KiwiLeatherLearner

Hi simple question. Can I use things like lavender oil on my veg-tan leather? Any help appreciated =] Antony

Great. It's good to know that you can really just throw it together and hope for the best haha I'm pretty excited. I've used some copper wire to hold the snap lid closed further. There's just a thin crack now which sounds about what you did. I'll test it by brushing some on, and if that doesn't give me pitch black then I'll dip it =] Thanks for your comforting words! haha OK thanks for letting me know. I think I will heat it next time. I'd really like to make the best solution that I can. I'm so sick of oil dye and I want this to be as seemless as possible now that I know it's do-able. Thanks

Question: Can you over-vent while making vinagroon. I'm really excited about trying vinagroon after all of the arduous hours dealing with black oil dye. I've noticed people sometimes heat their mix before leaving it out to do its thing. I also noticed that some people don't do this. So, impatiently I've skipped this step and I now have a glass jar filled with white vinegar and pulled steel wool. The lid is on a hinge and snaps shut. I'm just wondering whether you can let it vent TOO much..because it's either open 2/3 of and inch or snapped shut. How will it affect it? Also, hoping someone might be able to predict my results. -I have filled a litre (or 0.26 gallon) glass jar with white vinegar and put in visually the same amount of the pulled apart steel wool. It's not crammed in but more or less fills the jar. I guess I'll leave it for a couple of weeks where it might best get the sunlight and not the rain (gaping lid opening). All advice and predictions appreciated! Antony

I'm currently using a 3 cord 100% flax linen thread. I'm mainly making belts and wallets and I like the stitching to be a feature (while my work is still looking "home-made" anyway =] ) Yea I've been meaning to look into yet more threads and your mentioning of a 1000% betterment is exciting haha and YEA I've run the lighter along my belt stitching. Seems to be doing the trick. I'm yet to try it on the wallets. Wallets, being in, and being taken in and out of pockets would in my opinion put items as heavy use in regards to the stitching anyway (the friction n stuff). I've been using a lot of black thread recently (that is plain thread that I dye myself and then wax in the way that Jimmy Eng does) so I'm thinking that I might just buy a spool of black prewaxed thread to help solve my problems. I assume that a mass produced dyed and waxed thread might give more consistent and pleasing results. Thanks for your reply, I appreciate your time =]

Ah I see, thanks for keeping me sharp ;]

Thanks guys. Yea I know muslin a soft somewhat stretchy fabric

Hey guys. I recently used some bag kote on a belt and kept applying the kote to the same bit of rag as I went. I later noticed that some residue from the dye was showing up in the bag kote bottle like strata in the land. I was wondering, does anyone know if the presence of the dye will change the way the bag kote works, or will it only effect the colour; if I were to use it on items dyed with different colours? (the contaminee is black...mostly) Thanks. I hope I haven't ruined a bottle of Bag-Kote =/

haha brilliant matt. I'll look out for a good block. I had previously tried a weight (from a set of gym weights) but I think your idea sounds more like an actual mallet =D thanks

Jimmy - Ah yep sweet thanks. I always waxed it but I never burnished it with a cloth. I'll try that out. Also I always want to hammer it out after but i don't have a mallet =/ Thanks though. It's sorta re-prompting me to get on and get one. Walter - Thanks again for your input

Northmount - Thanks, quick and easy! Walter - Thanks again for the detail of your advice. Yea I'm starting to think I might go to a finer thread for this wallet in particular that I'll be stitching. It's the biggest one I've done. It has card pockets, a coin pouch and paper money pocket. My ones before have all been simple card wallets and so the thicker thread gave a bit more substance to the items. But this one is big so maybe I can go finer now =] Yea I like to use the same polishing cloth over and over. You're right, it gets better and better for polishing =D

Thanks for the replies so far - awesome. Jimmy - Is calico cloth just a canvas-y kind of material? I have hemp cloth, I feel like that'd cause the right friction? Yea I use a groover/gouger. Maybe I could gouge deeper... Macca - Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out the availability in New Zealand for the Tiger thread and the lin cable that you mentioned. Sorry I guess I should have mentioned what I'm using. I'm not used to how the numbering system works etc. I currently have Coats Barbour Flax 100% linen, Cord 3, No. 18. What do you make of that?? Also I often dye the thread with the Fiebing's oil dye that I use for the leather. Walter - It looks like you are a wealth of knowledge. sehr kenntnisreich! Thanks for your effort with the English language. It's mainly the stitching on my wallets that I'm having problems with. I am using linen thread at the moment so I will try to get some tar/pitch. (Haha your translator often translated "pech" as [bad luck] instead of "pitch") I currently have both beeswax and paraffin wax. Vielleicht "to render" ist das richtige wort. Ich weiß nicht. Ich lerne immer noch alle Terminologien! =D

Hey guys this is my first post here. I feel like I should have had this sorted ages ago before anything else..but I've finlly decided to try sort it. I mainly make belts and wallets. One of the things that I'm disapointed with is that after a couple of days' use, the thread starts to get a little fuzzy, and takes on that real home-made kind of look. I want the thread to stay looking smooth and tight. All I do is give it a little waxing before I stitch with it. I don't hear about anyone mentioning other steps so I'm a little mystified about the state of my stitching! I recently got some resolene and I was wondering if it would be a good idea (or a terrible idea) to run the thread through that before I use it so that it gets that nice gloss and doesn't fray. Yay or Nay? Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. It's always really exciting to improve the process just a tiny bit more, going step-by-step until hopefully I'll be able to sell the items to people that aren't just humouring me! haha Thanks guys.