johnggrg

I have a question and not sure where to post it so please forgive me if it is in the wrong place. I have a shoulder I bought from Tandy a while ago. I unrolled it and there seems to be darker around the edges from being stacked. Like some was covered and some was exposed to the light. Will this dye evenly or not? And if the leather was just oiled would it end up uneven in color? Please let me know. Thank you. John

Hey Ferg thanks for the reply. It looks more like a water stain. I will give that a try. I have already used some of the leather on a book cover but it was only on the closure part. Does anyone have a picture of what mold would look like on the leather? Would be nice to compare it to the piece I have for future referance. Thank you. john

I have a question for the pro's. I have some tooling leather I used on a project that had a white looking streak going across it. Did not look like a scar or scrap. I didn't think about to much until I went to dye it. it stayed a lighter color then the rest of the leather. My question is this. Have you ever experianced this and is it cleanable? Also is there anything I could use that would be around the house to clean the leather before putting dye on it that would solve the problem? Money is tight right now and can't afford to buy anything at the moment. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you. John

Thank you all for the replies and information. John

King's X that looks great!! I like the way the spine cover looks. Just wondered if it was 3 peices or 1 with a spine cover like Dragonspit said. If 3 peices I would rather do the extra stitching then to dig the spine out. But to each there own. Thank's for the replies. John

Wildrose thank you for the reply. If it were to get me away from guaging the spine out then the stitching wouldn't be so bad as far as I am concered. But thank you for posting some examples. John

Thank you for the reply Ann. The closure for the Journal is shaped like a very wide letter H. There are four tabs if you look at the letter H. Two tabs on one side will be sewn on the back cover. The second two tabs will have snaps that will attach to the front cover of the journal. WinterBear thank you very much. That is exactly what I wanted to know. As soon as I can get a camera I will post some pics. Thanks again everyone! John

I have a simple question. I have seen alot of photoalbums book covers and journals made with what kooks like a 3 pieces design two sides and one on the spine that raps around and is sewn on to each side. Is that just a look or is that the way they are made? If so is it easier to do it that way? Please let me know. Thank you. John

I am going to sew it on the back and use a snap on the front. """""""My only problem is not sure if it should be butted up against the edge before I sew it on or leave a little gap between the closure and the edge of the journal????""""""""" It will have to bend at that point so any thoughts??? Please let me know if anyone has done this before and how you did it. Thank you. John anyone??????????i SEEN SOMEWHERE ON HERE THAT SOMEONE ELSE MADE A CLOSURE JUST LIKE THIS. THOUGHT SOMEONE MIGHT KNOW. Waiting till someone can let me know before I attach it which I am ready to do so please let me know. Thank you. John

Wishful Thank you for the reply. Those would work. But yes I have finished the closure and am now thinking on how to attach it. I am going to sew it on the back and use a snap on the front. My only problem is not sure if it should be butted up against the edge before I sew it on or leave a little gap between the closure and the edge of the journal???? It will have to bend at that point so any thoughts??? Please let me know if anyone has done this before and how you did it. Thank you. John PS. Trying to figure this out before adding the lining to it. Thought the snap and stitched area would be better if it were under the lining.

Ok here is what I did. I wish I had a camera so you could see what I did but I will try to explain. First I rounded the ends of the tabs. Then used a cd and put one end at the point of the rounded edge and the other at the edge of the center strip or long part of the H. It ended up looking like a double sided axe on both ends of the H. Looks better then I thought it would. Now that I have done that. I need to attach it to the journal. One question I have is this. Since it has to bend around the end of the journal. Should I but it up against the edge of the journal and sew it on or should I leave a little gap between the edge of the journal and the H before sewing it on? I hope you understand what I mean. I wish I wouldn't have let the kid use the camera. Would REALLY come in handy right now. Let me know what you think. John

WinterBear kid busted my camera so that is out. As far as what it looks like. The closure for the journal is shaped like a very wide H. The tabs are 2 inches long by 1 inch wide. Ferg I will look there and see if anything will work. Thank you both for taking the time to help me out. If anyone has an idea please feel free to post. Thank you. john

dirtclod thank you for the reply. I've been doing that and just haven't come up with anything good. In a way I messed up. I stamped the cover with ALOT of designs and shapes wich look really intricate. Now the closure looks to plain. Don't get me wrong the cover looks good to me but now need to figure out what to do with this closure straps. Talk about getting a headache. It's really holding me up on this project. If I do a rounded emd or just a pointed end it will not go with the rest of the journal. Kinda backed my self into a corner on this. Like I said two ends will be sewed on the back but will have to bend when closing it. That's where cutting that area becomes a problem. Each tab is 1 inch wide by 2 inches long have to allow for the bending when closing a little. That is why I thought to ask the pro's what they might do. Oh on the back side(or inside when opened) of the H I sewed a thin piece of leather for a pen or pencil to go. Thought maybe someone has done one like this before. John

