aparkes

Hi!! I've never had a problem with my machine in the four years I've had it, but tonight I was sewing along, there was a clinking noise, and the needle will no longer go all the way down. The thread will still catch, but it can't complete the stitch. I replaced the needle, so it isn't that, and the problem still occurs with the bobbin and bobbin case out, so it isn't that either. Any thoughts on how to fix it, or should I just take it to someone? And if I need to take it to someone, anyone have recommendations for someone in TN? Any help much appreciated!

You can use whatever you want as a lining- I've used pigskin, lambskin, garment-weight cowhide, and elk. Lambskin isn't the strongest leather out there so if you use it, make sure it's especially well adhered to the strap all over, but it is nice and soft. The guy I did the elk one for still uses his so I guess it's held up all right! If you play guitar yourself, you'll be able to use your experience with straps for reference. I don't but according to my guitar-playing friends, the thing that makes guitar straps comfortable or otherwise is the suppleness of the leather. So when you're picking out your tooling leather, try to find something you wouldn't mind having slung over your shoulder for a few hours. You don't have to use really heavy leather; especially if you plan to use a lining, you can probably get away with lighter leather than you think. Also oiling it can make a big difference toward suppleness, and if you want an English-bridle look, just give the strap a few coats of oil (peanut oil is cheap and gives a nice color) after you're totally done tooling it and lay it out in the sun for a few hours. The more oil you use and the longer you let it "bake," the darker and more flexible it'll get, just don't completely drown it in oil- over-oiled leather is not nice. Finally, for wider straps you might consider adding some foam padding (you can get 1/4 inch stuff from Tandy) where it goes over the shoulder. You have to fiddle with it a little to get it tapered off right so the lining doesn't have weird ridges in it, but it feels really nice.

I wouldn't limit yourself to the type of braid that "should" be used for that. If you're going to have several small areas braided, you're going to have to start and stop the braid several times. Experiment with different edge braids in the book (Bruce Grant's books are all great references!), and see what's the easiest for you to start and finish off nicely.

It can be done because people do it, but that's probably a question for a specialist. I've only seen hats being made once and they used a mold; I don't know if it's even possible to do it freehand.

You can sort of carve anything, but tooling leather is tanned for the specific purpose of holding surface impressions, so it's the best thing to use if you want your carvings to look good.

I have no idea how to do what you're trying to do, so I may or may not be helpful. But he might be dying/coloring the carved bits- experiment with acrylics or even enamels and see if you can make that work. Other than that the only thing I can think of is using a rougher dremel bit, or using something to scratch up the little beads individually. Since they're just calcium deposits, if you rough them up enough you can probably get some contrast going. Good luck!