MonicaJacobson

Wow, she's going to be thrilled. They al look beautiful!

Heh, yes, I might at that.

My husband made me a really nice stitching pony out of Mahogany and curly maple. I'm really excited to start using it! Also, I threw together an experimental bracelet with stitching to hold on a carving I did a while ago. If anyone has any suggestions or online resources for decorative stitching, that would be awesome. It looks rather haphazard, as is. (Apologies for the sloppy hole placements - I was lazy because it's for myself, as I can't sell mammoth ivory online anymore due to etsy and ebay's new policies.)

Really nice! I love the first one, especially.

Cool! I like the decorative cutaways on the ends of the strap. I need to make one for my camera, too. I think I'll cannibalize the nylon connecting straps from my old camera strap.

Thanks very much, for both the compliments and the advice, SLudlow and Odin!

Thanks Chris! Thanks also, FMSam! That's what my husband thought. You sell it for as much as you can, and when you really get the process down and you can make it faster and better, you call that profit. And that extra padding can help average things out if you loose money somewhere else, which frequently happens.

Yes, that's definitely something to think about. I quit doing bone pendant carving because it doesn't matter if you make it in an hour or six hours, you still can't sell it easily for more than $45.00(unless you're spectacularly good). The supply is too high and the demand is constant but geared towards low prices. So the real question seems to be how long are you prepared to wait to sell something at the price you want, rather than the price you can easily get. And yes, as you were saying (I think), you have to make it worthwhile enough to yourself to bother making it again. Perhaps the paid-hourly argument only applies to those who do leatherworking as a full time job. After all, my designer husband charges $50.00 per hour in his line of business. In any business where you've reached a certain level of expertise and recognition, you get to charge more because people know what they're getting from you. But until you get there, you can't expect people to pay you like you're famous. SkylarkJV, thanks! And GamberLeather, that's a great idea. I'll have to try it. BigGriff - there are more people on here from Atlanta than you might think. I've run across three or four other people already, and I'm still new to the forum.

Thanks a lot, SF - yes, it's my pattern. I'm probably too much of a chicken (and can't invest enough in materials) to actually charge that price for it - I was thinking more $450, but I had read some other comments on here about people saying you should actually stick to your man-hour guns and wondered what everyone thought. I suppose I would be more comfortable selling it for 500 - 600 if I used top quality or bridle leather, but my leather has some scars. BigGriff, I live in Smyrna! Who knows, we might have passed each other at the Norcross Tandy.

Hey all, I just finished this backpack. Tell me what you think! 8 oz. veg tanned leather for the bottom, back, and front flap (all one piece), and Minelli leather on the front. Yes, my color tastes are loud. I also lined the straps with Minelli leather. I've been trying to figure out pricing, so I actually kept track of how long it took to make this bag, and it came out to about 23 hours. I'm torn between actually charging per hour, and wondering if people should actually have to pay for all the hand sewing I do. Hours and materials (and I'm being generous) bring it to $540.00, which seems a bit ridiculous. Any advice would be welcome.

Really cool -- all the stuff in your links, too! I love that color.

I've never made a really nice, professional billfold, but with my two experiments, I guessed (after the fact) that you're supposed to over-size the pockets. Make them way bigger than you think, and there'll be no problem.

Ha ha, that's the problem with leatherworking forums -- if you're already making, why would you buy from someone else? Not that I wouldn't like to. I've seen several things I'd love to have, including your bison bags. But I can barely afford to buy leather -- my time doesn't cost me anything, so I just try to make something based on the things I like. I've heard craft fairs are really good places to sell leather things. People will supposedly spend a lot more if they see it in person than online. Unfortunately, I don't have a weekend to spare for it. Nice bag, by the way!

Seriously awesome!

Sweet. I love the leather and fabric mix.

Don't give it to the dog! I'm not a judge of a holster, but it looks really good for a third try. I think I'm going to try some of the mahogany antique.

These look great! I'd like to have a pair of soled boots in this style.

Nice! I'm thinking of making my sis-in-law one kind of like that.

Very nice bag! I love bison. I think I saw that someone else got theirs at the buffaloleatherstore.com or something. I haven't bought any from there, but I will sometime soon.

Thanks! That hadn't struck me, but there's definitely something in that.

I covered it with several layers of plastic wrap, just to be safe. Thanks for the link!

Really nice leather carving and bag! I love your artwork choice.

Really sweet!

Nice. I like your details on the mountains as well.

Thank you, Capretta, I haven't actually put it to serious use, yet. Not an actual hike with breaks to take pictures, though we have taken it with us on casual trips. However, I have taken it out of the case 30 odd times, and it's not frustrating at all. When I molded it, I added padding on the sides so it wouldn't be too tight there, much like you were thinking of doing. I also gave the camera an additional 1/2 inch of height with a board underneath it. And I didn't stress about it being super tight over the camera, so it's not. It's not quite as convenient as a normal camera bag, but leather is naturally stiffer.