MonicaJacobson

That is super cool. Thanks for posting pictures!

Awesome, as usual! If I had a dog I'd buy one.

Did you end up folding over the edge of that kidskin? It looks really good. I've had difficulty edge painting something so thin.

This one is definitely my favorite so far. The essex is so luxurious looking, especially with the blue interior.

Looking good, Chris!

Dude, whaat? That bag is ridiculous! Yellow AND with white edges? My husband has been trying to get me to do that, and I've chickened out so far. The handle is awesome, too.

Really nice job - that's the first of that style I've seen made with latigo, and it looks pretty sweet. I feel you on the edging.... but believe me, edging it without edge paint is even worse. A total disaster/nightmare.

Really cool bag. I'm not a huge fan of copper rivets, but as a whole, it's very impressive.

Nice briefcase. You could also line it, if you make another with the same leather. I have some nice horween horse I just obtained to line stuff. It's a luxury.

Sweet holster. I'da voted that for first place for originality and coolness factor.

Beautiful creasing.

Ha ha, that's a great bag. Nice work.

Wow, beautiful work. I can't see any flaws, it all looks perfect. Really nice work.

Oh yes, I've seen their work for a while and admired it. My guess is acrylic paint, but I'd be interested to see what everyone else thinks. Here's something I did with angelus acrylic leather paints. The brightness of the paint does seem similar. Also -- if they are indeed using acrylic paint, I wonder if they're dabbing at it with a sponge to get that effect.

Actually, there are a whole set of bags like these that are style for women or men. I like them better than the overly feminine bags. They're classy and solid looking. But it's fun to try all kinds. I have always had trouble making masculine bags. I get carried away with details and colors. I think I've only successfully made three actually masculine looking bags in the last three or four years. Oh well. I'm resigned to it, now.

Cool bag - yeah, no way that's feminine. It looks solid and nicely made.

I've never used it with veg tanned leather (the favorite method for veg tanned is beeswax/paraffin), but I've used it on various chrome tans, since chrome tans are much harder. They don't really burnish, so edge paint has been the only option. I've used it on kidskin as well with good results. I bought one of each color (kind of an investment, it's true) so I could mix my own colors. Edges will take about as much time and effort as you have to put into them. My edges aren't the best, but the're a lot better than they used to be when I was trying resolene, gum trag, or saddle soap. If you do decide to get edge paint, here's the method that works for me (everyone seems to have their own method): 1. Start with trimmed, clean surface - the cleaner the surface, the better the edge. 2. apply fenice edge agent (I bought a tandy branded fenice edge agent on ebay, but as they don't carry fenice anymore, you may have to look for another source). I like this stuff a lot. It's supposed to help with adherence, but it also hardens the edge, which is really helpful for soft chrome tanned leathers. 3. apply two thin coats of edge paint, allow to dry in between coats. 4. Leave it to harden for a couple of hours. 5. Sand with either 220 or higher grit - I usually use 1200 grit - sand and repaint until your patience gives out. Mine gives out pretty quickly, unfortunately for my not-quite-perfect edges. 6. When your edge looks pretty good, use a wax and/or wax/paraffin mixture, and smooth it on with a heated iron of some sort. I use this with this tip. The wax lubricates the tip so that you can smooth it. If it's too hot, the edge paint will bubble and burn. I use a temperature controller because I have one, but it may or may not be necessary. 7. After the wax hardens, you can burnish it with canvas or jean so it isn't sticky.

Dwight, do you dilute the dye at all when you dip it? Or just buy the big gallons of dye?

I never found a good solution for staining, and have since moved entirely to edge paint (from BuckleGuy). It doesn't bleed. It has its own learning curve (learning how to get it to adhere, etc.), and you may not end up liking it, but for me, the relief of not having anymore bleed problems (which ruined several projects), was greater than the learning curve. I use a fenice edge agent prior to the paint, as well.

I really like the keyholder/wallet.

Sweet!

Nice job!

Wow, that's awesome.

Thanks! Aah, awls vs. pricking irons/chisels is a controversial subject. You are actually learning via the most classic method -- training yourself to make each stitch perfectly aligned with the awl. I've read that some people use the stitch-length roller tool to help them, but you still have to practice getting your stitch holes all at the same angle. If I were someone with more precision or perfectionism I might have made myself practice the hours and hours it would take on scrap work to get my awl work perfect, but I'm too impatient, I want to actually make something. And if I want to make stuff, I have to sell stuff so I can buy more leather. And you can't sell stuff if your stitch line looks messy. Thus, the chisels/irons/whatever. They take the guess-work out of it. Some people use the chisels all the way through, some people just mark and use the awl to pierce all the way through. That is often how it works out, anyway, since the leather is often too thick. The other part is the muscle memory that helps you make each stitch exactly the same. I was still messing up 1 stitch in 50 until I watched Ian Atkinson's stitching video about eight months ago (I had only watched Nigel Armitage's video). Somehow, that really solidified it for me, and I haven't had hardly any consistency problems since. The 6spi lacing prong I am using right now is 3/32, and I will say it has worked well and faithfully for a long time. But that doesn't mean I don't intend to replace it with something nicer when I get the chance.

Thanks! My husband used to do professional photography, so I get to use all his equipment. It makes a huge difference. Thanks, Bill! Thanks, MY - yeah, zippers are a pain. Thanks, Thor! Rosiart, interesting, I'll look closer and see if that's the problem. When the zipper faces up, like in the picture below, these zippers work fine. Thanks, Kiwi! No problem - everything is stitched at 6spi with my trusty Tandy pro-line lacing chisels. Some day I'll upgrade them, but meanwhile, they work fine. The camera straps are 2" wide. It's based on the Money Maker design by Hold Fast, but I figure mine is about as different from theirs as theirs is from the readily available Op/Tech webbing camera harness. Only, not quite so hipster. Thank you! I still remember your red padded purse with awe.