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Welcome Flora. You won't be the first on here that struggles with english and I don't know a better forum for machine problems. I bet Constabulary is itching to know your problem as we speak.

How can I say no to that! I'll have a go but YT has changed so much since I used it last. My claim to fame back then was winning the 2009 Backyard Chickens DIY incubator thingy when I made one out of a wine cooler. "Won" a BYC sweatshirt which cost me £20 to ship over here . I made a YT vid of the eggs hatching and growing up.

Update: A very short video clip. I couldn't get pics that do it justice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS8kHxjHwWY&feature=youtu.be

Well done. If it serves the intended purpose it's a winner!

Outstanding work. Very well done.

If you google circle cutters there'e are lots of them just make sure you get a more robust one. not just for card. The one I use was very inexpensive. If you don't mind a hole in the middle it's even cheaper.

I'm going to show my ignorance now but that's ok if it furthers my leathercraft education. I've been sent some samples and although I asked for them to be labelled, they're only partially so. They have the company name and colour but apart from two that are labelled veg tan there's no indication of what type, ie veg/semi veg/chrome etc. It seems that according to the price list most of them are listed as "Core" leathers. What does that mean? I know you can tell some by setting fire to them but I think another phone call to the company might better further my education. The main reason for this post is to talk about splits. I know a split is what's left after the top grain is taken off and so is a cheaper product. And I guess a split can also be veg or chrome tanned. What's puzzling me is the four samples of splits in front of me are not suede like as I would expect them to be but have a smooth finish on both sides. How robust are these finishes likely to be and what could they be used for?

Many on here know that I like Dieselpunk.Ro (Tony See) and I'll tell you why. I have no affiliation to the guy whatsoever, I just like the way he goes about things and he has a tremendous understated sense of humourand my attraction to his world is strange when you consider that I have two sewing machines and I very much want to use them and yet all of Tony's designs are for hand stitching. He has created a great facebook page with interaction from everyone and if you ask him a question he usually answers in minutes not hours. (And I detest F/B but I always check it now) His designs are not for everyone but I'd be surprised if you don't find something in his portfolio. His prices are reasonable and he gives away many freebies to his followers. The whole process is easy and every project is accompanied by a YouTube video that covers everything from the printout to the last stitch. The purists won't like that he uses hole punches rather than stitching chisels but there's nothing stopping you if that's the way you want to go. I always print out on cardstock and after using for the first time you have a ready made template and whats more, the second go around is so much quicker because the punch just falls into the holes. This is the first leather project of any kind that I did using the Motoko 3 pattern. It took me a while but there was nothing difficult in it. I won't put up a link. He should be easy enough to find but pm me if you can't.

Nicely done but along with a few others I have nowhere to store it. I made a very basic one with a flat piece on the bottom that slipped under the thighs when sitting. Worked ok til I broke it. I do favour the camlock type. Dieselpunk.ro uses a simple one wth a small cam on the side. I echo what dikman says about snagging. if there's anything sticking out the thread will find it again and again.

Welcome Raindog. You'll get lots of help here. My ears pricked up when I saw the word sap. It's illegal to carry a sap in the UK or so i'm told. At least I disguised mine as a coin purse.

Fred has it right. Work from each corner alternatively and work out any anomalies in the center There's absolutely no reason why you couldn't use a small hole in the corner if it suits your project.In fact I've seen lots of projects where a diamond slant look off in the corner.I suppose the radius of the corner comes into it as well. With spacing, on quite a lot of projects you can actually alter the size slightly to suit whatever chisel/punch you want to use. You don't think Nigel Armitages or Ian Atkinsons spacing works out perfectly every time is a coincidence do you? The thing I haven't seen mentioned re: slits versus holes is curves. It's one thing to have this debate about flat surfaces but is there a difference when working with 3D curves? I've only used holes when doing Dieselpunk.Ro patterns which have all sorts of curves sometimes and it's fascinating to watch the thread pulling those curves together. I guess it's designer preference whether they use circles/dots/crosses but on tight radii the comments above will come into the "look".

All goldfish are members of the carp family but what we know as goldfish don't have barbules the way proper carp do. I'm thinking there might have been some cross breeding somewhere down the line because these fish don't just have the colour of "proper" carp they have the body shape as well. they're not torpedo shaped like regular goldfish. They're much deeper in the body. They're also growing much quicker than the other fish in the tank. Here's a pic of one of the smaller ones in the pond. there are some twice this size and the pond isn't very big.

At last, a well thought out, sensible discussion on prices. Well done. Be gone materials x 9 / 6 minus tea breaks.

I'm always surprised on these glue threads that no one mentions Gorilla glue. It's not like other glues. You have to dampen the leather and it foams and expands and you have to hold it in place whilst it cures - moveable for ten mins, sets in about an hour and fully cured after 24hrs. I've only used it for small applications but by Christ it holds. Made a mistake and inadvertantly moved a piece when putting books on it. next day I had to rip the leather glue was going nowhere. I've often thought it might be the answer for those oily leathers the other stuff won't do. For most of my glueing I use a cheap solvent based contact adhesive that frustrated me because it dried out too quickly in the tin but I'm happy now since I bought a bottle of toluene and now I can have it as runny as I like every time.

