zuludog

I made a sheath from 3mm undyed veg tanned leather, which had a similar colouring to yours, and treated it generously with Tandy's Prime Neatsfoot Oil. I was quite disappointed when it formed a few random bark blotches similar to the one you have illustrated. After a day or two it evened out to become much more muted - the pale areas with little oil became darker, and the dark oily patch became lighter and they sort of merged into each other. A couple of weeks later it had become an almost all - over dull yellow or mustard colour with just a bit of mellow shading In fact people have admired and requested that colouring as they say it is a nice change from the usual dark brown or black. It goes well with a pale wood handle, like hawthorn, beech or yew You could add even more oil so it's fairly well soaked and even, and see what happens. Or if you're a bit nervous, try on some scrap first. Soaking the sheath in oil and kneading it with the knife in place helps to form & fit them together.

You don't have to let them know what it's for! Tell them it's for a dog harness, or a pony & trap, or towing a sledge/pulk/ahkio or something (look them up). The design should have similar features. You say you're a complete novice, so get a book on leatherwork and practice first. It will also advise you on what tools & materials to get Hmmmm....... From key fobs to restraint sets in five easy stages?

I read somewhere that a champagne cork (yer actual cork, not plastic) makes a good support when using an awl, though I have yet to try it myself

Walsall? Why not go and ask the people at the Leather Museum that you would like to take up leathercraft? Or ask around friends & neighbours; there must be a few retired employees who would be glad to pass on their knowledge, and have someone to talk to; and possibly have a few old tools to spare. (Walsall was a major centre for the leather industry, though like much of British industry it has become run down. There are still specialist manufacturers in the area)

The pale shade of tan is known as London Tan If you Google for 'English Leather Belts' and 'English Leather Wallets' you will get several references so you can see the range of colours and styles available

I wonder if you are getting confused? Bridle leather is so called because it is used to make bridles, harnesses,and similar equipment for horses; as well as belts and heavy duty straps. To achieve the strength it needs to be thick, typically 3 to 5 mm, about 7 to 13 oz. I have not found any bridle leather thinner than 2,4 mm, about 6 oz. Or to put it another way, bridle leather is thick leather. It is frequently dyed in a distinctive shade of medium brown with a slight hint of orange or red ( I did say slight! ) that is called English Tan or British Tan - the colour of the wallets you have shown. In fact it is so common that you might think that any leather dyed in English Tan is called bridle leather. Not so; or to put it more clearly:- Bridle leather is 3 to 5 mm thick, but can be dyed any colour Leather of almost any type or thickness can be dyed English Tan, but that doesn't make it bridle leather Calf leather is thinner, so as you have suggested, suitable leather for making wallets would be good quality calf leather with a thickness of 1.2 mm/about 3 oz, dyed in the colour of your choice, which in this case appears to be English Tan. I am by no means an expert on leather & hides, so I would be happy to have any corrections or other opinions All I can suggest is that you Surf the Net for a supplier

Books that I have found useful are:- The Leatherworking Handbook by Valerie Michael Leatherwork - A Practical Guide by Chris Taylor The Art of sewing Leather by Al Stohlman It's good, but I think it's overpriced at about £15 from Tandy; see if you can get it cheaper on Amazon, ebay, or order it from your library In fact you could ask your library for books on leathercraft anyway anyway, they will probably have a few different ones Although they are not books, there is a lot of information on this forum, and YouTube

Just been Surfing the Net Similar style canvas coated Mulberry bags ( though not as nice in my opinion ) are going from £50 secondhand to £295 new. What's that? About 421 Euros or $472 ? Keep the bag unharmed !

HEY! BE CAREFUL! I must admit I hadn't heard of Mulberry before now, but I've just been searching the Net. Mulberry are described as 'Timeless British Luxury', and their leather bags retail for hundreds of pounds. This may be some kind of budget range, but even so, it won't be cheap. It's worth holding back on the slashing knife and finding out more. Even if it's counterfeit it looks so nice it's worth keeping it as it is and doing a bit of gentle cleaning/preservation/restoration - you can get buckles from many suppliers, or another secondhand bag or two

What you've done is neat and very good, but there are a couple of more things you could have done before you fitted it all up with the watch & buckle, and might still be able to do:- Treat the edges of your leather, e.g. with gum tragacanth, Edgecote and burnishing Treat all the leather with some sort of leather grease, hide cream or whatever. Any excess grease will soon wear off to give a softer & more mellow appearance

I'm a bit old fashioned - ever heard the word 'technophobe'? I haven't got a smartphone, and I wouldn't know how to use one if I had. So I wondered; do you think it's a good idea to have magnets so close to an electronic device?

