Blindleader

Will try that walkingH, I've read about a few methods to keep the leather from stretching, but the packing tape seems to sound easiest. I'll give it a try.

Howdy all, I'm Robb, and I'm a leather crafting addict. (The crowd says, "Hello Robb.") I've been at it for about 6 weeks, a little over a month. I blame my wife for getting me started. She bought me a starter kit as a gift and I've never looked back. I like to think my work is decent for a very green crafter. I've always been crafty. I build shaker style furniture in my workshop from time to time, I've tried wood carving, PMC jewelry crafting, all kinds of stuff. I guess all that crafting past gave me a bit of a head start with the leather crafting. I am really enjoying working with the leather, meeting others who are doing it and learning from their experience and wisdom. So far, my second attempt at a knife sheath is my favorite piece of work. I don't work from patterns, I don't own any patterns! I'm about ready to start buying better tools, the craftool stuff was fine to get me started but I would really like to see what precision tools can do so I suppose I'll be sending Barry King some money soon, LOL. Having a ball meeting all you fine new folks, reading all the tips and trick in the other sections of the forums. See you all around!

I was sitting around with nothing to do and I decided to make something from scratch. I wanted a nice log book cover for my drivers logs, thought if I could manage something nice then maybe I'd offer them for sale. So, here is what I came up with. It fits the standard JJ Keller daily log, a flexible plastic log ruler, a pen, it has a wallet insert to hold your fuel cards and all your driver loyalty cards plus a couple of bigger pockets for stuff like your DOT medical long form, birth certificate and what ever else! Let me know what you think. I've only been tooling for a couple months and I am trying to improve my hand stitching (everything was stitched by hand) and tooling, but I am having a blast learning.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I'm currently working on a new belt for myself. I decided to try my hand at arrowhead basket weave on portions of it and man is it WAY harder than it looks. I'll post some pics of it in a few days when I'm done with it. All the tooling and dye work is done, just waiting on some wax and thread from SLC so I can do the hand stitching before I show off the finished product.

Time to trade her in I think, man's got to have standards....when the wife steals the leahter working money to buy shoes, well, she just crossed a line...(LOL)

I'm in Fountain Inn. I'm new too, but I've got a pretty good start and a pretty nice newbie setup for my workshop.

Well, I am new to leather crafting, I've been at it for a little less than a month. Here is a little of the back story. About a year ago I was diagnosed with right atrium heart failure, and at barely 39 years old, I was told point blank that my working days were over, if I continued to try to work, I would, without question, kill myself or someone else. So, after 16 years as an over the road truck driver, and a person who has been working since I was 15, I found myself trapped in my own house with nothing to do but stare at the TV or the walls. In short, I was going stir crazy. My lovely wife of 22 years decided I needed something to occupy my time and my mind, so she went out on a limb and bought a Tandy deluxe starter kit. I let it sit on the kitchen table for several months, too busy feeling sorry for myself to do anything constructive, but eventually I cracked the box open and started playing with the tools. Typical male, I didn't read the instructions until well after I was in too deep, and now I am firmly hooked on leather working. I love this craft so much I traded one of my trusty Mossberg shotguns for a box full of old tools, molding tools, knives and a pile of old leather. I would like to reach the level some of you guys are, your work is stunning, and I am working diligently to improve my skills. I've attached thumbnail images of my work in the order I completed them so you all can see the progress I've made. Constructive criticism is appreciated!