DJole

I just completed this piece. I'm working on a series of bags featuring tooling based on carved wooden designs from Norwegian stave churches, the wonderful old wooden medieval wooden churches. This is a double headed dragon from Ornes stave church, the oldest surviving stave church.

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to better health!

You might also look at Rocky Mountain Leather Supply. (https://www.rmleathersupply.com/)They have always been accurate and quick with my orders, and they offer free shipping in the USA.

I have a PDF of plans I found somewhere online, just for occasions like this, where somebody is looking for plans: https://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/S/StitchingHorse.pdf

Is the difference in the measurement? I seem to recall that the Japanese makers (and perhaps Korean and Chinese) measure the distance from prong tip to prong tip, whereas others (Tandy, maybe?) measures the distance from the sides of the prong to the adjacent prong. I may be misremembering this.

I rarely, if ever, knot the thread onto my needles. I find it more bother than it's worth, personally, if I need to take out some stitches. I also haven't bothered to lay the thread in a particular way. I guess I'm not that much of a perfectionist! I just recently bought some Vinymo thread to work with (round polyester thread from Japan)-- good colors and a variety of thicknesses. I've been pleased with it so far, although I do find it necessary to lightly wax it before using it. I have a variety of thread to work with-- Ritza flat braid, Vinymo round, waxed Irish linen in a variety of colors, a spool of Since linen thread, chunky waxed Tandy thread (which came in only 3 colors, and which I rarely use now,)and a sampler box from Maine Thread. Different projects use different thread types, after all!

I think the bottom design looks better because of the "fade" effect you used with the background tool. The top one has an abrupt edge, and it just doesn't look as clean and professional.

Ooh, that's a lovely piece of work! That's a knife fit for a thegn!

Those are so nice, I'd be reluctant to mount them on a saddle and get them banged around and scuffed up while riding! Oh wait...maybe on a parade saddle!

It looks pretty nice! I did something similar for my mother. It was a nice change of pace to just cut and sew, without messing around with tooling and the like!

All my new wallets together. The brand newest one is at the bottom -- it's cream Saffiano, with cream Ritza thread, with a black glossy/textured interior. I can't recall what that leather pattern is named. They look so good together!

Thank you -- I find that every time I make one of these, I develop a bit more skill. Like somebody (whose name I can't recall) once wrote, doing a lot of small projects, repeating the process over and over, is a great way to learn -- and I think it's true!

Thank you for your vote of confidence! (I have made 2 others, not pictured, that already sold!) The Saffiano leather which I am using was purchased from PeggySueAlso leather (https://www.peggysuealsoleather.com/shop). They're local to me, so I get to go directly to the shop and handle the leather. I find that a 12X12 panel is enough to make the front and back side of a wallet, and the pockets for this pattern, with some left over for other projects like pockets. The pink was an 8X10 piece, taking the red from a left over strip. I found that some colors are stiffer than the others. The metallic bronze, for example, is quite a bit more flexible than the others, and the pink is quite firm. The blue and red are between the two. The firmer pieces skived very nicely (they are 1 mm in thickness). It is difficult to get edge bevelers to work on the leather. I use sandpaper glued to popsicle sticks, a sanding stick, to smooth out the edges. The edges sand well, for a nice flat surface for edge paint. And as a bonus, any slight overflow from the edge paint wipes up quickly and easily from the surface. The flesh side smooths very well with Tokonole, which also works on the edges. I really like working with the Saffiano; I can see why high end bag manufacturers use it. It has a nice feel because of the texture, which helps the wallet "stick" inside a pocket.

I'm building up an inventory. Here are three I completed this last week. Pink and Red Saffiano with beige Ritza thread. Blue Saffiano with blue Ritza thread. Bronze metallic Saffiano with faux ray-skin pockets, using chestnut Ritza thread. Each time, they go a bit faster and a bit smoother!

I did one of those earlier this year, using the same pattern! The toe plug was a bit tricky, like you say, but the rest of the pattern worked out well. The customer gave me an erroneous belt measurement, but a test fitting caught it early enough that all I had to do was make another longer billet for the buckle. Here he is wearing it, in all its tooled glory.

Lacey is just down the road from me. Welcome to the forum!

I think that you are describing the linothorax of ancient Greece: layers of linen bonded together to make armor.

I didn't know what it was until I came across it on YouTube a couple days ago! Search for "Norwegian stitching leather", and look at various videos until you get one where you can see how it's done. It requires 2 separate lengths of thread.

Just finished stitching this up. Yellow fauxstrich leather, with topaz gold thread. First time trying out the decorative Norwegian stitch on the handle--that sure takes a long time to do!

Here's a purple "fauxligator" card wallet. Red and blue fauxligator card wallets.

I finished this small "clutch" bag for a co-worker. Some nice chrome-tanned floral print leather, with a matching strap.

I believe the bottom is made using what is called a "box seam." There are many videos on YouTube showing a few ways to create that.

How about an edge crease following the curve of that flap? And those edges could really use some color and burnishing.

Got it all stitched up tonight! The Lewis Chessmen are a group of chess pieces found in the early 1800s near Uig Bay, on the Isle of Lewis. They are Viking era pieces, carved out of walrus ivory, and nobody knows why they were cached there. The pieces can be viewed in the British Museum in London, and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. They're wonderful pieces of early Medieval art. This is the first of a set-- Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook/Warder. The pawns aren't quite so photogenic for bags. Leather: 2 mm veg tan, Eco-Flo Red Waterstain. It's probably one of my Tandy stash of miscellaneous hides. Thread: Ritza Chestnut, 5mm spacing Fabric: Black denim (on the inside) and red Harris Tweed (backed with an iron-on stabilizer). Harris tweed is manufactured not far away from where the chess pieces were found, so it's fitting for use here. zipper charm: a Lewis chessmen bishop, from Ebay. Strap: purchased from Amazon. I could make a strap, but it would take FOREVER to stitch by hand. The price I paid is less than I could actually get the hardware and leather for.

Heh! The shoes to match this bag are Viking Era shoes.