DJole

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.

The bag is almost done. I'm trying to decide which strap works better for this bag. The narrow strap is red leather, which matches the tooled front and back panels. The wider strap is red cloth, which matches the red tweed sides and zipper top. This is the Lewis chessmen queen-- more detail here for those who want a better look.

Nice design work! (I recognized Sigurd and Fafnir right away, but then again, I have read widely in Scandinavian and Germanic mythology) The colored edges look very good. Repetitive stamps like the dragon scales can be difficult to get right, but it looks like you've got the knack for it.

Nice! I made cases for all my stitching irons, but most of them are nowhere near this nice. I have them up on my website-- {http://djole.altervista.org/djole/Publications/Leather/I/Irons/IronCases.htm}

Nice! Having it on the hatband gives the monster in question something to look at while you, the adventurer, quickly run away in another direction...

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum! I spent a few minutes admiring the things you've made so far... nice work!

Hey, that's a great idea! Nice work!

NIce work! and when the soles wear out, you can just cut the stitches and remove the panels for re-use on another pair of Vans!

I like the contrast visible in #1 and #3. Of course, I 'm not who you're making this for....

I decided that I needed a second, slimmer wallet, and I had some nice green remnants floating in my stash. So I whipped out a pattern for a bi-fold, extended it, eyeballed it, and about 6 non-contiguous hours later, here's what I ended up with. The inside uses three different card pocket styles, in black pigskin lining. Ritza sage green and Ritza green are the threads I used, with a 3mm stitching iron. Edges are black Tokonole. I love the color and texture of the green leather!

Nice work! Looks like your hands and brain remembered the process well!

You are asking for size, rather than brand, I guess? Many watchband makers go as small as 2 mm for a stitching iron/chisel. 2.8 mm is also available. Make sure the thread size matches the stitch width, of course.

That's a really nice piece, Stewart!

And as an appreciation gift, I made the customer a custom card wallet. The colors (dye and thread) and stamping pattern match the holster and belt. The color doesn't really fade from top to bottom -- that's just a photographic artifact. The purply-red leather is just a striking bit of on-sale remnant I had. It certainly makes a nice color pop! That's Fiebing's Antique Black Gel for the wallet, and the thread is Maine Thread .035 polyester cord, Golden Brown color. Stitching on the inside flat edge is 3mm, the perimeter is 5mm. The customer paid for the 3 and 5 hole bar grounder set (from Japan), so it was appropriate to use them in the tooling!