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Very Nice! I am in the starting stages of one. I just sat down today to do a pattern. I hop mine is as nice as yours. Karina

I think it depends on the person and there experience. If they like it - they will buy it , and hand sewn vs machine sewn I think wouldn't even be a consideration if it's well made. I have a Cole Haan leather vintage style postal/messenger bag I purchased at least 15 years ago that is machine stitched and still looks as awesome as the day I bought it. I am passing it on to my son when he goes off to College next year. I also have a Hermes clutch bag that is completely hand sewn by a master craftsman and is amazing. The wait time for this clutch was 7 months. Both are wonderful pieces, but were sewn using different methods. If the person knows what they are doing, I personally don't care which method is used. Well made is well made. (JMO) Put two identical items in front of me - one hand sewn and the other machine stitched, and I will pick the one that is well crafted every time. Maybe it's the hand sewn item, maybe not. It all depends on the skill set of the person that made it. Look at some of the wallets on Etsy that are hand sewn. The hand stitching on some of them is terrible and is unacceptable to me. Crooked stitch lines, huge stitch holes, wrong thread size, fraying thread. etc. Everyone that hand sews, don't have the same work ethic and don't strive for perfection, so to just say hand sewing is superior to machine sewing, I am going to have to say it depends on the craftsman. If every person that hand sews, sewed their items like Nigel or Hunio, It wouldn't be any question, but lets face it, it's a lot of people out their selling leather goods that needs a boat load of practice when it comes to hand sewing - just as there are a lot of people using machines that's cranking out crap. I look at quality first, then the price, everything else follows. (Again JMO) Karrina

The Thread Exchange. Not sure on the Coasts and Clark - never used it. Karina

Very, very nice. Love seeing your work! Karina

I can get this for $300 (just have to pick it up) or this for $299 (free shipping from Canada to the US) or this for $495 (machine cost $295, plus $200 shipping from OZ to the US) hummmm which one will I choose? I'm sorry guys, but for my money, it's the Singer all day. For those of you that have this machine and are happy with it, good for you! If you are happy with your purchase that's all that matters. To the seller that is having success with selling these units, and have hundreds of happy customers, I say congratulations on your success, and I wish you many, many more sales, but again for my money - it's the Singer all day, any day! ( JMHO.) The original poster asked for opinions about a machine being sold by leatherpatchers.com, I gave my opinion of it. This is simply my opinion, others are free to do as they wish. Karina

Ahh pretty! Love, love, love that color.

Very nice, I see these types of leather lunch bags popping up everywhere. When yours is full of items, how do you secure it? the others I have seen have a snap closure. Karina

"Modern Reproduction" Do any part of that machine (If I can call it that) look Modern? It looks like something made before the invent of electricity. I have seen those things all over Ebay and they have the nerve to want $300 dollars for it. (One seller is asking $475) I too am looking for a patcher and I have found many Singer 29K patchers online in the price range from $350-$600 within the last week but they all want the buyer to pick the machine up and unfortunately the locations have been a bit far from me, but as soon as I find one within driving distance I am definitely going to get it. Not sure but maybe you are looking at the price, but you seriously need to think about more than that. What about support after you buy it, accessories, spare parts if it breaks? These things are being shipped from overseas, and no telling how long they have been in business or how long they will remain in business. Save your money and buy a real machine. I wouldn't waste my money on it. JMHO. Karina

OK I tried again with Google, which is how I usually find things on this site, and found this thread: http://leatherworker...8510&hl=archive

Actually it is posted here. I have all three of those e-books and I got them from a thread someone posted here, although I think they were from a different website. If I am not mistaken there are at least three different threads with leather working e-books in them. I tried searching for the thread, but I can never find anything using that search feature. Wrong keywords I guess....... Karina

Yes I can see the one picture fine, i apparently misunderstood your post. You said "The photos are to big to upload so i attacked link to photobucket." So I thought you were saying that you added a link to photobucket to the post so that we could see other photos of the bracer. My Mistake. Karina

I don't see the photobucket link you mentioned, but a good program that allows you to re-size pictures is called PIXresizer. It's free and easy to use, no learning curve whatsoever. Just upload you image in the program, and select the size you want it re-sized to and it's done in a split second. Been using it now 7 or 8 years. On a side note - you can also change the size of the image you take with the camera in the settings to a smaller file size.

Springfield Leather now sale a few Horween products and you can buy it by the sq.ft. They also have pieces that are 1' x 2' for $28 which is what I got he last time I ordered. No ragged edges that you can't use, just a nice square piece. Very nice stuff. Karina

I use seam tape from Springfield Leather. (Click here.) I'm sure you can probably find it locally at Joann's or similar. I have also used contact cement when in a bind. After it had completely dried I sewed two pieces of milled veg tan together (3oz) and it didn't seem to bother the needle or the machine and it did not leave a mess either, but I only did that once, not sure that would be a good idea to do on a continuous basis. Karina

Those are really nice. I bet that pup is in heaven. Katrina

I think I read some where that they use Chrome tanned leather. Karina

Nexus123 is also a member here on the forums, you can send him a PM. His name is Studio-N. Karina

