Grumpy Coyote

Wonderful piece. Subject, composition, execution - all terrific. The trees alone would be great, but those figures are beautiful.

Clean and cool - I love it.

Yep - blade-tech. I got mine full price (since they screw on/off I only needed a couple for personal use), but that Index price is the way to go. Even more than the clip itself, I love the fact that I can design anything I want with the same hole pattern and just swap things out.

Scrap box is full of mistakes, tests, and really bad ideas. It's all part of the process in my opinion. You can't make something new unless you risk messing up. I don't toss 'em though... I can usually salvage bits for other projects or more experimentation.

Yep, that's it exactly. Just tried it. I'm not quite sure how to finish it "invisibly", but I think just a lock stitch on the back does the trick.

Gorgeous videos, and gorgeous work. I agree with Tannin; not only is it nice to see a better craftsman using some of the same tools and techniques, it's also nice to see what you do differently. I know these videos are promotional, but as a member of the amateur community I really appreciate you sharing them. They help. Very zen-like... something I struggle with. My work-space is chaos.

My girl wanted a pretty bag... Not sure I got "pretty" in me, but I gave some embroidery of sorts a try. I don't know anything about proper embroidery so this is just a free-hand saddle stitch. Buffalo hide, sterling silver leaves, hand braided fastener... It's a shoulder/belt bag and the strap adjusts and converts. The strap needs to be lined still, but I need a bourbon break. Critiques welcome.

Very, very cool. Tell me more about that t-slot?

Clean and beautiful... I've been thinking about covering snaps lately. The look of your round stitching on the snap backing convinced me. Love it.

Terrific! Great edge. Just primitive enough to look awesome, and still look properly designed. Very cool.

These are my first two knife sheaths... Not my strong suit, but I sort of like the way the little one turned out. They work. The big one was first, I failed to learn my lessons, and made the little one next. I bought the larger KBAR for camping/bushcraft - but it's pretty ridiculously large for anything but extreme duty, so the little Mark 1 joined it for more practical use and I can actually fit it into/onto most bags. Now we have his/hers KABARs. The MOLLE clip is detachable via 2 screws, and I can replace it with a belt hanger/vertical loop/etc/... Whatever. Though they work on most belts/straps just fine. Critiques very welcome...

Clean, simple... I like it very much.

Super simple belt pouch. Elk suede, oil leather, copper rivets & wire. In retrospect, I'd skip the rivets next time - it does not need 'em. Fun bits - the closure, the copper whipping on the cord. That elk is the softest suede I've ever felt. Not so fun bits - I've never tried that envelope style gusset fold. I don't care for it. Too fussy and make an ugly edge on the bottom.

I wasn't crazy about the fit and look of the knot, so I added a bit of whipping to tighten everything up and balance things out a bit. Again, not perfect, but it helped. She's happy, so I'm happy.

Simple box bag w/ handle, for my girl. She didn't want a shoulder strap. Front and back are oil leather, gusset and accents are veg tanned. Wet-formed gusset to give it solid structure. All hand saddle stitched. The buckle is a braided lanyard knot over a wet-formed rolled toggle. Far from perfect, but ok for my second go at a bag...

Ok, there must be an easier way. I have some oil hide, and I want to make a gusseted bag. The front and back are separate (see pic #1), so I want to run the gusset down the side, across the bottom, and up the other side. The problem is the corners. I have a plan, but I don't like it. Make a slit in the gusset edge (pic #2)... But that leaves a gap in the corner (red bits on pic #3). I fix this by making a corner fill triangle (green thing in pic 4). The problem is, that's an extra step, and I'm not crazy about the look of the triangles. Also, on a smaller pouch, it'll be a real pain to get aligned, punched, and sewn. So I'm looking for other ideas, or critiques of this plan... Other than rounding corners or making the back/front one piece. Any other techniques out there?

The rivets have a flat head, and that bump is the peen on the burr side. So you get to choose if that's the front or the back. You can also cut the head off and use a burr on both sides if you prefer. It was my first time with copper rivets. While they take a couple of more steps (tap the burr on, snip the shaft, peen the end), , I find them much easier to work with than the jiffy rivets. You can cut them to any length, and they are less likely to deform under the hammer. I'm a big fan, if you can tolerate the look. They do come out shiny. They'll age dark though.

Thanks - apreciate it... Couple of more views:

Man bag #1... 10x15, oil tanned, 8-10 oz, copper rivets (for looks, mostly), all hand stitched w/ 'natural' nylon from Tandy. Accents/shields are 5oz veggie tanned. 1.5" strap w/salvaged buckle. No gusset, just envelope/folio style. Fits my iPad, 12" lap top, and paperwork - not much else. My first real project. About 8 hours... Most of which was on the damn strap. All comments, critiques, etc. welcome. I'm very new to this, advice appreciated. Now on to a gussied bag... If only I knew how to make a square gusset behave...