LaVern Leather

Need a gift idea for a fellow sewist or for yourself? 🎁❤️

prompt today is Gift Ideas and I've got you covered with numerous different bundles available, swipe to see them all.

Not seeing exactly the combination you are after? Just get in touch and I'll put together a custom bundle for you, no problem!

Today's prompt in is focus and priorities. My focus at the moment is to get better at social media, show up more and feel more confident in this space.
Continued learning is really important to me, be that learning how to run a business better, how to market my products better, or learning new sewing techniques...constant learning!
Comment below letting me know the new things you want to learn 👇

Through LaVern Leather, I want sewists to not fear jean sewing and to sew their label on as a badge of honour after a sewing up their jeans 🥇👖
Every time you reach for your me made jeans, let the label be a reminder of your sewing superpower 💪
I know it is for me, I love that feeling of reaching into the wardrobe and pulling out something I have sewn, flaws and mistakes are known to the maker but everyone else just sees the great achievement of making something for yourself, to your own liking and to fit YOU!

There are many tasks involved in running a small business and since there is only me here, they all fall on me...maker, bookkeeper, social media manager, photographer, running to Australia Post!
I obviously love the making aspect, that's why I'm here! Social media is the task that I find most difficult and I don't show up here as often as I should. Will endeavour to do better 🤓

🧵What's my design process like? Starting off with a digital design for the words I'm using, I try out different fonts, spacing, sizing, orientation to see what I like best.

🧵When I have selected the best options, I will then test burn these designs onto leather to see how the fonts work, is the design readable etc. and make my final selection.

🧵 What happens to the labels that don't make the cut? These are kept for when I need to practice a certain letter/design, or for simply checking the burn temperature before burning a design. When there are completely covered in marks, they then become the remnant pieces which I include with each label so you can practice sewing on leather with your machine before sewing on your beautiful label 😀 (see pic 3) Can you make out the original design on your remnant piece?

I'm always open to ideas, let me know in the comments if there is a design you would love to see!

Hi! I don't often show my face here but this is me - Lesa, the creator behind LaVern Leather. I love sewing but will do anything to avoid hand sewing, who’s with me?! 😅

I was so thrilled/excited/overjoyed when I sewed my first pair of jeans that I just wanted to attach a leather label to give them a professional, unique finish and as a reward for a job well done🧵. I couldn’t find said labels available for purchase so I went about figuring out how to make myself one and created LaVern Leather to give you the opportunity to add that ✨extra special touch✨ to your jeans too 👖 (swipe to see the first jeans I sewed)

When I’m not sewing, you can find me spending time with my husband, walking lots, exploring whatever place we are living in (currently Brisbane), painting (I’m no Van Gogh but I’m giving it a go), drawing or playing the piano.

I’m going to try to take part in although in past years I haven’t been very successful, I’m determined to do it this year! Join me as I try to give you a glimpse inside my business this month.

I’m curious, do we share any hobbies? Let me know in the comments!

(Photo of me taken in Cottesloe before we left WA)

Custom labels available. Let me know your ideas!

☔️ Our mini umbrellas have been annoying me in our entryway - they were all over the place so I decided to do something about it! Knocked up this easy fabric basket in an afternoon, added a custom label and order has been restored to the entryway 😅 This is a perfect project for using up some remnant pieces of fabric

Get in touch if you have an idea for a custom label 😃

✨Don't miss out, discontinued items sale now on! 🥳
Limited quantities available, only open to Australian customers.

What better way to start the year than getting your hands on some heavily discounted labels for all the things your sewed up over the holidays! ✨

Check out the discounted label section in the shop 👖

Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and New Year!

I’ll be taking a short break, any orders placed will be sent out starting 3rd Jan

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

HELLO! 👋 It's been a while! I had some lovely time away from social media visiting family and friends in NI and Spain and now I'm very slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hoping to reconnect with friends on instagram and be a little more active on here 😃

🧵Front pocket tutorial👖

Like and save for later

Loving this double pocket on these jeans, it's a very different shape for a coin pocket, pretty useless TBH but looks good 🥰

I sewed up these jeans in Cone Mills Stretch S-Gene denim but they haven't had the privilege of getting a label sewn on them yet, they are in the naughty corner and may never get out of it, time will tell! Why❓ I'm allergic to formaldehyde and I had a big reaction (contact dermatitis, oh so itchy) when working with these. After a quick google search, turns out that formaldehyde is used in a lot of denims so I'm now not wearing denim to see if avoiding it will result in less frequent rashes 🤷‍♀️🤞It may not work but worth a try!