I have already trashed my flyer so can't look at it, but if you go to the Tandy website you will see that the regular everyday Elite Club price for that book is $180.00 and the Elite sale price is $179.99. Now hopefully someone can chime in and let you know if the book is worth it, because I surely have no idea. I read up on the contents of the book on the Tandy website and here is what it said: "We've combined both of F. O. Baird's masterpiece books, Leather Secrets and Design Artistry, into one complete volume. This 2013 printing reproduces exactly each of the pages as they were published in 1951 (Leather Secrets) and 1955 (Design Artistry). The cover is the original F. O. Baird design re-tooled by Charlie Davenport. Charlie is Tandy Leather's Director of Research and Development. The book contains a total of 130 pages: 96 pages (many fold out as large as approx. 24" x 45") of Leather Secrets and 34 pages (all fold out to approx 24" x 19-1/4") of Design Artistry. Leather Secrets contains instructions on how to use a wide variety of leathercraft tools, how to carve, how to dye and finish, how to lace and how to attach hardware. Full-size project patterns include albums, belts, billfolds, books, box covering, buttons, cap-pistol holster and belt, cigarette case, coin purses, combination belt & purses, guest books, handbags, jewelry box, key cases, ladies and men's billfolds, spur straps and much more. Also includes over 10 unique alphabet styles. Design Artistry is a portfolio of over 470 leather carving patterns in categories such as flowers and leaves, repeating designs, shields, panels, ovals, corners, border designs, ribbons and more. It includes detailed instructions and illustrations for those who want to draw and originate their own designs for leather carving."

Someone posted this a few weeks ago on here in the Tandy Leather Factory thread . The regular Elite price is $180.00, the Elite sale price is $179.99. a whopping $0.01 discount. The price may be good but if I actually paid for the Elite membership and wanted this book I would not be happy about a .01 discount.

The site is a place for commercial businesses to list their wares for sale targeting other commercial businesses. All of the sellers are owners of their own store, and they are located all over the world. I have dealt with sellers from India, United Arab Emirates, South America, South Korea, Thailand, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ecuador, and the UK just to name a few. Just like listing an item on Ebay, same thing. They open an account and list their items for sale, but their target market is Overseas Commercial businesses that do high volume, so yes the purchase quantity will high. Usually minimums are 1,000 pieces and up. I started dealing with sellers on Alibaba in 2001 when I first entered the export business, I have had some good transactions and I have also had several bad ones. After being burned, I started doing more research on the site and looking into the reviews of other buyers. The ones I found were horrid. Wish I would have done the research before hand, because that was one expensive lesson I learned. To find out more, do a Google search for "alibaba reviews" and read some of the reviews for yourself. Although I am sure after reading through some of them you will decide against doing business with this site. The only thing I do with Alibaba now is use the information I find as leads. I am overseas several times a month, traveling all over the world, and I will sometimes have my driver take me to a business I found on Alibaba, and you will be surprised how many have been broken down apartments, vacant lots, or a legit business that have absolutely nothing to do with the person i had been conversating with via email and Skype. I will also say that I have found some great contacts this way, but had I not actually went and checked them out, I would have been skeptical and hesitant to do business with them. I know every one does not have the ability to hop on a plane at a moments notice like I do, but this is what I tell everyone that wants to do business with one of the sellers. Send them an email, tell them you are interested in their products and want to check the quality by ordering samples. This way it is only a small investment and if for some reason you don't get the items, your loss is minimal. Plus samples will usually be way more than you need. Make sure you tell them you will pay for the samples, that will make them give in and agree to sending the samples, instead of having you make the minimum purchase amount. Because they want you to come back as a buyer, they will usually send the good stuff. Be careful when going back because they are known for the bait and switch. Use Paypal and ask them to send you an invoice to your Paypal email address, instead of you simply sending the money to them. This way if something goes wrong, Paypal will have proof the transaction was for the purchase of goods and can fight for you. Never wire money, difficult to trace who picked up the money on the other end. If they say they don't have Paypal, move on and quick! Do your research, and be careful because their are a lot of scammers lurking waiting on their next victim. Karina

Love the bag, very nicely done. I enjoyed watching it come together, your skills with leather is top shelf! Karina

Springfield Leather now carries Chromexcel in a few colors. Karina

Very Nice piece, I think they will love!

That's one nice school bag!

I don't have any helpful information to offer about your issues, but I just wanted you to know, that you are not alone! I started this venture less than a year ago in November 2012. I hand sewed my projects for all of two minutes before I ran out and purchased a spanking brand new industrial walking foot sewing machine. I knew how to sew on a regular machine but had know experience with industrial machines and I too found myself in tears after spending money on a machine that scared the crap out of me, and regardless of what adjustments I made, it still wasn't correct. My machine did not hit the same holes when in reverse, the thread was bird nesting in the bobbin area, I broke several needles, the presser feet were leaving marks on the leather, the bottom thread was not being pulled up into the leather, it was just laying flat on the leather, and I bent the tension adjustment spring the 2nd day I had it. A week after purchasing the machine, I was using it as a catch all. The table had so much stuff piled on it you couldn't even see the machine. I had just dropped a chunk of change on a machine that was just sitting there. I cleared everything off the machine and by testing and making adjustments, I was finally able to get the machine to do exactly what it was meant to do. It took me 3 to 4 days of making adjustments before I got it correct. It was frustrating, and I had plenty of days where I cursed the machine, and cursed myself for buying the machine. I would take a break then go back to it. I am finally confident enough to use the machine with good results. I am hesitant about changing the settings for different leather thicknesses because I don't want to go through all the adjustments again, and I still for the life of me can't get the reverse to land in the the same hole so for now I just finish by hand, but I am certain that I will get that too. (From what I have read an adjustment needs to be made to the machine) Whatever you do, keep working at it and don't give up. Take some more time to get to know your machine and play with all the settings to see what they do. I took scrap pieces and sewed a straight line, making every possible adjustment on the machine until I found the correct settings. I made notes as I did this so I now know what to do and which dial to turn to correct the problem. I have been there, so I know how it feels, but just keep working at it I am sure you will get the hang of it in no time. Good Luck with it all! Karina