MonicaJacobson

That guitar strap looks really nice! As does the bangle. I've never heard of the marbling stuff, but it is a really cool effect!

Huh, interesting! I'm not surprised, as the whole purpose of the pattern is to minimize sewing. And it's kind of a 70's hippy purse throw-back thing. The time minimizing works great if you use a sensible chrome tanned, but I didn't really find that it saved me any time, what with burnishing edges and tooling and oiling. And I didn't even spend the time I should have, as it turns out.

Thanks Karina! I'm excited to hear about other good retailers. I knew they were out there, but I was hesitant to buy sight-unseen. You've never had a problem getting a skin you didn't want? And is the shipping really expensive? It seems like it could be prohibitive on something that large. I agree about Tandy's prices. I just assumed they were high elsewhere as well. At least we don't live in South Africa! I saw someone else's post that mentioned that the prices for leather there are astronomical. Anyway, thanks for the info! Monica

Me too, Smyrna, GA. Does anybody know of any other leather suppliers in the metro Atlanta area other than Tandy? I like it fine, but I keep hearing that we should explore other suppliers. Does anybody know of any shoemakers or cobblers in the area either? I've heard people mention cobblers (maybe in England?) who sell leather or leatherworking tools, but I've never seen anything of the sort here.

Really nice!

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone!

Cool! I'd want it. The car one behind it is cool, too.

Thanks! Sure, I drew up a quick and dirty version in Photoshop. It's not precise, it's just to give you the general idea of the shape. I looked at the video of their bag, left out the pocket and used a ruler to lay out all of the sides. At first I used a pattern I made out of brown paper, but it moved around too much, so I just lay it out on the leather itself. If you make it, I'd recommend you watch their video to see how it all goes together.

I like both, but I really like the saddle scabbard. Sweet gun, btw..

Oh yes, and I also plan to sew on keeper style pieces of leather to the bag to help support the strength of the stitching where the stitching ends on the straps.

Ha ha, maybe I don't want you to see details. No, I accidentally uploaded them from the wrong place. But, as you can now see in a wealth of detail, I did a terrible job with the dying of the sides, certainly. I'm hoping a judicious application of indirect sunlight will help the color even out. It is also very self evident that I need to buy a skiving knife or tool and learn how to use it. I don't have a thickness gauge yet, but it's about 3/16 in. thick, which makes it what, about 7 - 8 oz? Thanks, WScott -- I'm relieved that someone noticed it was supposed to be pinstriping. Or reminiscent of it. My husband drew it for me.

Thank you! That's very nice to hear! Yes, the price does seem a bit steep for a bag that requires mostly cutting out and riveting together. But once you get a name and a client base, some people feel better about the product if you charge them more for it.

Funny you should say that, that's exactly what it's like. My friend's husband thought the Colson Keane bag was awesome, but much like me, couldn't afford to actually buy one. She asked me to make one like it, and I added some tooling and used a different leather to avoid completely copying his design. It's a really sweet bag. I also like their wider messenger bag in the same style.

Beautiful. Makes me want to start wearing a watch!

Thanks, everyone! And thanks for the advice, Greystone. The best thing about this forum is that there are so many good leatherworkers showing their work at every stage that it makes even difficult projects seem a lot less impossible.

Hi all, I've been working on my own until now, and after reading on here for a week and watching a few help videos, I regret every day I wasn't on here before! Oh well. A friend asked me to make a bag for her husband, which forced me into being a little bit more serious about leatherworking. Since then, I've made a few more. Tell me what you think! I know I've made a bunch of amateur mistakes... For one thing, my edging is inferior, I just found out that I shouldn't be using a stitching awl, and my dye work has definite problems. How on earth do you guys keep soft leather from going crooked as you sew it? It seems to be inevitable even if I count the holes. Do you start form the middle and each way?

Nice! I've been thinking of making a few camera straps, so it was helpful to see this!

Ha ha, this is awesome. Great job!

Wow, that's beautiful!

Cool book cover! And good idea -- mink oil sounds like something to have on hand. My husband had the idea of installing snaps directly into the inside sketchbook. Could be cool.

Oh well, it was silly to ask the question before I could post a picture of it. So here's a picture. My problem is that the paper lays on top of the flap holding the book into the cover. You can't comfortably write or draw on something so lumpy. Even without the blue strap it'd be bumpy. The only thing I've thought of is extending the leather flap all the way back to the spine of the interior book so that the surface is completely smooth and attaching it there somehow. Inside flap Very uninformative picture of the book in the cover (You might also notice that my dying is terrible. So it is... I've been resisting dip dying because of the cost, but I'm about to resign myself to it.) This person really got it figured out. (Also on etsy) However, that idea requires that you drill holes in a new sketch book after you've used up your old one. Most people wouldn't want to do that, I would wager. In further search of randomness, I've attached a diagram of the problem. Heh. I would just take more informative pictures of the actual leather cover, only it's in Texas and I'm in Georgia. Diagram Anyway, thanks for the help!

I hadn't even thought of that as a probvlem... maybe I should have! Heh. Thanks for the advice!

I made a large batch of presents (worked all of November and December) for my family back in Texas. I would especially like feedback on the art journal cover -- I need to figure out a way to make a journal cover that holds in the hardback journal/sketch book and doesn't interfere with sketching. If you see what I mean (I'll try to find the picture of it soon), the flap folds underneath and the square of stitching at the top and the bottom is a piece of leather that holds the flap closed and allows you to slip in a new cover. However, when you sketch, that means that the whole fold and strap makes a large bump all down the page. But none of the sketch book covers that I've seen deal with this problem. What are you supposed to do, use a piece of cardboard between the leather flap and your paper? That seems a bit lame. Here's an illustration for sale on etsy right now. It's a beautiful piece of work, but they are dealing with the same problem I am. If you try to draw in it, or even write, the flap of leather holding the book will interfere with your writing/drawing. Anyway, any help would be appreciated! By the way, the actual painting that I used on the art journal is by an amazing artist named Lisel Jane Ashlock. Monica

Thanks, King's X and Chief -- I'll be posting something in the show-off thread shortly. And Chief, another Georgian! Well, I'm from Texas, but my husband is from here. I was very surprised to move to Georgia and find that the trees grow so tall. After which, they fall down. Not a terribly pleasant surprise for a flat plains girl. But the shade is nice.

Hi Gary, welcome to LW! (Though I say it who should not -- I joined yesterday...) So.... I have a question for you already. I've been contemplating making very simple shoes (i.e. ballet flats) for a while now. How difficult is it to make them look nice? And do you need any special tools? Do you need to buy special soles, or can you, say.... bake some leather to make it particularly hard? Does anybody else here make shoes? As you can see, I have absolutely no idea. Thanks, Monica