Northmount

Only mark (or punch) the stitch holes on one piece. Then glue it (or staple it) together, then use your awl to piece the second piece, keeping proper alignment so the back side stitches stay straight. Due to the different radius of the 2 pieces, you can't pre-punch and keep all in alignment. Tom

Picture or link doesn't work. Please name the book, author, publisher. Thanks. Tom

Try a little talcum powder, or similar. Brush off the excess and should be able to see the holes you used for guide marks. Tailors used chalk for marking, there is also a sort of marking paper like carbon paper, at fabric stores, run over lines with a wheel like a stitch wheel. Tom

Read post #127, and the last few posts to this thread. Tom

Skive the edges thinner so you can roll the edge over without so much bulk. Tom

As tree reaper says, and the example (second link) is not a rolled edge. Edges have been glued, trimmed to match, sewed, and burnished to give a nice slick edge. Tom

It seems that UV light darkens leather, yet leather that is behind glass seems to fade. So it must be just the heat (infrared energy) that causes the fading to occur. Whether you can use open sunlight (UV rays) to darken the leather again, is questionable. You could repeat this as an experiment on the same type of leather before you decide to try it with your saddle bags. As an option, you could try oxalic acid to see if you can bleach the leather all to the same colour, then try dyeing it. Again, try on some scrap of the same leather first to see the results. When you re-dye, you'll have to dye the thread at the same time. So no white thread accent. Last resort, dye them a darker colour, dark brown or black. Dark brown might be able to cover the differences you see now. With an air brush, you might be able to compensate for the lighter and darker areas of the leather. You could dip dye. Hope something here helps and works for you. But you will have to experiment a little to see what the best route will be, especially concerning the time it could take to fix up the saddle bags. Tom

As wyomingslick says, for a knife sheath, should be able to do it with no joins. However on longer stitch lines, you will need to learn how to join. Not only does it take you longer to pull all the thread through each stitch, but the thread starts to look kind of ratty after a while. I second Al Stohlman's books. Tom

Take a look at this http://www.tandyleatherfactory.ca/en-cad/search/searchresults/4044-01.aspx In some respects, it is similar to the truckers wallet, no zipper, no chain. Tom

The name seems to get lost. Are you going to use some dye to highlight the name? If not, I would try to open the design up around the name a little bit. Not very much though else it will look like something is missing. You've done a lot of very good work on the design. Tom

There are lots of threads here on what is needed for a leather sewing machine. Go to the pinned topics in the sewing machine forum. Also do a couple searches for leather sewing machine Tom

The latex water based contact cements are all good for leather. Do a search, there are other threads on this subject. Ordinary PVA glues are okay. White glue is flexible after it sets. Yellow glue used for woodwork is not flexible when sets. So when you bend the item, you will hear it cracking. Still holds the leather together. Won't be as strong a joint, and is a bit disconcerting to hear the cracking sound. After several bends, most of the noise stops. But, just use white glue and avoid the issue. Tom

The longer brown stitches are probably what are called basting stitches. They are put in first. Long stitch length means easier to pull out if you need to make adjustments. Once it is basted together, then the finish sewing is done. The jacket is assembled in sections, not all basted together first before final sewing. Most are not glued before sewing. Super glue may be used so you can assemble pieces since you can't always clamp or use pins like tailors do. Where you can get away with it, you can use a stapler to "pin" pieces together. Put them a little ways away from your stitch line, on the hidden edge, so you won't have staple holes showing. I did a leather coat many years ago on a home sewing machine. Used lamb skin glove leather. Wasn't fancy but was nice and warm with a quilted lining. Tom

Here's a thread you should read http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=50439&hl=%2Bwashable+%2Bleather Tom

Bonded doesn't mean lubricated. It means the fibers are bonded together to reduce fraying of the thread. Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines http://www.tolindsewmach.com/thread.html has pre-lubricated nylon thread. Tandy has (or had) some too. I have a couple spools of white lubricated thread I got from them some time ago. It is lubricated with a silcone based lubricant. Bob (cowboy bob) may have polyester too. Give him a call. Tom

Read post 127, and any of the subsequent posts listing the url for the patterns. Always a good idea to go to the end of a thread to see the latest info. Tom

Pretty nice. Tom

For his full post here on LW, go to http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=23901 Tom

http://elfitakorea.blogspot.ae/ This link works better.

Had a look at the new printing by Tandy. It is a large book, will cover a lot of your coffee table. Screw post binding on the long side. Portrait printed for the single sheets. About an inch thick. Some sheets fold out 4 times, so need the be taken out of the book to work with. It's more than I want to pay for. But would make a good present for a leatherworker! I made a suggestion, now see what happens at Christmas! Tom

Some contact cements can be removed by letting a puddle of cement dry in a cup or some disposable dish, then using the solidified wad to press against and pull off the errant cement on your leather. You keep pressing and pulling it off, move to a new surface on your wad, and keep repeating. If you are familiar with using tape to pull of adhesive residue from left price tags, you already know the process. Just keep repeating until the job is done. Using a solvent spreads the stuff around and gets more of it into the leather surface. Tom

If the white stuff happens to be wax ... You can test for wax by warming it up some. If it melts easily, it's wax. Can probably rub it with your fingers to work it into the leather, or buff off the excess. There was another thread a few months ago about wax forming on the surface after doing some finishing work. Try a search for it. Tom

A couple spots look like they are undercut. Hold the knife so the blade is always perpendicular to the leather, so it doesn't slide under the edge of the cut. I think you cuts are really pretty good. Mine are getting worse due to medical problems, so yours are much better than mine are now. Tom

I use transparency film on a laser printer. Works well. Tom

Very nice! Tom