workshop its over 100 years old, and now I have managed to track down a workshop manual and adjusted a few bits its in perfect working order. I suspect none of my modern tools will last that long.

Much to my dearly beloveds despair when stuck indoors on cold winter nights my guilty pleasure is those terrible programs where some expert rifles through someone’s  shed or attic and declares the pile of worthless junk is actually worth thousands of pounds when sold to a trendy shop or restaurant. Putting aside my disbelief at the prices they quote, something I have seen a couple of times which they get quite excited about when they are rooting through some stately home loft  are Leather Pigs. Subsequently I have discovered they all come from a company based in England that’s has been making these for many years, along with many other designs, ranging from Fish to Lions, even buffalo and Giraffes, all made from leather and sold in the most upmarket shops all over the world for prices I can only dream of. I find myself inexplicably drawn to the pig, and as I like working with leather….

So this year for my Christmas project its been the Year of the Pig, and a chance to use my new to me sewing machine. To make life simple I changed from my usual saddle leather to a much softer flexible leather, albeit at a scary price, but then it comes in much larger pieces. Its been an interesting project, starting with creating the pattern, to cutting and then sewing the leather pieces to get to the finished Pig. Inside the leather cover there is a wooden frame so it can withstand someone sitting on it, and its stuffed with wood wool, another material I have never worked with before. It all took much longer than anticipated but that’s down to the sewing machine, but now I have conquered the adjustments the next one will be much faster. Which is just as well as my dearly beloved has decreed if you make a family heirloom, and you have two daughters then you need to make two. I wonder if I one of them would like a lion?