Thanks for the response Ferg. I was thinking about that but can't seem to find a good picture of one in a shape that looks good. Most belts have a round or pointed end. I was thinking about the old iron hinges that had what looked like a clover type end to it or something like that. Just haven't been able to find a good picture that I could use to print out the right size. John

Basicly trying to think of a way to cut the 1 inch strap ends to look nice instead of plain square ends. Anyone??? John

Hi everyone! I have a question. I am making a journal for my daughter. I cut an H shaped leather peice and made the H 11 inches long by 1 inch wide( that's the walls of the H that is). Two ends of the H will be sewed on the back of the journal and the other two ends will have snaps that will attach to the front cover. My question is this. Does anyone know how I can shape the ends of the 1 inch straps to look nice? A decrative cut of some kind? I don't have a strap end cutter and can't buy one at the moment. I was hoping to at least shape the ends that are getting sewed on. But would like it to have a decrative shape. Not sure how to do this. tried a bottle cap but that seemed a little hard to make the same for all the ends. Any thoughts or is there a pattern I can use for this? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you. John

First link doesn't work and the second one is on making a wallet? I thought Craig wanted to know about how to make a checkbook? Anyone? John

Hi Butch thanks for posting this here. I sent you an email about getting the pattern. John

Twinoaks thank you for the offer but not neccesary. I was just trying to find a wallet pattern that included a ID or picture window in it as well as Card holders in a bifold wallet. I should have included that information in my post but didn't. I coppied the plans for a future wallet but mine will be hand stitched not laced. A how to on the picture or ID holder would be nice but I can figure that out. Thank you TexasLady for fixing the link for everyone else. Let me ask you this. I know most people use a thinner leather to make there wallets. Do you think it would be ok to make the outside peice from 6-7 oz. Then make the inside peice that the card holders are attatched to use 2-3 oz? Would that work well? That is all I have on hand at the moment. I was thinking of doubleing the 2-3 oz inside peice so it has a smooth side on both sides. This way the pocket were the bills go has a flesh side and would sturdy up the interior peice. It sounds like it will work good but would like your opinions on that. Thank you for all the help.. John

Tried the link yesterday and it worked now it's not. Don't know what happened. Try thjis one worked today. John http://www.classicbells.com/verlane/projects/Walletpatterns.pdf

Found a link to a PDF. When you open it it looks like a web page. I just clicked save and it saved the hole thing. It not only has a pattern for a deluxe billfold but also a ladies wallet to. Here it is enjoy if you need it. John http://www.classicbe...letpatterns.pdf

Ok I am going to try and figure this out. I cut 2 peices of 5-6 oz veg tan leather at 3 1/2 x 8 1/2. Now if I can figure out how to make the pockets and ID holder. That was why I was looking for a pattern to print instead of guess work. At this point that is all it is. I know the leather is thick for this but I want it to last. Maybe someone is good at making a printable pattern for the inside peices I need and can wipe one up and post it????? I hope so. Just so you know this will be hand stitched I have no machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. John

I didn't realize I was unclear on what I was looking for. Original question was" Does anyone have a printable pattern for a basic wallet???" Pattern I was looking for was for the bilfold body parts. So I could print the body parts out. Not a tooling pattern and not a biker style wallet. Printable pattern for bilfold wallet body and guts. That is what I am looking for. Sorry if there was some confution about that. And thank you all for posting I have learned alot already. But really like a printable pattern if possable. Thank you. John

First I would like to say thank you for all the responces. I expanded my search for a pattern on the forum. None came up after 33 pages I gave up. If someone knows the post that has a pattern could you point me in the right direction? thyank you. John

I'm guessing there is no pattern out there to make one. 43 views and no answer. Maybe someone has made one and can still share it?? John I'm guessing there is no pattern out there to make one. 43 views and no answer. Maybe someone has made one and can still share it?? John