jdw03n

Just starting out, figured I'd share my Christmas experience with ya. Senior folks may get a chuckle. Researched for a while here before I decided to start working, then promptly ignored all the advice I read lol. Tandy was having a New Years' sale, and I'm nearly broke, so I decided to jump on the sale. Bought the four piece awl set, overstitich wheel package, needles, thread, beeswax, edge beveler, groover, Spent about a hundred bucks total. Since I didn't have a ton of spare cash and my girlfriend was buying supplies at Hobby Lobby, I figured I'd grab their $5 pack of leather scraps and learn how to use my tools and do the stitching on the throwaway stuff. So I get my tools, and I'm watching Ian Atkinson and Nigel Armitage videos, and I'm ready to make some stuff! I watch Nigel's awl sharpening video. I COLOSALLY screwed this up. Managed to completely destroy a diamond point awl blade without ever actually getting it sharp. Wouldn't punch through the 1mm throwaway leather I had. So I decide I'm going to make the iPhone case I see Ian do. This looks like ezmode, no way I can screw this up. The leather I got apparently was the wrong type to do this. Tried to mold it around the phone, it stayed floppy, so I went ahead as if it did what it was supposed to. Contact cemented the pieces together, then went to use my new groover. From watching the videos it appears a monkey who has been fed a lead banana could figure out how to use it, but the leather I'm using is very stretchy and my groove looks like I had a seizure while trying to make it. Oh well, soldier through and finish the piece, right? Grab the overstitich wheel, getting ready to mark my holes. I run a different line on the way forward than the way back, and now it looks like my leather has bad pores. Contact cement, dremel the holes, I'm ready to sew. The sewing is the only part I felt confident on. Watched Ian/Nigel videos a bunch, so I felt comfortable giving it my first go, and if you allow for my connect the dots holes I don't think that part was bad. So I break out my new edge beveler. It does nothing. I look at it more closely. I figure out you've gotta remove the red plastic coating to expose the edge. With the edge exposed, I try this again. The leather is so stretchy the beveler just seems to bunch it up and doesn't actually do anything. I look at Nigel's video, and he's like *schlick* and the edge comes off. I try mine, and it mocks me. I use enough profanity my girlfriend expresses concern about the long term mental health of my children, all of whom are standing there looking at daddy screaming at a 3"x5" piece of leather. I break out my x-acto and try to bevel the edges as best I can. So two hours later, I have my iPhone case. It looks like hell. But I made it

Gorgeous

Hi there, new member to the forum, thinking about beginning leatherworking as a hobby. I like bags and would eventually like to get to the point where I can make good quality stuff. Still in the research phase right now, but should make my initial tool investment soon.