Somawas

Try rubber cement. I read an article that suggested rubber cementing leather to canvas, rather than cardboard, to keep it from stretching while tooling. The canvas does not tear off on the leather and can be reused.

Are those random tool marks on the back, near the bottom of the purse?

I am a total newbie at leatherworking. Got into the hobby through a strange route. I've sailed sailboats for thirty years, plue. A while back, I started stitching some ship's canvas pieces. And based on my experience so far, I'd have to say that canvas can sometimes be tougher than leather. From there I got into some braiding and knotwork. The I began to collect rigging kinives. Knives need sheaths, which sent me to Tandy. The store owner talked me into taking his basic tooling class. So here I am. Sixty years old and still taking up new hobbies. Maybe some day I'll grow up.

I know a bit about style. No problem picking out a camo, a pear shader, or telling a beveler from a backgrounder. My problem seems to be that I look at a pattern and they will recommend a particular beveler, but I can't tell from the photo pattern whether they are talking about a large checked beveler or a medium smooth beveler. That's just more difficult.

I'm so glad that this forum seems so tolerant of the newbies. And I am a newbie on the board and at leathercrafting. I have noticed that a lot of the patterns I get, and in books, recommend particular tools for tooling the leather. I have gotten a pretty good collection of tools thanks to Tandy and Ebay. However, I am unable to read the numbers on the tools. I think it is a contrast issue, because I even have trouble reading them with a magnifying glass. Last night I tried dabbing some black acyrilic paint on the numbers, letting it dry and rubbing it off. See if it stayed in the impressions on the tool stem. It did not. Anything I can use to make the numbers stand out?

Cut a piece of Tandy tracing film to 8.5" x 11", using a straight edge. Put the tracing film into the photocopier. Put the art on the glass. Push the button. Do not put the ink side onto the cased leather.