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Everything posted by Hoyden
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The brindle look is just a tiger kind of look, I use a swivel knife to cut in the stripes, then color the stripes one or two colors and the rest of the collar another color. I just think that they are ugly, personally. Too uniform and not natural looking to me. But some people like them, so I'm not going to argue. Wallace is awesome and I love what Andrew is doing with him by competing and by being out spoken against breed specific legislation, so I put my money where my mouth is and keep Wallace in gear. I have two pit bulls myself, my male dog, Petey is 9.5 years old, I've had him since he was 5-1/2 weeks old. He looks like Pete from the Little Rascals/ Our Gang. He is the best dog and smart too. You won't find another dog that pees on the toilet, answers the phone, opens doors by biting the door knob and turning his head and is vocal enough to communicate what he wants with various sounds. We know the difference between his empty water bowl, gimme a treat, let me out, the brat is in the cookies and uh oh, you better come here sounds. I guess that makes us well trained, huh? :biggrin: Birdie is my female, she is three years old. A beautiful seal colored dog with with a white blaze on her head and chest, and white feet. She is another story like Wallace. Slated to be put to sleep in the animal shelter, but rescued by a dog trainer. I adopted her from the dog trainer and she has been trained to be my service dog. Like Wallace, a high drive dog that needed a job. Birdie has shown an amazing ability to predict the muscle spasms in my leg brought on by permanent nerve damage as well as pick out people with peripheral neuropathies and various forms of arthritis. My neurologist thinks she is a wonder dog. Needless to say, I rarely leave home with out her. Petey Birdie Thanks Johanna. I have a 15 year old daughter that drives me nuts. She is a very talented musician and artist, so it's never a dull day in my house, that's for sure. Autumn draws and paints, plus there isn't an instrument she has picked up that she hasn't been able to learn and play well. Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Blackmore's Night has played with her and took us aside to tell us how talented she is and that she will go places with her music. The Gremlin leans more towards doing the leather work I enjoy. She already has some of her own tools & stamps that she bought with money I've paid her for doing the edges on collars. The manager at Tandy Leather has given her quite a few tools when she showed him what she could do with them.
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This is the FIRST bag I've attempted in leather and I'm not sure if I like making bags yet. I made one other in canvas prior to this one. Autumn's Chamber Choir teacher came over from Wales to do a teaching exchange and will be returning soon. The kids wanted to give her a gift to remember them by, so I told Autumn that I would make her a nice tote to carry her music in. It is 10 x 14 x 4. I used red leather for the top and bottom, moles skin for the center and jacquard for the lining with a heavier black leather scrap piece for the bottom stabilizer. Front: Daffodil, the flower of Wales, her initials on the pocket with scroll work, and the Welsh Dragon Back I digitized this entire design myself. The phrase is one that Miss King-Thomas had up in the classroom and put into the address books she gave to each student. The music score is measure 30 of Les Miserables, which the Chamber Choir sang this year. The mascot fit perfectly into the area where the notes ascend the scale. Inside: I got an embroidery machine in February and the digitizing software in late March, so I've only been working with it about 4 months. I used both my Viking work horse AND my Artisan 618 to sew this bag. Once I to sewing the top stitch around the top portion, the viking decided it didn't like 4 layers of garmet weight leather and 4 layers of moleskin with stiff interfacing, so I swung around and used the Artisan instead.
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Nope, Wallace is an American Pit Bull Terrier that was slated to be euthanized but was rescued and is on his way to claiming another World Championship Title. You can visit his site here: http://www.wallacethepitbull.com/ And read about how he went from death row to being a Champion here: http://www.wallacethepitbull.com/index2.html Wallace is the 2006 Cynosport Flying Disc World Champion. Wallace in action.
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I've haven't been on-line much since I got the artisan sewing machine and the embroidery machine, but I've been busy busy. Here are some of the dog collars I've done recently; 1.5 black leather collar with 1001 rivets, lined with buff colored garmet leather 1.5 carved celtic collar (the brass rivets are missing in this picture - I put them in after I took it. They're in the spaces in either side of the D-ring) 1" The "brindle" collars (hate, Hate, HATE these - customer loves them though) 1.5" Plain ole Latigo collars with Stainless steel hardware 2" Latigo agitation collar with handle The Latigo collars are pretty thick BWT - my five year old daughter did the edges on these while she watched cartoons. Kid does a great job. 1.25" Another one of those friggin' ugly brindle collars that customers like and I HATE 1.5" Screw-up that I donated to a dog rescue. I didn't like the way that the leather looked after I the rivets. 3" collar tapered to 2" for a HUGE dog named Toro Experiment gone wrong - but my husband thinks it's cool, so his dog wears it. And last, but not least, a 1" english bridle leather collar that my five year old daughter made for Wallace the Pit Bull, Champion Frisbee Dog. We sponsor all his gear. I measured and cut the strap for her, then punched the hole for the buckle tongue. She layed out a pattern with rivets and I measured and marked the holes on the strap for her. She punched all the holes for the rivets and the grommets, then set all the rivets herself. I went back and checked to make sure they were set right, then helped her set the grommets. I put in the hardware myself as I very anal about it for safety reasons. Wallace in the collar Gremlin made him. Pretty good for a five year old kid, huh?
