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I've made my own dye using Rit (in Australia it's marked as something else on the outer box but has Rit on it on the actual satchet)clothes dye and methylated spirits it's also explained a bit here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...pic=1423&hl I make purple and blues this way as those colours are difficult to get where I am, I will probably make other colours as well when I run out of what I have got. It's not hard just a bit of trial and error to get the shade you want to begin with then add more metho to get lighter shades. This is how I do it Put satchet of Rit (33 grams) into glass jar (jam,vegemite size), pour a bit of boiling hot water into jar so Rit dissolves then add metho (this makes up about 1/2 a jar if you want a dark shade to begin with) Don't be too concerned if not all of the Rit dissolves I usually drain the first batch off and start again with whats left this will make a 1/2 to 3/4 shade depending on what didn't dissolve the first time. Clair

I got my copy a couple of days ago and I have to say thankyou to Billy for showing such a wonderful technique I thoroughly enjoy seeing different stuff done with leather. I'm off to the shops today to see if I might have some luck in finding the Picture This transfer medium. Also thankyou Johanna for putting it up, any chance you might be able to persuade some other artists who have done videos to make them downloadable. I buy most of my training videos for computer graphics this way and it's alot easier for me as the postage normally ends up being more than what the video costs. Cheers, Clair

There are a couple of places I know of in Sydney, Birdsall Leather http://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/ and http://www.nswleather.com.au/ I'm on the other side of the country though so there could possibly be others. I haven't gone into Birdsall personally yet (hope to next year) but they have always provided good service when I've ordered online ( I get dyes from them). I've only used NSW Leather Co's agent in Perth so I'm not sure what they are like. I don't think you will have any problem with veg tan cow leather but kangaroo and other exotics I'm not so sure about, I would check with Birdsall and NSW Leather Co as I guess they would probably send stuff overseas. Hope this helps Cheers, Clair

Wow Roger that has come up wonderfully, super nice.

I meant grey area in a purely observational state ie your not likely to catch the attention of the emblem maker for one or two things on items that they themselves don't make and are for a purely hobby craft sense (misread and realised afterwards that they were being sold). Don't know if I'm coming across right it's been a long day, I'm a graphic designer and I continually have to deal with clients who just don't know (which today meant telling a client no I can't just grab photos off competitors webpages and put them on yours). Davids point is right in that if comes across as being an official product you will likely get a cease and desist order very quickly, so in the end the simplest thing for selling stuff is if you didn't design it don't use it, unless you want to go through the added step of paying licence fees.

That becomes a grey area as well if it's only a few then it probably won't be a problem but if it's a significant quantity you would normally have to pay a licensing fee to the company whose emblem it is (This is how it is in Australia, could be different in other countries). Clair

For what you want to do I think hand saddle stitch is probably better my stuff is purely ornamental and you don't see the stitches so I don't run into the problems others have had with it. Definately get the hand sewing book it will teach you alot I was lucky in that it was included with all the leather stuff my sister gave me. Cheers, Clair

I use one and like it, don't use thread that is too thick and waxy though as it has a habit of stripping the wax off and clogging where the thread pulls through. The thread that comes with it should be fine for most projects I ran out and had trouble locating more in Perth that's why I had the problem with clogging (had to go with a slightly thicker thread). I'm quite slow at saddle stitching so I go with the hand stitcher when possible, it is quite simple to use the only thing you really have to worry about is getting the tension right so the knot part sits in the middle, once you get one you will see what I mean. It works well for what I do as I do mostly ornamental stuff if you do more stuctural stuff that gets alot of wear and tear you maybe better off doing saddle stitch cause if a stitch breaks it undos quite a few stitches. Cheers, Clair

Thankyou for showing your process Mike, I had been interested in making leather bottles after seeing an article in an old leather working magazine unfortunately though it was missing a page so your tutorial has throughly filled in the gaps. Cheers, Clair

Welcome to OZ Marilyn though if you think Melbourne is slow you'll probably fall asleep if you ever make it over to Perth, good to hear you have your footy team sorted out and thankfully it's not Collingwood, don't mind the tigers considering my team is utter crap this year (West Coast Eagles) You will find there aren't many leather shops in OZ but there are a couple of good ones in Vic so your in luck there. Cheers, Clair

