DJole

So true!

That's a pretty good start! Just remember, you don't NEED to buy ALL the tools, and certainly not all at once! Here's a handy set of videos from Ian Atkinson at Leodis Leather (website = http://www.ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm) that might help your wallet out: Beginners’ Videos Top 25 Recommended Leatherwork Tools (45 mins) The Tools You Need for Leatherwork (15 mins) The Hardware You Need for Leatherwork (30 mins) Information About Dyeing Leather (45 mins) Choosing the right type, weight and quality of leather for your projects (35 mins) Hand Stitching Leather (1 hour 35 mins)

Horse legs-- a whimsical touch to the piece, for sure! Do you have any oblique or front-on photos, rather than just the side photos?

I have a selection of pre-waxed linen thread when I want to try for historical accuracy (i.e. medieval Europe) for certain pieces. It's also an aesthetic thing -- stitching with natural materials vs. plastic. There is nothing wrong with nylon thread-- I have some of that, too, and I do use it for certain projects! I get my linen thread from Royalwood Ltd., a basketry/ beading supply store in Ohio which also happens to sell a large variety of Irish linen thread, in a large selection of colors and plies (2 up to 12 ply, if I remember right). The waxed linen thread wears well -- I had to re-do a few stitches on my wallet (red linen thread) because a row of 5 stitches on the top edge had worn out after 6-7 years of constant surface wear. All the other stitches, set down in grooves in the leather, are still looking good. With the linen thread, I can take a piece of 5 ply and turn into a set of 2 and 3 ply, each re-twisted, so I can tailor the thread size to the stitch length. I find that when stitching with linen thread I have to pay attention with the needles, since it's very easy to push the needle through the thread instead of to the side. (I find braided thread doesn't do that nearly as much.)

Taking a quick look at Amazon, the stitching ponies that come up for sale under that search term are identical to the one I use (I picked mine up at a shop in Seoul, Korea, but it's the same.) Here are the things I find acceptable: 1) Cam lock is nice -- quick and easy to operate, unlike the wing-nut closing type. I also don't find myself getting my thread caught in it (which seems to be a common problem with the wing-nut type.) and if the cam goes bad, I know I can quickly and easily get a replacement cam lock (I checked online.) 2) portable and adjustable -- I can turn the piece for best viewing, and lean it under my leg to give it that tilt which most stitching horses have. Stitching clams do things differently, of course. 3) pretty solid clamping, especially after covering the jaw surfaces with leather to protect the work. 4) If I want to, I can leave the work in the jaws and walk away from it. The leg-closed clams work differently, of course. 5) If you are doing belts, perhaps a longer jaw (longer than the 2 inches) would really be useful. For the price, these will help you improve and speed up your stitching, and should be quite durable. And if you find you really want other features, you didn't waste a lot of money to find that out! There certainly may be much nicer options out there, but these should be nice for starting out.

The style of stitching clam/pony/horse is a complicated problem. The best solution would be to go try different kinds and see which features you like the best, but that's going to be hard to do-- you've got people living nearby who have all the types? Then you are a lucky leatherworker! So are you wondering whether to get a European style stitching clam, or a stitching pony?

My tooling slab was a free piece of granite scrap. The counter makers wondered why I wanted a broken piece of granite, but it meant they didn't have to take it away. it has a nice smooth surface and a curved edge. White marble might be sexier, but my stone was free.

Yes, you are correct. I realized this *after* I made the stitching holes, but no harm done! I will be leaving the "gap" in the middle open, so the stitching along that part of the edge will not close the pieces together. Important safety tip, wallet makers!

This is my current project-- a wallet with a landscape. The tooling on the outside piece is done, and the stitching holes made (3mm) with my nice JapanGoods chisel set. I made the left side deliberately too long, so that when I get it all stitched up, I can trim that edge to the correct size. I like the trees here -- the undercut beveller really made the silhouette pop. Right now I'm working on the interior pockets. More to come as it is completed.

That is a very nice piece of useful, yet decorative and commemorative work. So many thoughtful details there, and it looks great, too. Two awls way up!

A co-worker of mine found out that I did leatherwork, and she thought a neat father's day present for her son would be a wallet with her grandson's handprint tooled onto it. I thought about it and it sounded like a possible thing. Has anybody done something like this before?

A lovely home for a great tool to have on you! That is some excellent, deep basket weave there.

I have these plans saved on my computer: Stitching Horse Plan.pdf

I love that eyeball! You really knocked that one out of the park.

