Handbag and Book w #author Laurel Wanrow #steampunk #DIY #leathercraft #MFRWorg

Handbag and Book with

Laurel Wanrow

 

I grew up in the 70s, what I remember as my first decade of DIY. We did every craft imaginable, most of them traditional since my dad ran an Appalachian Craft Center for a National Park. There, I learned leather craft, and sewing with my mother taught me how to make a pattern. Last year when I wanted to put together a Victorian outfit like the characters in my The Luminated Threads novels, I decided on a riding outfit and wanted a leather reticule to go with it to carry my necessities. After all, I had given my heroine Annmar a leather satchel to carry her sketchbook and pencils.  

A fashion plate from the 1860s provided an unusual shape that fit with the leather pieces I had on hand. (Thanks to www.katetattersall.com for originally posting this gem!) After tracing the pattern on the leather and cutting, I punched holes along the edge and began lacing the pieces together with a flat leather needle. (Note, this did require a bit of counting to make sure of the fit!) 

 

The reticule is designed to hang from a belt. Before lacing on the flap to close the top opening, I made two strips the right length, and laced a loop at the top of each. They were then sewn into the back through two sets of holes. 

 

 

My worst dilemma was finding a closure when I ran out of time before my event. I looked around the house...and found one of my stone Zuni carvings had a pinched belly, perfect for looping several rounds of waxed string with beads and a piece of leather lacing. 

 

 

And tah-dah! My reticule works well for smaller items, such as my keeping my real glasses handy. 

 

 

 

To protect those she loves, Annmar faces an impossible choice. If she uses her luminated threads to harm, she loses them...but fighting without the threads will bind her new homeland to a madman. 

  

Mixing witches, shapeshifters and a coming-of-age historical romance in a secret corner of England, The Binding delves deeper into the exciting steampunk fantasy world introduced in The Unraveling and The Twisting. 

The Luminated Threads series: 

The Unraveling, Volume One 

The Twisting, Volume Two 

The Binding, Volume Three 

 

A thrill of excitement shivered down Annmar’s spine. To the tunnels. Clothes rustled, a hand clutched her elbow…and a new tunnel formed around them. She blinked in the lighter space and released her breath. Plenty of sparkling rocks doted these walls, surrounded by roots and insects and the loveliest smell of earth and damp. 

“You brought us here the last time.” Annmar pointed to a stone encircled with roots, its one side dull and pockmarked and the other sparkling with crystalline bits—the very rock Old Terry had had Annmar touch to bind them into this promise of guiding her. 

“Clever you are, my pet,” Old Terry rumbled with pleasure. “I couldna ask for a better guide.” 

Annmar bit her inner cheek to keep from smiling. Noticing a rock like that was easy when dozens of luminated blue threads circled it. Their movement attracted her threads as well, causing her finger threads to squirm more than when she’d touched Daeryn. 

Jeptha, who’d been craning his head this way and that, his eyes wide with wonder, bent to the rock. “Bloody brilliant,” he whispered and reached a hand to a swollen spot on a root, one that glowed. 

Old Terry slapped his hand down. “Rule number two: Do not touch the roots.” She glared at all three of them. “Do not disturb them or the soil around them. For your safety.” 

Mary Clare pressed closer to Annmar. “You said last time that we’d be safe.” 

“If you follow the rules.” 

 

Find The Binding at:  Amazon   

 

Find Laurel at: website    

Readers: Have you every made your own handbag?