A great upcycling project to give new life to your jeans when they get a little worse for wearing as jeans - turn them into a skirt! 🧵😀

Plenty of leather labels in my shop if you want to update that too or add an upcycling label!

Have you done this before? Let me know in the comments

day 9 - trial & error

Trial and error is a big part of the creative process, without it you can't progress with your craft.

🧵This bag took me around year to develop, working on and off, because sometimes it needed to be banished to the naughty corner for a while 🙃

🪡There were trials involved and a lot of errors along the way to figure out the correct leather to use, the settings that my machine was happy with to get the quilting design, best way to sew to get the most professional finish.

🌸 It was all worthwhile, in the end you forget all about the days that you and the sewing machine were fighting and just remember how much you have learnt through all the trials and errors. I use this bag daily and it never fails to bring a smile to my face when I swing it on my shoulder 🥰

To get your hands on one, check out my Etsy store, link in bio

Day 8 - finishing touches

I feel like this prompt is very fitting for my brand, after all, what is a better finishing touch to your jeans than one of my unique leather labels?! 😊

Day 7 of and the prompt for today is LEARN.

There was so much to learn during the process of taking the idea for LaVern Leather to something tangible - etsy listings, social media and email marketing, photography, setting up a website, small business etc and let's not forget the most important - trying and testing different techniques to get designs onto leather to create beautiful labels. Plenty still to learn all fronts!!

I really enjoy this constant learning, especially when it's anything creative but I do get frustrated if things don't come out perfectly the first time 🫣, you with me?

What are you currently learning? Let me know in the comments

day 3 - snippet

A part of the process which never makes it onto the grid, leather has been cut to the size needed and template selected...all is left is to transfer the template to the leather and then burn the design on.

You may also notice that this is a sneak peek of a new label, coming very soon. Subscribe to my newsletter to get all the inside scoop on new releases!

I'm hoping to participate in for the first time but I'm already a day late...I'm sure this will be a common occurrence! 😜 So here is Day 1 & 2 - Brand origin and All about me.

🧵The idea for LaVern Leather came about after making my first pair of jeans. I was so thrilled with the achievement of having actually sewn jeans but I wanted to give them a professional look with a label that would really make them stand out and be unique.

🧵About me - I'm Lesa, hi 👋 When I'm not playing around with leather, I'm sewing up a storm and I will do anything to avoid hand sewing 😅

🧵If I need a break from that, you will find me drawing, playing the piano, baking, reading pattern drafting books (and plenty of novels too) or exploring whatever city we are living in!

Tell me about yourself in the comments, do we share any other hobbies apart from sewing?

Here's a roundup of popular jeans patterns, in no particular order. The only pattern I have tried is the morgan jeans (pictured, great pattern!), I tend to try to drive myself crazy going down the self-drafting route 😅

Non Stretch, Size Range: 0-20
Stretch, Size Range: 0-32
and the brand new flare jeans Stretch, Size Range: 0-32

Size Range: 0-34 (up to a 62″ hip)

Non-stretch, Size Range: 00-32 (up to a 61" hip)

Non-stretch, Size Range: full hip of 86cm to 170cm (33.75" to 67")

Non-stretch, Size Range: Hip 41.5-71.5" (105-182cm)

Stretch, Size Range: 0-30
Non-stretch, Size Range: 0-30 (up to a 62"/157cm hip)

Stretch, Size Range: 0-30 (up to 59"/150cm hip)

Stretch, Size Range: 12-32 (42-62" hip)

Non-stretch, Size Range (up to 48"/122cm hip)

Non-stretch, Size Range 6-30 (34-60" hip)

Men's

Men's Five Pocket Jeans

Save for later and let me know in the comments which is your favourite pattern and if I have missed any out! 👖🥰

Add a unique touch to your handmade clothes with one of these stylish leather labels 🥰

Like and share with someone who'd love this

All about denim 💙 Starting a new series on jeans making which starts with denim info👖

Comment below with your favourite type of denim to sew and wear ⬇️

Last post of the year 😅🎄
Thank you to everyone for all your support this year. Every like, comment, share, tag and purchase really do mean the world to me ❤️
I'll be taking a little break over the festive season so any orders will ship from 10 January.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, whatever you get up to! Anyone planning on sewing jeans over the holidays?