DavidL

I was thinking of making a kickstarted very soon once I get everything together. Seems like there is a new trend towards handmade goods on kickstarter and it would be best to get in it sooner before it explodes and everyone is making a project. Good luck and it looks like you will make your pledge.

very nice the silver thread and brown leather is my favourite. I don't know how you get those cuts so straight I always have trouble cutting on the line even with a straight ruler. Keep it up.

On stiff veg tan the stitches for me lay flat on upholstery 3 oz leather the thread lays round like you said which looks nicer to me. Do the small sheaths sell well on your website or through conventions? Do you have a website I would like to check out some of your items.

since there are no replies Il add my 2 cents. I have not bought a clicker before but have heard that lucris press is a good press. If you want something lower end and you are not clicking hundreds of patterns a day a 20 ton rigged shop press will work out well for only 300 dollars. A quick search on the forum will lead you to it. A suggestion for even smaller operation are wood mallets made specifically for hitting dies w/ out the use of a press. Google Elfita to find it if thats what your looking for.

very cool bracelet joe

What airbrush are you working with? Im in need of an airbrush that has a wide spray.

Tiger thread and fil au chinois thread both have the right amount of wax out the box. Any thread that has too much wax isn't that high of quality, although there are some that are good. Linen thread like barbours comes with no wax. The way I do it is to thread your needle onto the cord and pull from one end to the other.

Im liking that blue wallet. Was this airbrushed dye or angelus paint?

The three or four most used threads are polyester, linen, nylon and sometimes hemp. Polyester thread and nylon are stronger than linen and hemp because they are rot resistant since they are not made in nature. Linen is the most popular thread and stitches better in my opinion than polyester. Tiger thread has one issue that I have to deal with that I do not with linen thread. It is flat and from time to time the thread will twist and lay unevenly. The front side is easier to keep flat but the back stitches twist a lot (Is possible to get all stitches to lay properly but takes extra care) . Tiger thread is the better thread when it comes to braided polyester. Twisted poly or any linen thread won't have the twist issue and won't have that flat wide stitch that you can achieve with tiger thread. I have some tiger thread on sale if you click on my signature it will lead you to my etsy account.

Thank you for the response.

The second video is the one your referring to?

Is this Chap leather? Where can I find this type of leather? The type of leather that is vegtanned and pre dyed are 3mm or higher and the upholstery leather are 1mm. Are these thicker leather split down to the proper weight?

angelus has a paint finish made for acrylics.

if your house is upside down that should be your biggest problem. On youtube if you search sofa restore or dyeing leather sofa there are products that do just that.

Roden leather has the type of leather I am looking for http://www.rodenleather.com/avalon/avalon.html. They are expensive at 13 dollars a square foot, but is exactly what I'm looking for. Stitches great, has a good flesh side and good colour. Does anyone else know of any type of upholstery leather or oiled leather that has these characteristics at say 7-9 dollars. 2/3 or 3/4oz.

If your going for a "costanza wallet" leave it like that. 2 or 3 (2/3 oz) layers you can get away with no modification.

Helps a lot thanks everyone. I will try the leather bleach diluted and also diluting saddle soap in water.

How long do you dip the dye and how long do you allow it to dry. If the leather has grime and marks from your hands how do you wash the leather so that the dye sits in properly? Leather bleach? Deglazer? Id rather go with something that I have at home or a common home depot item like turpentine, denatured alcohol or maybe saddle soap.

I've done research in airbrushing but don't have an airbrush. From what I read airbrushing dye won't penetrate as much as dip dyeing or with sheepskin. If the leather needs to be penetrated all the way through it is questionable. Angelus acrylic paint has been used with success by sneaker customizers on nike shoes and should work on vegtan but I have never tried it. It also doesn't crack or require finishing, although light colours may need to be airbrushed as a base coat before a darker colour is sprayed.

The black leather is stitched the same way with the same tools and thread as the first picture. I want the stitches to look like the second picture - less tension was used to set the thread in the leather because the thickness is 1mm. The sneaker is 3-4mm thick and had to be pull tighter and looks like 9 SPI. Is this a normal thing? The thicker the leather the smaller the stitch? Is this a technique issue or does sizing down to 5 SPI give me 7 SPI look?

When sewing 7 SPI does any one use a 45mm awl or larger? I use a 30mm awl and it works well, but may get an osborne if it works better.

SLC imported top grade tooling leather. Out the bottle with sheepskin rag and it makes the top layer feel like a plastic vinyl type feel. If i flex it the dye cracks, which is most likely the leather. With a different leather it still doesn't dye evenly - always there will be darker areas which come out pure black when i use royal blue for instances. I think it comes down to how i apply the dye to the rag. Are you pouring the dye out and letting the sheepskin soak the dye? Also once i use up my dye (may take a while) i may airbrush angelus acrylic anyone tried this before?

Im using fiebings pro dye and I have troubles with paint bending and uneven dyeing. Out of the bottle angelus dyes work great and from my understanding is highly concentrated. So would diluted fiebings work? Im asking because there is always uneveness - does it work best diluted with denatured alcohol with 2 coats. The dye also does not penetrated the leather - when i stabbed my awl through I can see the pink of the leather showing.

Up for sale is .8mm tiger thread in black or brown and dil au chinois 532. Both are sold in small quantities for testing. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtelierLIM

I have contacts but I still find it ridiculous that I have to do that because they wanna rip me off. They say its because they can't send sharp items using USPS but i just received a knip knife from USPS.