Boriqua

Probably goes without saying but be very careful not to get any gum on the face until it is finished. Man did I screw up something I spent alot of time on because a drop or two got on front. Didnt notice it until I dyed the front and there were these wonderful undyeable spots. In the garbage it went. I use Glycerine soap on the back. I take a fairly damp sponge, work up a good lather, rub it into the leather and then burnish with a heavy piece of glass. Comes out very nice and for extra you can hit it with resolene later.

Hey Paul I never tried the ritza but it is supposed to be "the stuff" However .. I did try the braided chinese thread you can find on ebay and it is really really good thread that feels to me to be 0.8 even though they sell it as 1mm. Here is just one seller but there are more than a few. I have no affiliation with this person http://www.ebay.com/itm/260M-150D-1MM-Leather-Sewing-Waxed-Wax-Thread-Hand-Stitching-Cord-Craft-DIY-New-/252238616921?var=&hash=item3aba97d959:m:mtmPUaU2Fc7zMAqfP0d-YZw Having said that, it is a little light for most of my work and I have settled on the 1.1 Eagle thread but were I looking for thinner I wouldnt hesitate to use the ebay stuff. Great color and great price.

Im sorry man but I dont have a pic of the back of that one. What I can say is that after watching hours of video, dont tell JLS, and after reading countless posts, consulted with oracles, having thrown the chicken bones and having expended yards and yards of thread here is what I came to .. if I get a really nice pronounced zig zag on the front I get a nice but very straight line on the back side. If I cast then I get a more reserved zig zag on the front but get almost as consistent a zig zag on the back. I do it both ways depending on the project and my mood but I most often default to give me the pronounced zig zag in front and I can be alright with a nice straight line in the back for the types of things i am most likely to make. Now dont mistake me for a quiter!! I am still after the elusive perfect stitch front and back but I will admit that after almost 2 years of beating at it ..those are my findings. Either a good zig zag front and back or an excellent zig zag front and a straight line in back. The pic below is of a stitch line on a holster that has been cast. You can see its not as exaggerated as the stitching example I posted above but the back was pretty close to the same as the front. Not as good but not straight and more zig zag. For a holster that will be worn against the body I would rather put all the bling out in front so I would opt for the sample above even though this looks ok. One of the benefits of casting even though I dont LOVE the look as much is that you dont have to pay as much mind to it as you do it. The act of casting throws the thread where it needs to be so if you are sewing and doing something else you should still get a fair looking stitch. I can do it with my eyes closed. With something like the stitching sample above... well I really sweat each stitch to make sure I have pulled the thread how I want it to lie and it is a bit more work but not a hardship when you consider the results. Like everything else .. different techniques for different circumstances.

Its a little pricy but this is what I have been using for the last couple years. I have a 5spi,6 and 7. My go to for most things is 6. I have used the 7 on inlays and the damn 5 I bought for $30 sits in a box. https://www.rmleathersupply.com/collections/tools/products/vergez-blanchard-pricking-wheel-1-wheel-any-size If I get back to Motorcycle bags the 5 will be handy but for holster and sheaths and most things i make the 6 rules the day. I love this tool !!!!

Certainly not great stitching but will give you an idea on a holster. I tried the groover and didnt like it and sold it immediately but to each their own. I just really dig the zig zag when I get it right. Here it is at 6spi with an awl

Martyn I LOVE it! Now I am prone to the shmancy side so it may just be me. So I am assuming you are just knotting the two different colored threads on the back side So one color starts on the back and one color starts on the front but I tried it and you will eventually have to cut that knot leaving one stitch on back not done I think. I am going to mess with it tomorrow as I have a holster set that this would be perfect for. Any advise if you care to share would be appreciated. Man this forum is awesome!

Yea looks burned to me. I do some leather burning with an inexpensive wood burner and the line looks like that.

