WScott

Yep, that is pink The strap looks well made, nice clean lines Well done

...."cause it's the thriller in the night".... That sounds a lot better when I sing it Nicer bag than jacket

No ribbing you about your spelling There really is a cat! Nice baseball and I like the fur cap too

Sorry to hear that Lou, I will scan it and forward to your e mail I hear Italian women can be rather attractive, outgoing and fun. Maybe a good place to start for a whole new life! Harder to change much when you are an old fart with two kids, wife and a dog.....not that I want to change anything, love them all S

I am sitting eating my lunch reading a National Geographic Traveller magazine Feb/Mar 2014. In it there is an article called "Made in Italy" that highlights areas and handmade products and artisans. I immediately thought of leather Lou. The article mentions this leather school scuoladelcuoio.com I do leather work for a hobby. I could not support my family or hobbies by quitting my profession. One of my bucket list dreams is to take my wife to Italy, let her do the cooking schools that she wants and I tour leather facilities or do a course. You have an amazing opportunity and would come back with a life's worth of experience. I have met artists from Florence and they are amazing people....tangoing, painting, woodworkers living in Maui Just, can you afford it financially OR can you afford to not take the risk and follow a dream. Best of luck, keep us informed of what happens Ps if you want the magazine let me know Scott

People are asses in the YouTube comment section, it brings out the morons. We have a few on this website, but at least a minority. I had a vid of my 8 yr old hockey goalie and took it off YouTube as the comments were unreal. You should be always commended for taking time and effort to show others leatherworking techniques Thanks

Thank you for the pattern Very generous of you and much appreciated

You could always just give up on CXL altogether and send it all to me for proper disposal

Looks pretty cool to me I would have gone batty(er) doing all that geometric stamping. Nice job Maybe let time, use and light exposure mellow the color a bit

Ahh that explains it. I was trying to think of a non weird way of asking for a picture of your house; with such a nice front step the mansion looks to be old, well built and gorgeous..... kinda like your chairs

How much per sq foot was it? What quality is the hide?

Great work, lovely stitch work I just ordered some of the Au Chinois thread from e bay

Love the leather and woodwork on those chairs I also like the stone stairs in behind

Superb Excellent fabrication of a bag with specific design for your needs. For a first bag, that is excellent! It is hard to see your edging and corners, that is what separates the men from the boys, but from what I can tell, looks ok. Nice job!

Looks like a good technique video Cute girl too

Great story, been there done all that! Yep, get a side of veg tan on sale and give it another try..maybe try Springfield leather, they have a tooling scrap bag that is a good deal http://springfieldleather.com/30018/Pieces%2CTooling%2C2-lbs-Bag/ I did same thing with chrome tan scrap bin stuff, made an i pod holder that looks like hell Everyone has to start somewhere, the right leather for the job and the right tools will get you going the right direction

Solid work Great looking stitching , nice design and professional appearance. "He's a good Canadian kid"

Take a break for a bit, do some reading and watch some technique videos....there is so much info at your fingertips here and you tube. If you are more specific with your troubles and post some photos I guarantee you will get help from the members here. Hang in there, we all have those days

Nice clean professional look to them Great job!

The tooling style suits the products you are making. Both bags and tooling may get more refined as you do more, but IMHO the bags are different in a good way. Not everyone has to do Sheridan cowboy flowers

Al Stohlman had a rule of thumb where he measured the thickness of the two pieces you are stitching together with a divider. That thickness is how far off the edge the stitch line should be. It is in his book, highly recommended if you don't have it already http://www.tandyleatherfactory.ca/en-cad/search/searchresults/61944-00.aspx

Really good comments and tips here I think if you follow those suggestions the next one will be a home run! Good for you for posting something you think is not perfect, it allows you to get some feedback on how/where to improve

This is a great set of rules for stitching, thanks for posting it. In softer leather like CXL, I do a line with blunt calipers or edger with pressure so as to compress and mark but not remove the top layer. Then follow the compressed line with a diamond chisel and off to the races with stitching

wholly cats, it sold for $650 + shipping. That is nuts!

Glad I wasn't the only woodworker who waxes after burnishing and top coats/edge coat. So many ways to skin the cat on edge finishing. Leather is a bit more forgiving in many ways, such a great product to work with.