KelseyR89

Hello everyone! I just made my first trifold wallet and it turned out really good, except that because the 2 pieces of leather are exactly the same length it causes rippling when it's folded. I'm wondering if I use a thinner leather if that would prevent it from rippling? Or at least not do it as bad? I use a 3-4 oz so I was thinking I'd go to a 2-3oz. I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions!

Hello! I'm getting a bit frustrated because I have a customer who wants a wallet with a plastic ID pocket and I have tried so many different types of vinyl and plastic and none of them are thick enough, so the plastic ends up bunching and gathering together, making it very wavy and weird looking. In some cases it actually puckered so much it pulled the leather in and then the pocket was too small! The most successful thing I have found to work is buying a plastic ID badge holder from Hobby Lobby, cutting it in half and stitching it to my leather. The only thing with this is it's not as wide as I need (My wallet is 4 1/8"), so I want to be able to buy a sheet of plastic and cut it to however small or large I need. Does anybody have any suggestions?? I'll list what I've tried... The thickest vinyl from Wal Mart Sheet protectors The clear plastic front from a binder Seems like I tried one other thing but I can't remember what it was... I appreciate any suggestions - I'm quite frustrated! Thanks

Haha right, I know I need to account for the stitch line and the thickness of my laptop, but I don't know HOW much, you know? Should I add 2x the thickness of the leather, 2x the distance from the stitch to the edge...? I just wonder if there's an easy way to know how much to account for and add that much extra leather in the measurements. Up to this point I've just guessed and had pretty good success, but I want there to be some kind of formula or something - that'd be so nice

Hello! So I want to make a simple laptop case where I'll just cut a big piece of leather, fold it over then stitch it up, but I am not sure how much leather I need to account for how thick my laptop is and also to make sure there's enough room on the sides so it slides it easily. I know that when you're folding leather over you have to add 2x the thickness of the leather (actually, is it the 2x the TOTAL thickness of the leather or just of one piece?) to account for that, but is there a good rule of thumb for adding 2x or 3x, etc. to the thickness of leather to account for how thick the product is? For example, my laptop is 10" high x 14 3/4" long x 3/4" deep. I use 3-4 oz leather so 2x the total thickness will be 4/16 so I should cut the leather to be 20.25", correct? But then how much space should I give myself on the sides? Should I cut it 15" (14 3/4 + 1/4")? I hope this makes sense... Haha I just wonder if there's a good rule of thumb for adding enough leather to make sure there's enough room for the laptop and I appreciate any suggestions! Thank you!

Really? That seems too easy to be true! I will definitely try that though - sounds much better than getting acrylic and painting. Thank you!

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I've been looking for

Thank you!

Thank you all so much! That really helped me out. I definitely wasn't getting the leather wet enough. I tried it again and got much better results, but still need to practice I think It's hard to tell in the picture but I think I was hitting a little too hard on the one on the left, the letters looked a little smashed and mushy, but overall much better than my original attempt! Thanks again - I really appreciate all your input! I'll definitely check out the acrylic paints because I want to have fun colors

Are there special marker pens for that? Any brand you like that's better than others? And it allows the stamping to be prominent?

Thanks, guys! Rawr, I think I'd like the look of cutting off the edges at the very end and finishing up then. Right now they're kind of rough looking and I think I'd like hem better if I did that I'll also try that Quik Slik too!

Hey Chief! Here's a picture for you. It actually looks a little better in the photo than it does in real life... haha I just feel like the lettering is not near as crisp and sharp as when I stamp then dye things. It's 3-4 oz veg tanned leather from Tandy and I don't have any problems when I use it for stamping and dying so I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe I'm using too much water (like you suggested - not casing properly). I will try spraying with water and then letting it dry a bit longer before stamping. I use the Atomic Beeswax sealant, not sure if that matters. From the picture can you see what I may have done wrong? While I've got you, would you mind giving your input on something else? I've only used gel antiques up to this point and I've loved them, but they only have tan/brown colors and I want to start using really vibrant colors like run, green, etc. When I stamped my name into leather and used Eco Flo Professional Waterstain (red color) and it just didn't stick in the lettering at all. When I put the sealant on the dye that was in the lettering wiped right out with it so the lettering didn't stand out at all. Do you know of any vibrantly colored gel antiques or any other dyes that are colorful and work with stamping letters? Thanks so much for your help!

Hey everybody! I've been making leather products since February and really want to start branching out a bit. I love thin wallets and want to start making wallets with more pockets. Up to this point I've only been making wallets with 2-3 pockets because any more than that makes the wallet too bulky. I've seen a few wallets that Nigel Armitage makes where he uses leather that's 1-2 mil (is what he says, I'm assuming that oz) and they look SO nice I want to start making them. The problem is I worry if that is too thin for me to stamp on? Will it just go through the leather? Also, he said something about tooling on leather that he bought pre-dyed, is that possible?? I always assumed you couldn't tool on something unless it was undyed... I've been using 3-4 oz Craftsmen Oak Tooling Leather if that helps I attached a wallet I just did the other day so you can see what kind of stamping I do. Thank you for your help!

Hey everybody! I've been making leather products since February and have mostly done really simple, basic things but wanted to see what you all thought and if you had any suggestions/ideas on how I can improve. I feel like my edges could be more smooth but am not sure how to best do this as my leather is too thin (I use 3-4 oz) to really use an edge beveler.... Thanks

I love the look of leather products that are left raw - no dyes, antiques, just raw beauty I've been using antiques and like them a lot, but want to offer raw as an option. It seems like when I stamp something into my leather, and then put the sealant on without any dyes or antiques that the sealant almost like raises the indented portion to where it's not as noticeable and indented. Any suggestions on why this is happening and what I can do to prevent it from happening? Thank you!

Hey guys! I just started leather work in February and have been using several Eco-flo Gel Antiques that have been great! I do wallets with quotes, outlines of states, etc. (etsy.com/shop/redleafleather) and the antique has been amazing for getting in the lettering and the tooling to make it really pop out. The problem with the antiques is there's only like brown/tan colors and I want to start doing vibrant colors like red, green, etc. I tried using the Eco Flo Professional Waterstain (red color) and it just didn't stick in the lettering and the outline of the state at all, I'm guessing it's because it's more liquidy instead of a gel. When I put the sealant on top it just wiped the red out of all the letters and they weren't even noticeable hardly. I REALLY want start using fun colors - anyone have any suggestions on a different gel/dye/whatever that I can use that will stay in the lettering?? Thank you!!