I have an Aztek airbrush I really like it but it might not be to everyones taste you can check it out here www.micromark.com item number 82887. There are two versions the metal one and a polymer plastic, ive had both and found the plastic one was too light so I sold it. I used to paint silicone stop motion puppets and had to change colours alot so this airbrush suited me as it can be flushed out quickly and you don't have to worry about damaging the needle as it is enclosed in the detachable tip, I also got the cleaning station to assist with quicker cleaning. I bought mine about four years ago and remember Micromark was about the cheapest couldn't believe it when my local hobby shop was selling it for $600 AUD. Cheers, Clair

Another lefty here,I love the colouring part of it as I find that relaxes me the most, I would also love carving if it wasn't for the fact that the mallet tapping sets of my husbands pet parrot (pink & grey galah and corella mix)into high pitch screaming mode. I've already made him put the bird outside but the damn thing has suberb hearing I'm just waiting for the neighbours to start complaining about the bird or possibly me yelling at it to shut up. The noise it makes is equivelent to nails on a chalkboard to our son and I, I've threatened to change every sound on my husbands computers to nails on a chalk board (he particular hates this sound) if he doesn't do something about the bird. Sorry to vent but the damn thing has been at it's screaming best this afternoon,I was looking forward all day to getting home and working on my project but sure enough within five taps the damn thing starts. Oh to have a quiet house again Cheers, Clair

That is great to hear thankyou for the replies everyone, this will definately save me some money over the long run. Cheers, Clair

Me too, I wish we could have these cool shows in Oz, hopefully one day I'll get to the Northern Hemisphere to check all the wonderful work out in person. Thankyou Johanna for putting the info up

Just wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to dye the natural kangaroo lace you get in the hanks in Australia (not sure how you guys purchase it overseas). I've only used black and so are not sure if the natural will have some sort of clear finish on it to resist dye. The colour I want is available but I don't want to buy a whole hank in that colour as I don't think I will use it again for awhile (only need about 30cm). Cheers, Clair

That's pretty neat and the skull has come up really well, the police here would have a heart attack if they saw people running around with those replicas. They have only just allowed legal paintballing here in the last couple of years. Like Beaverslayer asked do those pellets hurt, I played paintball once and got hit in the leg and had a whopper bruise that took a couple of months to heal properly so needless to say I've sooked out everytime my husband has gone to play now.

Dubbin is still readily available in Australia it's the one leather conditioner I can buy all most anywhere, we use it for boots and sports goods (footballs). Clair

After two new arrivals in the extended family that are coming up to solid food age looks like I've found a cheap supply of dye mixing jars. So thankyou for the tip guys,I had been looking around for some small jars and had completely forgotton about baby food jars (my son is 10 this year). Cheers, Clair

Thankyou for the thorough explanantion Tom, I thought it would have something to do with a vacuum pump. I would love to get one but need other things first but it's definately something I want to try in the future. Cheers, Clair

Please more pics of this especially the edges of the mask, I've done vacuforming with styrene before and would love to try it with leather. This would definately come in handy with a project I'm working on at the moment and probably save me a heap of time. Cheers, Clair

That is a super nice vest, thankyou for sharing it and the wonderful tutorial as well. Clair

Hi Anne, I'm in Western Australia I had a look at Hidecrafters website and it looks like Birdsall Leatherworks is an Australian distributor. I have actually just ordered dye from them but forgot to ask about the pebblers so I'm going to do that Monday as they don't seem to have them listed on their website.

Cool Thankyou Beeza and the rest of you guys, does Hidecrafters ship overseas ? For Tandy stuff I once went to order from them but they took nearly two weeks to acknowledge my order so went with Bearcreek Leather as it only took a week from ordering to getting my stuff with them, so I'm going to see if Bearcreek have them. Cheers, Clair

I think the Tandy one is one of them but it was more Beezachopper's one shown here that I like the look of http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=543 it's about half way down. Thankyou for the help so far Cheers, Clair

I quite like the pebbler effect some of the guys are using on their motorcycle seats so I was just wondering where do I get one I've gone through all the posts that mention them but can't find a number or what brand they are. Are they by Craftool or one of the specialist tool makers. Thankyou for your help Cheers, Clair