rawr66

I just started getting into watch straps and made a couple so far. I've been looking for a place to buy buckles, but the only place I've seen any is on ebay. I've ordered a few and they're on the way so hopefully they work out. If you're interested in NATO/ZULU straps at all you can find the hardware here; it's the only place I've been able to find hardware for those kinds of straps.

Here's a video on the construction of a long wallet. It doesn't show the end and how it's put together and finished, but it gives you an idea of how to measure the fabric. I would assume it's finely stitched by hand or a sewing machine for the finished project. For the vertical wallet in your post I think the side stitched would do a fairly good job of keeping the fabric together along with some cement for the slots.

The pouch is the first time I tried beading. It's made with lamb and lined with purse lining, and 2-3 oz vegetable tanned side for the paw. I was making the paw and the pouch simultaneously, and then I decided to mate the two together. My hands hate me now. The paw was added after the pouch was made and turned right side out, so I was sitting with some needle nose pliers for a few hours trying to stitch it together.

Monica, I ended up stitching the f-hole because the two pieces of oil tan won't stick together with contact cement, and because you get two impressions of the violin on both the inside and the outside. And I really just winged it on the strap, but I like how it turned out. Yeah, the red leather is the utility oil tanned. Rosiart, thank you. I'm always learning with every project.

Here's a beaded bracelet I just finished. Made with 4-5 oz vegetable tanned shoulder. Dark part is Fiebings chocolate dye and the light part is Fiebings tan. This is my second time trying this beading technique. It's very easy, but time consuming. I thought stitching took long, but you really need patience for this. Unfortunately since I used my pricking iron to punch the holes, you can't do close stitch lines so it's best used for a singular line design.

I had a go at Monica's violin wallet (thanks for posting it!) and here's what I came up with. I couldn't get a clean cut on the f-hole so I decided to stitch it on. And my pockets came out a bit tighter than I would have liked, but cards go in with a little force. This is the same leather I used for my tote bag, 3-4 oz utility oil tanned, and 4-5 oz kodiak oil tanned.

Thanks Leatherlegion. Yeah, I think I'll need to use a bigger stitch to give it a nicer look. Monica, they're Tandy's new fine diamond chisels that they just came out with and they only come in 4 prong and 1 prong for the smaller ones. I have a set of the pro line diamond ones, but I think they're at 3mm. I plan on getting the 2mm diamond ones. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.ca/en-cad/search/searchresults/88055-631.aspx

Here is a two tone wallet I just finished. It's made of 2-3oz veg tan and dyed with Fiebings tan dye and Fiebings black professional oil dye. The flesh side of the black turned out a bit ugly as it dyed through, but I didn't have anything else to make another so I just went with it. Stitched with Tandy's 2.5 mm fine diamond chisel and 1 mm braided thread. My stitching lines didn't line up from inside to outside so that was kind of disappointing, but this is only my second time using these chisels. I have the 10 prong chisel and the 1 prong chisel as unfortunately Tandy doesn't make a 2 prong chisel. This makes rounding corners very difficult. Two stitching holes ended up breaking through on each of the bottom corners creating a hole two lengths wide. Fortunately the holes are so fine that it's not that big of a deal right now. I just need more practice with the tools. Tandy does sell a 4 prong chisel and theoretically I could remove 2 prongs from that, but I don't really know why they decided to go with 4 prongs instead of two.

If you watch Ian Atkinson's youtube video on how to make a simple belt he goes into the saddleback leather design with 9 holes. The measurement would be from the very end of the buckle to the hole that they use, and your belt's middle hole would match that length. I'd say a 5 hole would be the same.

Thanks for the idea, gafer. It was my first time making a something lined like that so I wanted minimal room for screw-ups. Thanks Monica, me too. I wish I had a sewing machine so the turn around was faster. Thank you Jazzman. I've been doing leatherwork since around December, so coming up on a year. I haven't done as much as I would like because of school, but I enjoy it a lot.

Here are a couple of totes I made from Arthur Porter's video on making a tote without a gusset. The totes are made of kodiak oil tanned side and an oil tanned utility side for the accents and pockets. It was a little tough stitching the bottom with three thicknesses of leather moving around. I don't mind the raw edges, but I'm entertaining the idea of piping. There's also a simple collar I made for my dog. Used a floating dee ring and lined with pigskin.

I saw an earlier post that says to lay a finish before using saddle soap. I've been trying to burnish with saddle soap on glazed leather, so it's already finished, and it still ends up staining any time it gets past the edge. Anything I can do to combat this?

Thanks everyone. Monica, I like the rounded edges more too. They look a lot more fluid and natural.

There are some card wallets with snap closures. I don't mind the two stitch lines used to create the pockets, I actually think they look decent. There are some moleskine cahier journal covers. For the embossed cowhide, the liner ended up not sticking too well and now it bunches up.

Hey everyone, here are some small projects I've been working on over the past month. There are some simple clutches made from lambskin and lined with upholstery leather with a magnetic closure. There are some coin pouches made from Ian Atkinson's pattern outfitted to hold rosaries. Gave one to my grandmother and she loved it.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll try emailing the shop and see if I can get some more answers from them. Thanks for the great information and break down blue duck. Once I get some pigskin for lining I'll start looking at it in more detail and get working.

Looks good! I like the colour.

So I bought the pattern for this bag and I'm having some trouble figuring out how it goes together. I've used patterns before, but they've all had written instructions come with them and this one doesn't. It appears as though the front is stitched inside out and flipped around, and the back is stitched right side out with a strip around the raw edges. From the two versions shown there is a variation on the front; there's three pieces of leather on the gusset seams of the pink one, and there's two on the gusset seam of the blue one. What could it be? Also, from the pattern the front and back main pieces of the bag are the same size, and there's a separate pattern for the flap. In the pictures it looks like the back piece and the flap are one piece but the pattern makes it seem like they would be stitched together. Would I just cut out one for the front, and then add the two pattern pieces together for the flap and back?

I'm trying to understand what you're saying. So you want to line the oil tanned leather with suede? With the grain (smooth) side facing outward and the suede glued to the rough side? You shouldn't have a problem once it's glued together.

You can use just about anything to glue it together. For larger things I like to use 3M Super 77 adhesive spray. When gluing any suede, just make sure I'd doesn't get on the side you want to see because it won't rub off.

They look fine for a change purse, You just gotta work a bit on your stitching and tension. Do you make patterns beforehand?

If you have the patience for skiving chrome tanned leather, it'd give a much nicer look to stitch the pieces together, and then take the seams and glue them down flat.

Thefanninator, that's how I did it. Except I didn't leave the seams straight up. I pushed one down on one side, and pushed the other down on the other side.

Monica, here's a quick diagram I made up to try and show you how I did the t-bottom. This is my very first tote so I don't know any other way to do it, but here's what I did. First, you want to stitch the sides together, and then stitch the bottom. Then you want to lay the leather flat and stitch it together. From what I've seen, people say to have the seams opposite of each other to cut down on bulk. I didn't do it the easiest way either; I had to play around with it a bit to get it stitched together, but it turned out good for me and I'm sure there's probably an easier way to do it. I used 4 oz oil tanned leather and the marked part probably could have been skived down a little to make it easier. Here's a tool that may be beneficial to making this kind of bottom with leather and a video on how to use it.

I didn't glue any part of the body. I lined up the pieces together, marked a stitch line, and then punched my holes down both pieces of leather. I just made sure they matched up along the way.