DavidL

two pieces grain side to grain side and stitched with the flesh side out. When you flip it over after the stitch is done the stitch can't be seen. If you pull out a pair of jeans, a soccer ball or shorts and look at the stitching some of the pieces are attached but the stitch can't be seen, which is what I call an invisible stitch, but its official name I'm not sure.

Thanks for that tip. Didn't know iPhones can take that good of a picture, I would of guessed a DSLR camera. People use a light box, a white box essentially or a sheet of white paper which is draped over a rod to get that effect. On the road, explorative, natural type vibe is a popular brand image. Roots for example does it well since its set it Canada and has that camping rugged style, even though its owners are American.

I'm currently in Singapore and there isn't too many tools that I know of that are readily available. Most people from Singapore buy from Japan - flying direct. In KL you may find some tools, but not any vergez blanchard or dixon tools id imagine. If your willing to fly and check the tools out and spend a few days looking around that would be a good way to find these tools. Japan would be a good place as they have japanese leather stores all in the same area. Id go as far as looking at finding old traditional shops selling vintage leather tools like pricking irons and hand tools that can't be found online. However, if your looking for things like machines you may have to order online, unless you are lucky enough to find Also if your budget is large don't go with tandy stuff, its pretty much below average and now the prices are also increased. Japanese are medium quality for everything except for some knives that are well made. European tools like vergez are high quality, with well preserved vintage tools from USA, Japan, Korea, Europe being some of the best. Dixon and osborne sell somewhere in between middle quality and high quality. In general avoid craftool, tandy goods and unbranded goods. Im curious what are you looking for specifically so I could recommend some sites or some places. Also what I would recommend to save some money is start leather working first and build around what you need and add to it. That would be how I would go about it since a ton of things I buy aren't important and I realize I should of spent some of it buying a different tool or not spent it on that item since I have too much or end up not needing it.

your issue is your adding water before you dye the piece, water acts like a barrier that doesnt allow the dye to penetrate. You also may want to dump out your dye in an open container and have the cloth/ sponge(recommended) ready to rub into the leather. If you wait too long and allow the dye to soak in a single spot it won't blend in correctly when you try to put the next rub of dye in(sort of how painting a car you have to strip the entire paint off and do it consistently). I try to do it as fast as I can (but in the same motion) so that doesnt happen, the same goes with finishes like aussie or resolene. A sponge that is saturated then dabbed on a separate piece of paper to remove excess helps to prevent one area to be darker than another. Finger prints also contain oils that could effect the dye, which probably isn't the case here.

try goods japan I think I saw something similar for 10-20 or abbeyengland - if you don't have a tax id, make one up they require one, but don't mind if its not real.

Jot a list of magazines, blogs, newspapers, business blogs, hype beast tv (they have a series on artisan type goods) and try to get your name out to them w/ a professionally shot video, Q and A, interview. Along with social media, twitter, pinterest, and activity on style forums and lastly try to get your goods on consignment at least in some kiosks selling jewelry or cellphone cases or in the crafty area of your town there may be some people who make handmade jewellery, that sell them on tables like craft shows. I agree with what the person above is saying. Id also advise you also create a website that takes you to a professionally made store - its more likely people won't wonder off your etsy. Etsy has the connotation as homemade, small time makers - there are some big companies as well. A website store is a must for any business. As a side note what camera did you use for your website, it takes some great photos.

only thing that throws me off is the stitching on the forth picture with the white thread, brown wallet. The thread bulges out if its not pulled extra tight since its a little large. It could be the hole is too small or the thread is too small or not pulled tight enough. I find for me if I pull too hard you can visually see that the finish product that a ton of pressure was applied to pulling the thread. The first wallet picture with on the right side stitching is what it should come out as on all the wallets, where the hole is larger.

