dhaverstick

I finished this full-length armguard last week; just in time for Missouri's archery season. I will use it when I wear my ghillie suit. Now if it will just cool off enough to put them both on! The body of the armguard is made from Honduran caiman and backed with vegetable-tanned cowhide. The trim is lambskin and I carved the lace hooks from deer antler. The whole thing was sewn up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

This is a pair of moccasins I just finished for a friend of mine, Lester McCoy. Lester is a member of the Miami Indian tribe and has been after me for a couple of years to make him a pair so he can wear them to dance in the powwows he attends. Lester is also a knife maker by trade and said he would trade me some of his wares for some of mine. Since I have more knives than I can use, I declined his offer but he kept after me until I said, “Lester, I’ll just make you a pair and you can give me whatever you think they’re worth after you get them”. He hasn’t even received them yet and I’ve already gotten two handmade knives in the mail. Lester wanted them flashy so I made this pair pretty colorful. My wonderful wife, Leah, insisted that they needed beadwork on them and did that job all by her lonesome. I have to admit, the beads really do add something to the finished product. I’m just glad it wasn’t me sewing the little dudes on! The body of the moccasins is 8 oz buffalo leather. The trim, lacing and fringe are deer leather and the heel and toe caps are Honduran caiman. The lace eyelets are deer antler. Everything was sewn together by hand using artificial sinew. Besides the satisfaction of making something for a friend, I also received an invitation to bow hunt on Lester’s farm in Kansas. That, to me, is payment enough. Maybe this fall I’ll have some different pictures to share involving me, Lester, and some meat for the freezer. Darren

I purchased some buffalo leather from them once for a purse and ended up sending it back. It was not as flexible as I was used to; not their fault, just my preference. They were easy to deal with for my return. I buy the vast majority of my buffalo leather from The Hide House in California. Their chrome-tanned stuff is top quality. I get their 8 oz leather for moccasins and 4 oz for bags and such. Another good source for buffalo leather is Rocky Mountain Tanners. They have a great EBay store where you can see the exact hide you are buying.

Thanks, Karina! I probably enjoy making moccasins the most but I always worry about getting them to fit well. I ask the folks I make them for to give me a whole boatload of measurements but you never know until they try them on for the first time.

Hello, my name is Darren Haverstick and I stumbled across this site while searching for suppliers of exotic leather remnants. This looked like a great place to learn about all things concerning leather so I figured I'd better join up and start soaking up some of that knowledge. I started hand-sewing leather a few years ago after I took up traditional muzzleloader hunting and wanted to make myself some buckskins. Now I'm ate up with the "hobby" and spend most of my spare time planning out or sewing up a new project. I've made some new friends all over the globe who took the time to answer my newbie questions and I hope to make some more here. Below is a link to a photo gallery of some of the things I've made. I hope you like at least one of them! http://s137.photobuc...y/Leather Goods