Ok, finally a post of something I made

[Rawhide]

Here's a bag I made from skirting leather. No liner inside, just sanded and slicked. I used 4/5 oz chap leather for the gussett, with a jacket zipper.

The zipper is sewn in with 69 thread on my sewing machine, but everything else is hand sewn... the bag to gussets are 6 spi with 5 cord, and the handles are 8 spi with 3 cord.

The background in the tooling is dyed black and the bag is just oiled and finished. the handles are stained with oil mixed with med brown dye and finished with bag kote.

There are some large dome spots i used as 'feet' to keep it off the floor, but I may order some real feet for it.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Marlon

Edited April 20, 2009 by Rawhide

[rhallskid]

Your had sewing is super clean! Love it. I was zooming on the machine sewn part but with hand sewing like yours who needs a machine. lol uh ok...maybe for quickness but still. It is a good looking piece.

Marie

[Rawhide]

Your had sewing is super clean! Love it. I was zooming on the machine sewn part but with hand sewing like yours who needs a machine. lol uh ok...maybe for quickness but still. It is a good looking piece.

Marie

Thanks Marie...my goal is to get better at hand sewing with each piece I do... I took this piece to our local guild meeting and one of the guys gave me the best compliment ever...He asked if I had bought the handles somewhere...Fantastic!!!

[jbird]

very very nice sir

Thanks for posting

[leatheroo]

marlon, this is soooo nice...i agree, your stitching is fantastic

[Rayban]

Great job Marlon....I would have liked to see it w/o the darker b/g on the floral carving to tone it down a bit, but that's just me..... but the craftsmanship is A-1, top notch, PRIMO!!

[Rawhide]

Great job Marlon....I would have liked to see it w/o the darker b/g on the floral carving to tone it down a bit, but that's just me..... but the craftsmanship is A-1, top notch, PRIMO!!

Rayban,

I did think about that, but I wanted to make the foreground stick out like a sore thumb to highlight the carving. Just something not seen often.

[whinewine]

Superb, marlon!

russ

[RichardCollmorgen]

Fantastic.

[Talfuchre]

Marlon,

That is awesome. What do you mean by 'slicked'? I noticed you are talking about the grain - how to you 'slick' the grain? Help the noob out!

Also - I like the black backround - it REALLY accents the floral pattern.

TF

[Rawhide]

Marlon,

That is awesome. What do you mean by 'slicked'? I noticed you are talking about the grain - how to you 'slick' the grain? Help the noob out!

Also - I like the black backround - it REALLY accents the floral pattern.

TF

Talfuchre, First off welcome to the board and the craft. Slicking is the process of compressing the fibers of the leather to yield a smooth appearance. What it entails is moistening the leather (this is usually done on the flesh side, and/or the edges), and rubbing it with a glass slicker, or a bone folder, or a piece of canvas or nylon. This rubbing generates heat, and sort of 'fuses' the fibers together... it gives a smooth "slick" feel...hence slicking!! If you do a query here, you'll probably find a ton of methods of how to do it.

[Bree]

Some fine work there Marlon! Good job.

[Rawhide]

Some fine work there Marlon! Good job.

Thanks Bree.

[Cowboy316]

Rawhide

very sweet lookin bag love the color and the tooling pattern

great job

Cowboy316

[hidepounder]

Marlon....great job on the bag and your stitching looks great!

Bob

[BobHall]

Great work, Marlon! Hand-stitching looks great. I'm gonna get it... I am I am I am....

Bob

[Rawhide]

Thanks Guys...

That means a lot to me. I've been working at bettering my stitching for a while...Seems to be paying off.

[Tina]

Beautiful work Marlon,

I do love your hand stitching and I really, really like the overall clean look it has

[Casey Jordan]

Nice Job!

I have one to make about that size - Can you come over and do the hand sewing for me??

Just thought I would ask.

[Rawhide]

Nice Job!

I have one to make about that size - Can you come over and do the hand sewing for me??

Just thought I would ask.

Boy Arizona is a bit of a stretch, can you e-mail it to me??

Can't wait for teleportation of inanimate objects!!!

[Kustom]

Very nice. I like how you dyed the background, and of course the stitching.

[SteveBrambley]

Thanks for showing that, Marlon. I think that all the superlatives have now been used up! So I can only agree with everybody, and say, that is a highly proficient piece of work!

Steve

Edited April 20, 2009 by SteveBrambley

[Rawhide]

Thanks Kustom

Thanks Steve

I appreciate all the nice statements...

[Crystal]

Very nice, Marlon! I am also a fan of your stitching and the handles look great! Your carving design has a nice mix of contemporary and traditional style to it.

Crystal

[HARVEY]

OK, Marlon, now that we all agree (and definitely add me in too) what a great looking piece that is, let's get down to brass tacks: what is the secret of your hand stitching?

Do you use a stitch groover? What kind of thread? How many stitches per inch? Anything else we non-hand stitchers ought to know. Talk to us, Senor!

Harvey

Los Angeles