You could try an invisible stitch if its not glued yet and on the back to cover up the excess stitch one continues piece of leather folded over the excess and stitched in

I like the design of the last wallet and the second. There is one thing I would change, the thread or SPi. The wallets would look good with 5 SPI with the thread your using or .58mm thread at the same SPI in the pics. The thread on your 4th pic is telling you that its too large for that SPI. 7 SPI is leaning towards thread in the .63mm at its "appropriate size". give or take .05mm

Interesting Knife. My guess would be that you use your other hand on that metal part to control the angle of the blade for skiving or maybe not since your hand might need to hold the leather. It could be a secondary blade like a shoe knife or the curved inside "C" could be sharpened to cut like a pair of scissors pushing straight on paper. I've seen knives like these used to only cut off the connecting pieces that were made by dies that were closely spaced, what the extra bit is I'm only guessing.

a lot of people are buying tandy because they aren't aware they are being ripped off. Nearly every store in my area is over priced for goods like cameras, electronics and high tag goods compared to online, but by 15-25 percent which is reasonable since they have a huge store, good return policy and I can test it out before I buy. Tandy sells below quality tools for the same as budget high end tools. The fact they are a major shop makes people think their prices are fair. It could be Tandy is going bankrupt and their trying to jack up the price so people opt for the elite memberships for fair prices. Hopefully they smarten up and just sell online for normal price or keep their prices slightly higher than online since they have a store. Maybe the prices will be reasonable since all their tools are made in China and they won't have to ship it to North America.

if Company A can turn out 4 wallets for $60 ea, Its the same as one wallet by company B for 200. Also provided that company A has 4 times the buyers and is machine sewing rather than hand stitching. If A company can sell 400 wallets a month its the same as company B selling 100. However if company C can sell at 300 a wallet, the process takes as much time as company A and they have as many buyers as company A then they have the best scenario. Which is what leatherworkers are more keen to look for since they don't have as much resources, time and employees as a big company like Roots for example who sell leather wallets and bags. If your out to make the best of your company then its a war against every other company that sells to your audience. Where the consumers have a choice to buy from 3 or 4 different companies, you have to beat out the others by the things listed below. The most important aspect is if people see your brand as better than the competition, are there any designs or products that you can't find anywhere else? Does the company feel like a professional company where you are assured the products are high quality? Is this brand popular? Is it worth my money? Does the product fit my lifestyle? You should have the answers to all the questions yourself and try to create your brand through your vision, using your business strategy combined with marketing tactics. To add to the pricing discussion there is a market for 5 dollar shirts, 20 dollar shirts, 100 dollars shirts, 1000 dollars shirts. All selling to different classes of people. Low class- middle class- upper class.The more reputable your brand the more likely you are able to sell the higher end. The higher end you sell the higher the profit margin. Wallet could cost 20 dollars to make and sell for 400. At the end of the day a seller that sell 15 dollar shirts can make more revenue than the company selling 100 dollar shirts, so pricing is not indicative of a better company.

Tumbled leather will be soft like chrome leather which is good for bags where you don't want the frame to be too rigid. Analine, semi aniline is also like tumbled. There are variations of tumbled like veg tanned tumbled or tumbled bison. different leathers are softer than others - goat (stiffer than calf but is highly resistant), calf ( mostly only low and high quality) - low quality - 4 dollars a sq and high quality 12-30 a square foot) almost plastic feel not as resistant as goat. Pig is tough. Cow - every stiffness depending on the way it was tanned. It comes down to how much your willing to spend where the quality of your leather will be. Anything below 6 dollars is mostly craft type leather designed for classes or the non concerning leather crafts man. 7-10 dollars is where the medium and high quality leathers are - which come from North America, Italy. Difference in price come from the type of cattle (USA cattle, or brazilian cattle), quality of the tannery. vegetable tanned leathers will be stiff, chrome will not be stiff. Chromexcel from horweens is a popular choice in that size range. If your able japanese leathers from leathertoolcraft.com look to be high quality, they are overpriced at 15+ a sq foot. Cxl is like shell but I believe is horse front, also from Horweens. Bridle leather is the highest grade of leather - the original from england, not the HO and WC type. Harness leather uses the larger cows (length) for its selection and is waxy like Bridle. Pig skin is cheaper and more economical. Goats is tough and can be found in higher grades than pig. Calf is also an option as its thin and cheap.

Multiple small things lead up to big exposure. Big company spend their time promoting on Facebook, twitter, billboards, magazines, ect. Try every free online sharing site like twitter, pinterest, instagram, blogs, newspapers, or forums to promote your goods and spend a 10-20 minutes updating the site daily or every week until it gains interest.