First of all it doesn't matter what tool you use to cut leather but it must be proper sharp. very rarely will you buy anything from China and not have to sharpen it. That includes the slanted prongs on your stitching chisels (That's what they're called. the ones that make round holes are called punches) or the hole punches. you'll find that you'll be amazed at the difference once you've sharpened and stropped your tools. When using your stitching tool you must hold it upright and concentrate on holding it the same way for EVERY hole. Of course that still won'tget you a good job if the layers of leather are moving around so you either glue them or clip them or use basting tape (double sided tape)to hold the layers together whist making your holes. Spyros is making a case for his own opinion and there's nothing wrong with that but I had to smile when he listed all the good bits about hole punches and then said "But you don't wanna do that do you". Personally, I don't care what you use. as long as it's neat and tidy and does the job, well done. For me, give me a hole punch or a sewing machine rather than struggle with trying to get two needle and an awl through a slit that wants to close up on you as soon as your backs turned. Your holes look to be about 1.5mm which IMO is too big for a card holder. the hole and the thread should fit the size of the project. Look at this stitching that was posted by a new member (Men) on Saturday. That's neat enough for me.

Update: I couldn't get the Nikon DSLR to do what I wanted. (It's been awhile and it gets tricky shooting through glass) so I broke out the never let's me down little Lumix compact. The pics aren't great I'm afraid but I've tried to show the difference in shape and size between some of them whilst trying to keep within 140kb. Sadly, a lot of the small ones have gone to the fishtank in the sky because the bigger ones ate em. I have to say the big ones are my favourites. They're not like normal goldfish, they'll grow up to be a darkish golden brown and shaped like proper carp but without the barbules. I'll see if I can take a pic of one in the pond to show you. This one is clearly deformed and I can't understand why he hasn't been gobbled up.

Nothing wrong with using a round punch. Yours look little large for a card holder. As for spacing, start at each corner and work out the difference in the center where it won't be noticed so much. If using a multi prong make sure you have at least one (two is better) prong in the last hole you punched. can't go wrong that way. Make your pieces oversize an cut to size after stitching. Will give a nice sharp edge for finishing.

I'll make things simpler. Any thread sold for leatherwork is strong and will slice through yor hand before you can ever break it. That gets strength out of the way unless you're thinking about stuff that is going to take some serious punishment over a long period like a saddle. Polyester is more resistant to UV rays than nylon and so is used more often in outdoor products like sailing etc. For handbag weight projects almost anything will do, even non waxed threads can be waxed as mentioned above and almost all projects will have at least one coat of protection on it before it's finished anyway. I've found the biggest problem to be getting the colour I want in the size I want and that's more important than you might think. What you're aiming for is a stitch and colour that not only suits the project but more importantly fits the holes that you made for it. you don't want to see the sides of the holes either side of the thread. Of course that is more of a factor if using a hole punch rather than a stitching chisel. As you can see there are no hard and fast rules. What's the project? The size of your punch/ chisels will give an idea of thread size. What colour thread? What size needles? A 1mm thread will go through a John James #3 and maybe a #4 Good luck!

Phone camera can't handle it. Have to break out the DSLR. It hasn't seen the light of day in months. Have to re-learn how to use it

You entrepreneur you! ;)

Did it smell like shoe polish?

I found my "Leather Food" , a white cream in a glass jar that smells like shoe polish.Won't hurt to try a patch when I do get my hands on the pouffe. JCUK: You said Tesco but showed B&Q? Do they sell it in both? For you guys who mix your own, Has anyone tried mixing in a few drops of essential oils to make it smell nice?

Update: Tank is now sorted. Can't show pics yet because the two daylight tubes of the four in the lighting unit have blown and \i'm waiting for replacements. All blue at the moment. The initial success with the shop given brine shrimp has been followed by a week of frustration with some ebay bought brine shrimp eggs although some of it has been my fault. I finally got a hatch last night but of course they're not really needed now. The disparity in size of some of the fish is interesting. Whether different species or subsequent spawnings I don't know. They could just be runts I guess. I do know they go crazy for brine shrimp. It's a bit like a shark frenzy at feeding time and I saw one of the big ones chomp onto one of the tiny guys. Whether it let go because it realised it made a mistake or in response to my frantic tapping on the glass I don't know but it was too late for the little guy who spiralled off into the void :(

Won't know how bad it is until I see it Fred. I know nfo tends to darken, never used mink. Years ago I had some jars of a white cream that was labeled "Leather food". It was for leather clothing. I have no clue what was in it but as far as I can recall it left no residue or colour. I still have a jar somewhere. I'll try to find it.