I buy all my line 24's directly from scovill. I had it with the tandy snaps. If you dont use enough of them to meet the minimum purchase requirement from scovill some guys sell smaller quantities on ebay. I was able to fix a loose feeling snap with some advice i go there though. I gently squeezed the female part with a channel lock. Almost an imperceptible amount. I just put the channel lock on and gave it the lightest squeeze and it was perfect!

I have a couple of colors of the Tandy Pro water stain and like them very much. I usually very slightly dampen the leather with a sponge making sure the color is somewhat even before I apply the stain and I have had really good results.

That is funny ... remember when being punished meant your parents kept you in the house and didnt let you go outside?!?!? and it was torture

It sold it the day after I put it up and I have asked the gentleman to get back to me with his thoughts when he receives it. In some pix you cant even see the mark but ... to me it could be seen from the moon and was killing me. Still the coloring generated alot of attention to some of my other stuff and I have since sold 3 holsters and have 2 new custom orders at full price so I guess putting it up turned out OK and I got to try something new for me with the color. Like my wife said ... some dude is going to be sporting a nice holster and it does make me feel good I hope the guy who got the bargain could use the price break and it wasnt some fat cat just happy to save a few but I cant control that. I got back my materials and a take out night at mcdonalds for me and the missus. Good deal all around!!

Thanks for putting up the rest of the pix!!! Looks good and I think all dragon saddles should be appropriately festooned with bling. Thanks for sharing! Now you have given me the itch to try it on something. Alex

aw man I knew what was next but I wanted to see If you get the chance try and shoot how you knotted it and what the final product looks like. I have had that book for a thousand or so years and understand it but never tried it so I am having fun living vicariously. Alex

Perhaps this will help. When you cut with either a rotary tool or box cutter exactly to your marked line you still have the thickness of the leather to contend with. With some wood tools like band saws or jig saws the blade is vertical and you can cut right up to your mark but a box cutter wont do that. On the surface it will look like you have 2 intersecting lines but at the bottom there is still very much a leather connection and when you go to pull it apart .. Tufts! You can solve this by going past your marks on the intersecting lines but that can waste material. What I do if I want to cut out a corner without over cutting my line is to cut up to the line say with your box cutter but then I use an exacto knife and I tilt it in under the leather. With the tip of the exacto in my cutting board I lift the exacto blade so that it cuts from underneath until it is even with the cut I made on top. Wala .. nice clean corner with no hairs sticking out.

cant wait for the next installment!

If you can post a pic of the offending cuts. It may tell us something about what is happening in the corners and how it might be better.

This is a Craftsman/business question. I was a builder guy, then a project manager guy for a design and fabrication house and a couple of museums. I was notoriously picky. Now I am a retired leather bum and have a question. I just screwed up a holster. I have been working 2 pancake commander patterns. One a slightly basterdized JLS pattern and one a more basterdized JLS pattern that combined some of my own sensibilities with his cleanliness and order. On one I set my inside belt slot stitch 13mm in from the mold line and one I go 3cm from the edge. I was making a tiny run of like 5 holsters which included both patterns and inadvertently marked the stitch line for one that belonged to the other. I marked that line oh so faintly with the tip of a scratch awl but there you have it .. its made in damp leather and there forever. I could have tried rubbing it out but I haven’t had great success with making it look good trying to spoon out mistakes. It shows like the sun in the pic I took of it because I am not interested in fooling anyone and want it to be seen by any potential purchaser so I lit it to see it and took a close up. Outside of that mark the holster pix dont do it justice. The holster in person really is gorgeous at the risk of being immodest. So here is my question .. That is not a cut or score but a dent in the leather. I held the awl at a shallow angle to just make a light sewing line. I took $25 off the price because of it. In truth I was going to throw it out once I realized what I had done. In your humble opinion .. did I take off enough? Did I take off too much ... should I have just thrown it out? When I was ready to toss it my wonderful wife said but .. if you finish it and its nice then someone who may not have alot of money can have something really nice for not alot of money and that is good. Catholic school may have ruined her! I was trying something new in coloring so I finished it but .. I would like to hear from other leather workers .. and hopefully leather workers that may do this for profit although I dont know I make a profit .. should I have just thrown this out?

well I put it up at $50. At some point your children just have to leave home!

