unicornleather

Heavy horse show ploughing bridle. 4 thicknesses of bridle butt 4-5mm leather in the cheekpieces, hard to stitch but worth the effort.

It doesn't come out as a table on here very well but for 8 stitches to the inch you'll need a 3/18 thread if you email me on unicornleather@excite.com I'll attach the chart to the email and send it to you, Oz

Hello, To be honest I completely forgot, apologies. I have written it in my diary this time and will dig it out tomorrow when back in my workshop. Oz

Welcome, try it. it does work well of instructions are followed. I threw this out on the leading UK Horse forum and quite a few of them had a go with it and the feedback was good, it does work. It's natural with nothing nasty in it that will affect your skin or your leather. It's a darn sight cheaper to make your own too!

Good question I am often asked here as well. The fats used have been treated with fairly high temperatures, this seems to change it's chemical structure and it doesn't go rancid. I have had it in my workshop which is a wooden structure and in the Summer it does get hot, I have never had any go off or rancid even after 2 years. If you are worried just shove it in your fridge, sorted !

Hello Sticks, the technique will give you the slant no matter what thread, size of awl, hole or needle you use. The first photo is a handmade belt I happened to photo, my belt to be precise, it was already a year old when I photo'd it so a little worn but good enough to show the slant of the thread. Practice will give you a good stitch on the back as well as the front, try to get in to a rhythm and don't stop. When you get going, you should be able to achieve one stitch every 5-7 seconds

http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/leather_conditioning_and_cleaning.html Sorry for typo in the title, my keyboard letters have worn off! This article also advises what not to use on leather and the reasons why as well as how to clean leather properly

Don't use neatsfoot, explanation is in the link in my above post

You'll see the difference in the stitching, stitching the saddler's way you'll get slanted stitching favoured by traditionalists such as this example [/url] now compare this to the methods used in the video above [/url] Can you see the slant on the stitches in the first one? It's not just that It looks neat it's functional too as it locks the threads together better than in the second one, it's the standard and accepted way in the trade whether you are a saddler, harness maker, collar maker, leathergoods or footwear trades person.

http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/leather_conditioning_and_cleaning.html Have a read, ALWAYS find out what is in your conditioner BEFORE you use it, several horses have reacted to Effax and Car,Day & Martin products which contain a variety of mineral oils,spirits and chemicals not designed to be in contact with human or horse's skin.

Video is not a good example of a professional hand stitcher. You use the awl as you stitch, therefore holding the awl in right hand and one needle, the other needle in the left hand. He is also looping the thread over itself the wrong way, you loop forwards not backwards. You also pull up with the left hand and down with the right as you pull the threads tight. You simply wouldn't have the time to stop, pre awl, then fiddle around with needles and no awl if you have to make a few bridles or harness each week.

Thanks, will remember that but I don't make enough clothing in leather to worry about really here's the last 2 items I made [/url] Brigadine Circa 1450 AD [/url] [/url] Gothic laced up the sides waistcoat,lined with cotton

Nice jacket well done, I always tend to make clothing too small either that or I am just getting fatter a lot quicker than I can make things!

Well, my mate's dog, a Doberman keeps getting beaten up by other dogs. He's the softest dog you have ever met so doesn't stand up for himself and was suffering an image problem! [/url] My mate asked me to make him a super dog collar with spikes to give him some street cred So, here it is,made it yesterday, out of bridle butt leather, lined with soft hide, all handmade and hand stitched. He seems to like it and it suits him, maybe other dogs will leave him be now and the owners will think he's hard! (he's not!) [/url] [/url] [/url] CLOSE UP OF HAND STITCHING [/url] Here he is, posing! It's 2 inches wide, wide enough to protect his neck if he gets attacked again [/url]

Not far from me, I'm in Surrey too, Oz