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I put them on my anvil and hit the cap into the post with a rivet setter and my mallet. That seems to work the best and they don't come undone either.
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My five year old has been helping me make dog collars, I pay her to finish the edges for me. She in turn has been buying what she wants at Tandy Leather. So far, she has bought a package of cut out pirate skulls (which aren't in their on-line catalog BTW) and used punches and a swivel knife with a ceramic blade to carve faces on them, then painted them. She punched a hole in the top, put a grommet in and is giving them to her friends at the Ren Faire as a favor. She has bought bookmark blanks and used punches and a swivel knife to make presents for her grandparents and friends. She punches a hole in the top and raids my scrap ribbon bag for pieces to thread through. She also makes bracelets, and small pouches. I put a LARGE needle in my leather machine and run the pouches through for her and she hand sews them with a rounded tip needle. She also makes dog collars with scrap leather and 5/8" buckles and d-rings for her stuffed animals. Here is one she made for a dog we sponsor: Wallace the Pit Bull
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old and some new pics of stuff I have done
Hoyden replied to SteveJ's topic in Historical Reenactment
I'd love to find out more about the stitched patterns into the leather. I love that, it looks awesome. What is it called? -
retractable key cases
Hoyden replied to CitizenKate's topic in Purses, Wallets, Belts and Miscellaneous Pocket Items
Stunning. I love how you color your work. -
WOW CandyLeather! That has GOT to be one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile? How hard is that to make? My brain is running a click a minute here. My 5 year old daughter loves to ride her hobby horse around the Ren Faires and pretends to joust. That would make an awesome head for her hobby horse instead of the stuffed one that came from Toys R Us.
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You know what I really really really want? A swivel knife small enough to fit in my hands. I have very small hands and I can't find a small enough knife that doesn't leave my hands aching after a few hours. I can carve with either hand so I switch back n forth. The smallest I found was the one that came with the 7 tools from Tandy and even that is too big. To put it into perspective, from the base of my palm to the end of my middle finger is just over 5.5"
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basketweave and dragon
Hoyden replied to ETW Grumpy's topic in Purses, Wallets, Belts and Miscellaneous Pocket Items
My problem is that I am a perfectionist and have to have my work PERFECT. I have a huge bin of scrap leather to practice on, so after Ren Faire season when I get grounded by snow, I'll give it a shot. -
basketweave and dragon
Hoyden replied to ETW Grumpy's topic in Purses, Wallets, Belts and Miscellaneous Pocket Items
Love that Celtic dragon Grumpy. I haven't tried basket weave yet. My husband is nagging me to learn it to make his dad a belt -
Thank you! This one is hell on feet, so I am sure she is going to give us a run for our money. I won't have to worry about Aiden (the buccaneer) too much, she is way tougher than he is and gets impatient with him when he can't keep up with her. The man she is sparring with is the head of the Academy of Knighly Arts, he completes in Western Martial Arts in the US, UK and Europe. We warned him to watch her head as she is known to cross swords, give a little then haul back and head butt her opponent. I've got a nice wooden waster from Hallow Earth put away for her, she forgets that her friends can't take the battering that she can, so until she learns, she has to make due with softer wooden weapons.
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Thank you CandyLeather for those links. I need to get back to work and get done so I can go home and spend the rest of the night buried in these links. I'm re-doing my five year old daughter's armor for the ren faire, and BOY did this post give me some ideas to try out on her. Yes, I know, she will out grow it. But I like doing small test runs using her for a test dummy before I screw up something much larger. This was whipped together out of leather scraps in October last year. http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/hoy...nt=DSC05740.jpg http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/hoy...nt=PICT0018.jpg
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Holy Hell! I get busy with my leather work and playing with my leather sewing machine and look what I miss?? I just had a look at the leather armor in your other post and let me just tell you, my jaw just bounced off my desk. All I can say is WOW! You need to come up to New England. Not only do we have a rather large Ren Faire circuit in easy driving distance, we have two pretty good sized larps. Nero and Mythical Journeys. Check out www.nerennies.com. There is info about all the fairs in New England and then check out the forum there. BTW - your female armor is awesome. Can I post your stuff into my Live Journal?
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I hate patterns. For some stupid reason, I can't understand them, so I build my own. I can look at something and tell how to make it and work off of measurements. That being said, I have a website bookmarked at home that has directions on how to make a simple tunic that include how to measure a person and create a pattern. I've used this method to make everything from chemises, shirts, vests, gambesons, tabbards etc for Ren Faire to making costumes and leather vest for a friend.
