DJole

I can tell you that Angelus Light Blue is not very light, straight from the bottle. It's not really a bright blue, or a Navy blue, but like this: To get a nice baby blue, I'm not sure what proportion of dye reducer to blue would work. I use that method to try making a lighter blue on a different project, but it's certainly not baby blue: I have to wonder if it's even possible, since the leather behind the dye is not really white enough to make the pastel baby blue work. Perhaps some experts here have the solution.

*whistles in admiration* That is some lovely floor work there. The only flooring I have ever done is install tongue-and-groove flooring in my living room, and that of course is nothing like this! Those bog-oak pens are gorgeous. I love beautiful wood, and beautiful woodwork as well. I can well understand why you'd want a beautiful case for them. Good materials and craftsmanship are a delight to the touch and the eye.

Fredk, thanks for the additional digging (pun intended) to pull out the scholarly information for those who would like to know that! So UCC is the place to look for the details, then. Thanks again!

Read the article for further information, and see the photos. I'd like to know more about the type of leather, the stitches used, was it welted, and so on-- Of course, that kind of specialist knowledge isn't covered! http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/everlasting-shoe-what-does-5500-year-old-shoe-found-cave-tell-us-about-021382

You may also want to look into lining the inside of the armor, with either a softer leather or with cloth, after all that patient work fredk recommended above. If the costume warrants it, you could add another layer of cloth between your expensive materials and the leather (like a surcoat or a padded jacket, like those worn under metal armor.)

By "a short time" surely you mean a year or two, judging by all those tools in the background and your sure hand with the sharp tools! ;-) But welcome to the forum! There is so much information here from all kinds of friendly folks who have a passion for leather. Those handmade pens -- they are also your work?

That's the holy grail of stitching, right there.

That's a stellar job for the first project! Makes me want to throw mine away! (heh!) Where do you think there are issues with it? (Not that I doubt you, but because what you see could be valuable for me to know.)

A leather mirror frame? Now that's not something I would have thought of. How is that protected from the damp, warm steam of the room when the shower is on?

That's a nice video-- your voice is clear, and your brief demonstrations of the tools is good too. I must say that when I first started doing leather, I had even fewer tools than that! I had an Xacto knife, a diamond awl, and a modeling spoon!

Find some Dover Design Books via Amazon.com. Perhaps some of the line drawings will work for you.

Here's the rapier hanger that I did a few years back. The color is difficult to see in this picture; it's a nice Oxblood. I like that color.

Zitro -- Find the section of this forum which is devoted exclusively to finishes, and ask your question there, about which finishing product will work best for a wallet. Of course, you need to decide some things first -- do you want a shiny finish, a matte finish, or something else? Depending on what you want, some experts can help you decide what will best preserve your hard work. I do not consider myself experienced enough in finishes to give you good advice, but I look forward to seeing your first steps into leatherwork!

Congrats on finishing your project! That's half the battle right there, putting hand to leather to learn how it all works. What do you think happened in the middle of your stitching? (I don't have an answer; I'm just curious to know what you think.)

I've never actually done this, but thinking about the task brings a couple solutions to my mind: You might use glove needles, which are sharp and diamond pointed. But they tend to be rather dainty, so they may not be what you want. It depends on your leather thickness and type: thick tooling leather isn't what these needles are for. They are for soft, thin leather. Or perhaps sailmaker's needles will be ideal for this, since they are designed to sew canvas sails. Google the term, and you can see what they look like and where to buy some.

You might try these guys up in Maine: http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/leatherpanels.htm

Oh, my....that's some mighty craftsmanship there! Well done, indeed!

Lots of excellent newbie vids: check out Ian Atkinson's Leodis Leather vids on YouTube, and Nigel Armitage's vids too. Armitage is the hand stitching guru! That ridgeline "branding" could be done a few different ways. First thing, though, is not to steal that design! Create your own, using the gorgeous silhouette of the Tetons instead. When you say "branding," you really mean "branding" as in burning, or just tooling? You could tool it in -- that's a pretty simple design that wouldn't require a whole lot of tools. I can imagine using just a backgrounder tool to make the line in a kind of "reverse" tooling. Or using a beveler to create a three dimensional line. If you wanted to include some sort of words like in the example... well, that would be tough to get right. A beginner might use up a lot of leather trying to get them to come out right. Or, you could (if your finances permit) create a custom stamp with that designt. Lots of places will create a custom stamp for you, based on certain computer file types. It's even possible to do it this way as a hot stamp (see Ian Atkinson's video here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azyCKOpdSo0> for a quick overview) That custom stamp might be too expensive for a one-off project, but if you anticipate doing it over and over again, like a maker's stamp, it'll save you a lot of headache.

the 253 area code represents -- hi there from Tacoma! 1) Ecoflo dyes are water based, so it's hard to stop them from bleeding, even with a finish coat of some sort on them. There is a lot of discussion over what types of finishing products work best for what application. I'm afraid I can't contribute much to that discussion. If you're a fisherman, and you plan on carrying this wallet around into wet places, you'll want to be certain the colors won't run or fade once you drop your wallet into the river (or in a Seattle rainstorm). 2) You need to stamp or tool first, because the dyeing process you use will affect the image (for example, an antique dye finish will look different from a solid color finish). Stamp or tool first, then dye. I'm not sure if it's better to stitch first and THEN coat with the finishing water resistant product, or if you need to do that and THEN it's okay to stitch. I'll let people with a lot more practical experience weigh in on that. 3) Mink oil works for boots, but I'm not sure you want that on a product you'll be sticking in your pocket, or carrying money/cards/etc. around in. Think of it this way -- you have to keep reapplying the mink oil, right? you know how it makes your boots a bit slippery and smelly? Yeah, I don't think that's a good wallet finish, even in logger country! ;-)

It's a joke-- the thousand dollars was the price of the Welsh course, which was the reason I went to Wales (not just to get a tshirt!). I actually hiked from Bangor to Llanfair P. G., and then I continued on to Bryn Celli Ddu. That was quite a bit of a walk, I must say! I did get a ride back to town from a friendly surfing lad who'd been over near Aberffraw, and that was very helpful. The ability to make custom bags is one of the things that attracts me to leather work -- you can put in the features and design elements that you want. I love your design concept for a lap-top desk/ computer case. (I can't just call it a bag, since it's so much more than that!)

Beautiful North Wales! I enjoyed a bank holiday weekend up in your part of the world back when I was studying Welsh for a summer at Lampeter. I have a treasured t-shirt from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch-- I call it my thousand dollar shirt! But enough about Wales -- that's a nice first effort bag! (But it's hard to see the details since it's photographed on that darn brown table in what appears to be ambient lighting) I made a bag for the same reason you did. I need to rework my handle, though... someday I'll get around to it.

Can you give more specific details about the armor? (i.e. is it LARP armor, historical armor, SCA heavy weapons legal, SCA rapier legal, etc.) It's also helpful to know which piece of armor you are trying to make -- body armor, arms, elbows, helmet, etc. Narrowing it down can help us help you out!

Welcome to the forum. There are many experienced, friendly folks here to help you guide through the ins and outs of leather work! If you're interested in hand-stitching, you need to find Nigel Armitage's YouTube videos on handstitching (search for Armitage leather, or follow this link.) Another friendly British leatherworker, Ian Atkinson, has some hand stitching videos that are helpful also: <http://ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm> Both of them have very good instructions with clear video footage. Make sure you have at least a couple hours to spare before you check out those links!

You were channeling these historic knives, apparently: <http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33543>

I'm one of the few who didn't buy one of those to use when i was first starting out. But that's because a pack of needles and a roll of waxed thread was cheaper!