I'm sure you'll get some good advice here. You could also try this website & forum; they have a section for leatherwork http://www.britishblades.com

I have made a strop, and for the polishing compound I'm using Autosol chrome polish, which I saw recommended in a leathercraft book After a while the Autosol dries out, and falls off when the strop is next used. Is this normal? Or should I add some leather oil to the dried Autosol to make a stickier paste?

Like yourself, I had done a lot of fabric sewing; repairing & modifying backpacking gear like tents, waterproofs & rucsacs. Then somehow I fancied knife making, and so needed to make the sheaths. I hadn't realised how involved it would be to sew and work with leather, but like many hobbies you can start simply, then increase your skill, experience - and expenditure! You will already be used to handling material and envisaging the finished article, and probably have a collection of tools that will help you start There are loads of videos on YouTube, just search for leatherwork; plus all the threads on this Forum, especially the 'pinned' ones. This company's website has some good tutorials on basic techniques http://www.bowstock.co.uk You will soon realise that some tools are especially for leatherwork so must be purchased, and that some can be made or improvised. I have made a strop, a round/scratch awl, an edge burnisher, and a sewing pony all based on illustrations from websites and this forum. Round or head knives are traditional, but also expensive, you probably already have a craft knife The 4-in1 awl sold mainly by Tandy looks tempting, but it's not very good. A read of these forums will give you better recommendations You could start with a key fob; or 2 or 3. Don't dismiss them, it can show you; pattern making, cutting out, skiving, sewing, burnishing & edge finishing, dyeing, tooling and carving, depending on how far you want to go. Something of a cliche, but get the simple, basic stuff right, then move on from there

If you steal the idea of one author, that's plagiarism; if you steal the ideas of several authors, that's bona fide research

You might like this website & forum http://www.britishblades.com

At the moment I'm making knife sheaths from 3 to 3.5mm (approx 8oz) leather. I have been using the synthetic thread that is supplied with a Tandy starter kit; the thickness is about right, but I would like to try linen Can anyone tell me the size of the Tandy thread, please? Or the equivalent in linen? or any other suggestions & comments? The Tandy thread is pre - waxed, but I would also like to try waxing my own. Again, any comments? Thanks

Use a stitch groover or a creaser or even a pencil line, on both sides, to mark the line of the seam. Then mark the stitching holes with a pricking iron or a rotary stitch marker/pounce wheel. The videos mentioned above are good, and there is also a pinned thread in this forum under 'Sewing Leather' entitled 'Hand Stitching Guide' Have a trawl round YouTube or get some leathercraft books from your library. A book that's often mentioned is The Art of Hand Sewing Leather by Al Stohlman

When I'm sewing knife sheaths from 3 to 3.5 mm leather (about 8 oz) I use 5 X the length or run of the seam to be sewn. Don't forget you will need to do a bit of backstitching at each end So, try 5 X, see how you go, and build up your experience & knowledge. Compared with the time, effort, and cost of the leather and any other materials thread is cheap, so at least to start with, use a longer rather than shorter piece of thread.

I've just got a book on leather and other crafts from the library. Been Surfing the Net to look up some of the suppliers listed in the back pages, and found this one. They are a supplier of artist's materials, tools & accessories, with a huge range of products. One of their sections has a lot of nice leather wallets & cases for crayons, tools, sketch pads and so on; I thought this would provide some suitable inspiration http://www.cornelissen.com 'inspiration' - a polite term for 'something to copy'

I've just put 'leather suppliers uk' into google and found http://www.aacrack.co.uk http://www.leprevo.co.uk http://www.neumannleathers.com http://www.jwoodleathers.co.uk http://www.metropolitanleather.com http://www.stormleather.com There were others, but I have listed these as they advertise bright colours. I haven't bought anything from them, though I have spoken in the past to the Bury office of Neumann and they were pleasant enough and helpful. You'll just have to Surf and phone around

You could look at my thread in 'Getting Started', 28 Oct 2014 'Cutting for beginners'.

British by birth, and English by the grace of God

Really? Are you aware that the guards for harems were eunuchs? That means they were castrated, and often had their penis cut off as well

Yes, you should back stitch at the start & finish of a line of sewing For a neat back stitch, leave or pull out longer lengths of thread at the start & end of a line of stitching than you usually leave for machine sewing. Then use these lengths to back stitch (presumably saddle stitch) by hand For a neater finish still, go forwards by hand from the ends of the machine stitch by a couple of holes before turning back It obviously takes a bit longer, but it's neat and probably more secure. You usually only have to go back 3 or 4 holes anyway