Really nice piece. I like how it is sleek at the sides and the bottom section is folded in and bulges slightly.

I think its time I gave away my technique that I found works best when stitching 2 or more layers. Hopefully it helps. Use a normal pricking iron and mark the grain side of one side, and use the same iron and mark the grain side of other layer. The slant on the front will look like /// and the backside is also /// if you flip it over - regular way front is - /// and back \\\. Slide your awl in the slit and on the backside rotate it to follow the slit on the back. Now when you look at your stitch on the front side and backside they are indistinguishable. A side note if the marks are slightly misaligned it doesnt affect the stitch noticeably. Also works well for turned edges and invisible edge since you don't have to stitch through multiple layers w/out a guide on the back, just add some contact cement w/ a small applicator once the piece is stitched. This technique will not work for layers that have to be glued together first then hit with the iron like alligator hide glued on veg tanned leather.

When I say something Im hoping that I get corrected so that it furthers what I'm saying, creating a discussion. However, to try to get me to apologize is ridiculous and childish thing to force someone to apologize. Just like how I want to get my work critiqued I put ideas out there so people can use it for something or gets them thinking and further their work to a further understanding of the craft. Your in the right direction. Only thing is the thread is too thick so its bulging where the two threads meet. I try to tell people to either go thick thread and 5-7 SPI or 7-9 SPI .58mm. When you go with thinner thread it doesnt fill up the hold and you have to be soft with your touch. Thicker threads normally mean thicker leather and the tension can be raised and should be raised.

You have to be careful how they list the sizing on the stitching chisels. Sometimes they measure from the middle of one prong to the other. Other times they measure it differently and it comes out slightly less than 4mm or more. Id recommend euro tools like dixon or vergez if you can afford them. Give up what? I'm not trying to have an argument with you, but your hell bent on starting one from the get go. Im only trying to give information that might give the other person some ideas or some knowledge. Fine motor skills aren't related to hand size, the size of the hands are at your advantage if they are smaller since the needles, thread and awl are tiny in size. If I gave my friend who has 8 inch long hands the same awl I have, the small needles and thread, he will have issue using it.

Angelus in my opinion have the best acrylics for leather. For the oil dyes angelus they are made for consumer use for leather shoes and are pre diluted vs Fiebings that is concentrated. What was the ratio you mixed the fiebings?

whats the dye used to get that colour? fiebings or angelus?

Most important thing to master is to pull your stitches firmly and at the right tension without having a jerky pull. Anyone have a 7 SPI iron or 5 SPI iron from vergez that can take a picture of the prongs from the bottom so I can compare to the dixons.

Thread too large and holes are too large. It depends on what your making or what style you want. Larger thread and larger Stitches per inch for western Ex. .8mm for 7 SPI and 1-1.2mm for 4-6 SPI Thin thread and smaller SPI for european/japanese style Ex. 7spi w/ .58mm thread or 9spi w/.58mm or .48mm thread. What you have in the above picture is small SPI and thick thread. The thread you are using will work for 4-5SPI. Usually people with larger hands prefer to make thicker bulkier projects that fit their lifestyle. Others w/ smaller hands like the Chinese, japanese and females in particular prefer smaller refined goods since it fits within their style.Workers can get more detail w/ smaller hands (most seamstress are women or men w/ small hands) than people w/ larger hands. Which is why most western style is bulkier and french, italian styles are mostly for women fashion goods or fine male goods.

I backstitch 3 stitches tight and on the last stitch I cut flush and tuck it in w/ out glue. After a while it comes apart since a little bit of pressure pops the cut thread out because it is so close to the other side. Wont the thread eventually just pop out if you don't put a knot or overcast? Has anyone tied a knot and hid it in the hole and had it work out?

dixon or vergez pricking irons have similar size holes within their own brand. As long as the blade is almost as large as the hole it will open it up to the size of the slit. Slightly larger Is okay too. Too large or too small will affect stitching.

How do I keep the last stitch from staying secure in the leather, using linen thread. I've asked this question before and still I can't get the thread to stay secure after testing it. If I take the two pieces and pull them in opposite directions the last two stitches come out. Im thinking to tie a knot at the second last hole and push it in the middle, casting the thread twice and form a knot.