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Thank you for your replies. We've been a bit busy, so I haven't had a chance to let you know what we decided to do. We agreed that I would give her 5% of the collar's selling price for doing the edges for me. Then we showed her how to calculate 5% using a calculator because she can't multiply yet. She was excited to deposit the $15.00 she made this week into her savings account before Kindergarten this afternoon.
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Okay, my five year old daughter has shown quite the talent for helping Mom with leather dog collars. She's been oiling my carved leather straps prior to dying, cleaning paint brushes, using the "pokey tool" to clean all the bits out of the hole punches, rubbing in leather balm, etc. All the easy stuff a kid can do. The Gremlin (yes, that IS her nickname) is saving to pay the shipping fees for a dog**, so my husband gave her the bright idea that Mommy should pay her for doing all the edge slicking because she's so good at it. She sits infront of cartoon network with the gum tragacanth, a towel and a bone folding tool and does it. And I must say the kid does a really good job at it too. Each collar is about 28 to 40 inches long on each side. Since I HATE doing it and my husband & I can't agree on an amount, I though I'd ask here. This is the Gremlin, no I don't pick out her clothes, I just buy them. Or in the case of her jeans, she picks out the embroidery & the fabric and I make her jeans "cool". (** The Gremlin wants her OWN pit bull for agility and conformation showing, so a friend who owns a kennel is giving her a dog, she just has to pay the shipping fees. She has already saved and earned half the money she needs.)
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I have an Artisan 618 that I got last week to stitch leather, nylon & polypropylene dog collars, harnesses and leashes. I had a few tension issues, but got them squared away and have been stitching away on all the scrap leather I have been collecting. I finished up a collar for a Mondio Ring Championship last night and was thrilled to get it done so quickly. The biggest issue I have is my dumb dog sticking his nose near the belt and getting it clipped. Scared the hell out of both of us. Good thing Petey is a pit bull, so a skinned nose didn't bother him a bit. Will be building something to enclose that area soon. Edited to add: Art - Thank you for this reply! I am going to print it when I get home and put it into my binder with my manual and the other notes I printed from you.
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leather sewing machine, an Artisan 618-1SC.
Hoyden replied to Hoyden's topic in Leather Sewing Machines
Thank you Art. I really appreciate it. I printed this out and put it into the binder that I put my machine manual in next to my work area. I got the machine used from Zack White leather & it was shipped from North Carolina to Connecticut, so I am not sure if the tension was set there or maybe got mucked up in shipping. I was finally able to get the tension correct so I could use 138 top and bottom. I have several size needles (I'm at work, so I can go look right now) and had tried them all. For some reason the bottom tension was really screwy. I wouldn't sew well with 69/69 either. After tightening the top tension quite a ways to the right, I just continued to tighten the lower tension in tiny steps until it was right. Now 138/138 and 69/69 stitch out beautifully. A friend of ours that is a machinest and has industrial sewing machine repair experience stopped by and looked at all the sample stitching and the way everything was set up and threaded and confirmed that the lower tension was just off for some reason. So it's fixed and I'm a happy sewer. -
leather sewing machine, an Artisan 618-1SC.
Hoyden replied to Hoyden's topic in Leather Sewing Machines
I found only one tension adjustment for the top thread. Maybe I missed it. I'll go have another look in the manual. -
I finally got my leather sewing machine, an Artisan 618-1SC. YAY! We got it all set up and I've been sewing every piece of scrap leather and webbing in sight. I have a question about the weight of the bobbin thread. When I use the 138# thread on top and the 138# thread in the bobbin, I end up with loops on the bottom side. I have probably spent the better part of 3 hours adjusting the upper tension to make it tighter and loosening the lower tension in tiny steps and doing test stitching and no matter what combo I used, I can't get the loops out on the lower side. I tried gradually increasing the upper tension (with the presser foot down as directed) then gradually decreased the bobbin tension, nothing has been worked to get rid of the loops. I pulled out the bobbin and tried it with the thread coming from over before being threaded through the tension bit, then with the thread coming from under before going through the tension bit. I even pulled the thread off and re-wound the bobbins to make sure they were wound correctly. BUT, when I put the 69# thread on the bobbin, and sew with 138# on the top, no more loose tension on the underside. Now the machine came with 138# thread on the bobbins, so I know that it was used. So, is this normal or did I miss something? Any suggestions??
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I'll have to have a look at that. My husband is toying with modifying a bench grinder he doesn't use so he can mount and edge slicker for me.
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I get the majority of my D-rings from Weaver. I also buy some from Ohio Travel bag, strapworks and creative design works. http://www.cdwplus.com/ (Has itty bitty D-rings - but they are more expensive) http://www.strapworks.com/ More expensive than Weaver and Ohio Travel bag, but no miniumum.
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I sent my husband to Tandy with a list this saturday while I was working on another project and he came back telling me about them. You'll have to post a picture of a project you used them on for us.