Katsin

Thanks for the tips. My pliers have already been getting a workout.

Hi everyone. I've been using the techniques described in Al Stolman's sewing book for a few weeks and I have a question about the needle threading. When thinning the thread, is the sole purpose of this step just to narrow the thread for the needle eye or does it have some other purpose? I don't think I would have any trouble threading the needle with the current combination of needle and thread that I am using (the stuff that comes in the Tandy sewing starter kit). I have found that it is a bit hard to pull the needle through my awl holes and wonder if the thread thinning part is somehow related to the ease of pushing the needle through the leather. It doesn't seem to me like that would contribute to ease of the sewing because the steps shown in the book where you pierce the thread and push the thread toward the eye seem to pull none thinned thread through the loop of thread at the eye. I feel like the awl holes that I have been making should be large enough for easy sewing and am hesitant to make them larger.

I will give the neatsfoot oil a try. Thank you for suggesting it.

Hi everyone. I'm working on my third leather project now. It is a refillable leather journal for my wife. In the course of working on it, I wetted the leather a few times and it is now pretty stiff. I used 6-7 oz. vegetable tanned leather. I did mold the leather around one of the journal refills once but flattened it again for much of the dying, sewing, snaps, etc... I'm not really sure how I should best go about giving it some flexibility again. In terms of finishing I had planned to use some carnuba wax and leather sheen that I had on hand. Should I use something else to give the journal proper flexibility? I don't want it to be too flexible but right now it is too stiff. I had done an iPod case earlier in the year that seemed pretty stiff when it was complete but seemed to get more flexible after the carnuba and leather sheen.

I've got Stohlman's "The Art of Hand Sewing" and "Leathercraft Tools" on their way from Tandy and will order the Tech-Tips book when the budget allows. Thanks for the suggestion. I definitely noticed the chatter... I'll work on it.

Hi everyone. I'm new to Leathercrafter.net and leathercraft. This is my first effort at tooling. I went straight for a fob rather than practicing on scrap leather. Any advice is welcome as I really don't know what I'm doing. Thanks for looking. And did I mention... I now hate rivets.