You always do lovely work, with careful attention to detail! That's a nice design, too. Good clean lines with some subtle accents. I think attaching the cloth liner to a leather band, and then attaching that to the bag itself, is a great solution to the problem of how to get that liner to fit. That's a much simpler solution than the one I decided on the last time I made a bag! I wish I had known of your shop when I was in Korea a couple years ago; we were staying in Itaewon just below the Grand Hyatt hotel, not far from your shop!

Welcome to the forum! Can you supply an image of the kind of Turk's head you are trying to do? (They come in different sizes)

A nice design, with those lovely curves and good coloring. Those are small stitches! What's the Stitch per inch size here, and what thread size/type?

Nice work! Custom dice cups rock the gaming tables... I did something similar some years back, in a larger size, and using a (not very skillful) butt stitch: http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/TomsTower/TomDragon.htm

So you want the color to stay in the "valleys" of the stamping and the "peaks" to be a natural tone? I believe the way to do this is to learn how to carefully wipe with a flat item, one that will remain stiff and not conform to the patterns and dip down into the valleys. Now, that's the theory -- hopefully somebody who has actually done this (which I vaguely remember reading about). I bet this will require practicing on scrap pieces with this basket weave pattern.

A nice case! The instrument should be proud to live in a case like that.

Maybe this fellow who posted here back in December can be your new hire: Posted December 10, 2018 I’m a leatherworker, i’m living in Viet Nam I have 4 years experience I can do any step for high quality product, design, handcutting, carving, dyeing, stitching.... I’m looking for job at somewhere speak English (US, Australia, Canada....) My email: ducduyqn79@yahoo.com You can search my Facebook by my phone number: +84903651030 My Instagram: tum_leather https://uphinhnhanh.com/image/Cf9sYd https://uphinhnhanh.com/image/Cf9yhG Some of my product: https://uphinhnhanh.com/image/CkCtlz https://uphinhnhanh.com/image/CkC2No https://uphinhnhanh.com/image/CkSPq4

Why does your LARP group demand that you use leather, and not foam or plastic? If you're actually going to do combat LARP in that costume, you may find those shoulder pieces (pauldrons, sort of?), as designed on the character, ineffective: 1) A hit downwards on those sticking-out pointed shoulders will put a LOT of stress on whatever is used to attach it to the rest of the armor. They stick out so far that it would be very difficult to prevent any hits to them. 2) A hit sideways onto the shoulder bits is going to be guided straight into that un-armored bicep, or maybe the hit will pop the shoulder piece up to smack you in the side of the head. 3) If the arms are extended to the front, the shoulder pieces don't seem to be designed to turn 90 degrees to the front. Thus, if you arms are reaching out to the front, and you get hit on the shoulder piece, that will drive the edge of the armor into your arm. Depending on your weapon rules, that might hurt more than you want. (Leather should just give you a welt or a bruise, but you wouldn't want that with metal!) 4) Your LARP group (like most) may disallow hand shots, but those wrist bones are sensitive and tender, and getting a smack there might ruin your day. Plus, those "gauntlets" would dig into the wrist as you moved your hands, causing contusions and scrapes. Not very comfortable!

Ah, yes, I've struggled a bit with this, too-- water hardening is often a hit or miss process that I spent a while playing with. So you got one test piece to work, and the next piece didn't -- was that a piece from the same hide? Everything you mentioned above shows you did your homework-- but leather hardening seems much less a replicable science than a dicey art. The type of hide may make a difference, too: belly or shoulder or sides have different characteristics, and the same hide can vary, depending on which edge of the side the leather comes from. I've tried some with bellies, and they just don't harden well. I've had better luck with a side, but even then it's difficult to keep the dimensions intact (due to uneven stretching).

Not all designs need the ability to draw and sketch. If you can transfer a design that somebody else drew onto the leather, then the expertise comes in figuring out how to replicate that in leather. Some people do amazing, nearly photo-realistic work from drawings, using figure carving techniques to blend and shade. Others of us choose to do things like line drawings (or wood cut block printing), which work well on leather. I have some examples of this on my website: Serpent box <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/SerpentBox/SerpentBox.htm> Boar elbow guards <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/BoarElbow/BoarElbow.htm> Nativity panel <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/NativityPix/LeatherNativity.htm> Comet pouch <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/Pouch/CometPouch-1.htm> Dragon box <http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/TomsTower/TomDragon.htm> As you can see, the lines are copied, but then the art is learning how to work those lines into the 3-d medium of leather, to get that dimensional look and feel.

I always have to remind myself that paper is flat, and leather is not, so you have to take the thickness of the leather into account. If you've done that, you're ahead of the game!