MonicaJacobson

Looks like a fun project! Your tooling is a bit rough, but most people's tooling is rough on their second project.

Very nice sheath! I'm not into larp, but I think larping is cool because people end up making awesome stuff for themselves and actually using it. Thanks for posting!

Fun! I was thinking of making something similar soon.

Nice stitching, and cool logo! You might consider finishing the edges, though.

Wait, you mean like cork... from a cork tree? Whatever it is, it's nice looking. Do you supply a wooden presentation box with everything you make? Fancy-shmancy.

Cool, nice job!

These are really cool. I especially like the top one. The ostrich looks like alligator or something. I love your idea of using deer antler lacing hooks.

That is a super-nice bag. Thanks for posting pictures of it!

Thank you, Paul, I appreciate it!

Wow, that is seriously impressive.

Um, wow. Seriously freaky. Though not as much as the ear thing. Amazing work!

Nice bag! You did a great job on all the details.

Great bag! I love the inlay!

Wow, yeah, you probably should keep all the blood you can, if you can help it.

What's the story behind this one? Needle jabs take a disproportionately long time to heal. If using a single gusset (for a large bag) and a pricking iron, measure as you go after you've done the first side. Unless you are careful, it will not produce the same number of holes the second time as it did the first time. Gah. I can't believe how long it took me to figure this out.

Nice! But do you actually use those things? My hand hurts just to think of it.

That is a Very Nice Briefcase. Great job, and thanks for the how-to on the handle.

I love how the bison turned out. Nice work!

Very nice, Chief!

Cool! At some point, it doesn't matter how terrible the leather is, if you get something useful and cool and out of it.

Thanks for the kind comments, NAT and Bill! Much appreciated.

Thank you, Feraud, Bill, and Bdunne!

Heh, David, I did that to someone else the other day. I estimated 40 hours, and they said it was 100. Whoops, I thought. Thank you, Joe!

I'm a little unclear about the difference between the two - I haven't been able to afford super high quality tools yet, but if I'm right, and the difference between the two is that Japanese are diamond shaped, verses diagonal, then I have a European style pricking iron. Thank you! Maybe I'm a slow stitcher yet, but just the stitching took me more like 15 hours, with all the pockets, etc. Unless, of course, that was an ironic comment. I did feel a bit silly stitching 4 oz. leather together by hand, since I'm pretty sure someone with a machine could have zipped through that in less than the 1.5 hours you mentioned.

Thank you, WScott, that is kind of you. I spent a year doing things without books, help, and trying to not buy tools, and when I finally joined this forum, I felt bad for wasting so much time. Seeing what you guys make is so helpful! I haven't really seen much of your work, but I did like the laptop case. The lining looks like it was a real pain. I haven't had the gumption to try something with any kind of lining, yet.