Yea for the life of me I couldnt work that damn wrinkle out. I tried with a bone folder from the inside but I had made the screw up I just advised someone else NOT to make. After I wet my piece I just jammed the gun in there without first opening it up with my special opener tool and that is what I got. Trying to fix it after the fact just wouldnt happen. I never made that mistake again! Now I always poke and prod the inside first before inserting the mold. The pink one that sold instantly had the straps integral to the pattern and was kind of a pain .. The two above are held in place with t nuts and the snap.

Just curious? I dont plan on making any more but I did make 3. One sold in short order, one was a special order but this guy has been hanging around for months now. Could be its just a sucky holster but I have been happily selling pretty regular and this guy is now on my nerves. I remember back a year or 2 snapcakes were all the rage.... personally I never liked them. Anyone notice a decline in the sale of them or is it just mine is not up to snuff? I have been asking $65 http://boriqualeather.com/Glock 19 basketweave/ I did just complete this set as a special order and the gentleman was overwhelmingly thrilled so maybe its just that brown glock one aint got somethin'. Going to lower the price to 50 bucks just to get it out of here because it is hurting my feelings.

Now it was about a thousand years ago but I used to go to the leather shops in the garment district. These and a bunch of others like them were made from stuff I found there I found this page and it speaks the truth about help and in a way I hope it hasnt changed much. http://www.shopthegarmentdistrict.com/2011/09/shopping-for-leather-and-suede-in.html They were basically small dirty store fronts with wooden creaky floors and a musty smell and they had rolls and rolls of leather. Of course dont expect help or advice. The owners were often surly and at best inattentive. B&H photo used to be the same way and from what I understand hasnt changed much but they had everything camera and good pricing. You can get help but dont expect a lot of it. I think they buy close outs and you just have to fish through the bins and old wooden racks and make your own decisions. However there were indeed bargains to be found there and things that you dont normally find or wouldnt have thought of but upon seeing might spark a project idea. It is ABSOLUTELY worth going to some of these shops and just fishing through the shelves. They were often closed on the weekends and many are owned or run by orthodox Jews so dont expect saturday hours but if you can get there during the week .. make a day of it and drop in from doorway to doorway. I have found some really cool things in those shops and the whole vibe, if you are a new NYER or never visited the garment district during the week is awesome. If you enjoy haggling you can further sweeten the pot but dont expect an easy roll over. I miss NYC sometimes and this is one of the things I miss. Now supplies ... unless something has changed there is no good place to buy supplies and such in the area. I ordered all my tools and such from tandy through catalogs but buying threads and leather at the local shops. Alex

I used mallets for years and I guess about 6 months ago bought a tapered 27 oz maul. For me it is a great all around weight. Actually a little light for basketweave but a good all around maul since you can get all the way up on the head and so some nice fine work all the way up to some heavy stamping. The weight is handled different since unlike the mallet you dont have a long handle so you do kind of choke up on the head. I use it for everything tooling. I use my mallets for punching holes. I bought mine here ... not the prettiest thing in the world but it was inexpensive and does what it is supposed to do. I can never go back to a mallet. http://www.wrising.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=54

Oh man! PERFECT!What have we here Laddie A secret Pouch a bit O leather work NO! A wallet no less, A wallet everyone The Laddie rekons himself a leather crafter I would soooo watch!!

Ok but now Jeff when you add the video and you get to the sewing part I think you need to start off in the calmest Psychologist, talk em off the edge voice ... "Now insert the needle in the hole followed by the second needle" Then quickly transition into the sickest DI you have ever seen "DO IT AGAIN" "AGAIN" "AGAIN" "DO IT!" "DO IT NOW!" "I WANT TO SEE YOUR FINGERS BLEED" I would watch But I have an odd sense of humor.