YinTx

I'm a stickler for stitching as you can imagine, and that didn't catch my eye right away, so it isn't outlandish. Even with hand stitching, I seem to manage to make one very bad stitch on every project. I think of it as the "Spirit Line" in a Navajo rug. My project seems to need at least one imperfection, so I let it be. I've not had a complaint yet. Maybe we should do a leather exchange: everyone makes a leather item, random exchange, drop it in the mail, and wait to see what shows up in yours! YinTx

Very cool. Interesting design on the sheath: how does it attach to the belt/harness/apron/whatever? YinTx

Man, I'm all ears for this one. I've always been a glutton for punishment, and for trying to provide high quality in materials and craftsmanship that my customers don't always understand (or pay for), but seem to appreciate. Seriously, this sounds like something I'd do, if only on a couple of items. What is it???? I have a recipe for a neatsfoot/beeswax/lanolin etc. finish I've concocted in my mind, but I haven't made it yet...I'm thinking February will be a nice cold time to warm up a stove and start melting things... YinTx

Awesome, then he is ahead of me the first time I thought of making a sheath... I didn't even know what a welt was! Your photo looks like bliss and brutality in the same moment...I've always wanted to visit Alaska. Wouldn't know where to start tho...not exactly a small state! YinTx

Welcome! With all the info around here, you will be making stellar items with bits and pieces of leather in no time. Maybe even make a few bucks off of it! Best of luck to you. Does your sheath have a welt in it? Hard to tell from the angle of the photo. If no, check them out, they help protect the stitching from that sharp edge you were talking about... YinTx

That has "buy me, buy me" written all over it! Awesome colors, textures, design and construction. YinTx

Definitely well done! YinTx

Do you know what grade it was? I was looking at the various sites that have it available, and there are several grades with respective pricing... Thanks! YinTx

That is wicked tiny tooling! awesome. YinTx

Beautiful! Inspiration for me to finish mine. I have not heard good things about the W&C calf carving leather, but that looks fantastic. How was it to work with? YinTx

That is pretty dark. Came out better than I could get the turquoise to come out. Thanks for the pics! YinTx

Scroll on down this topic, and you will find a plethora of awesome patterns for sports fanatics. YinTx

The Royal Blue is a Professional Oil dye - do they make a white Professional Oil dye to blend with it? I see the white acrylic dye, which is a bit of a paint, but I was under the impression you couldn't/shouldn't blend the two... YinTx

Please do post some photos. I have a bottle of turquoise that I can't get to work for the life of me. The other colors I have do fine, but I haven't tried blue or green. Fiebeng's Royal Blue just comes out black, and not blue when you try to dilute it. So I don't have a blue leather dye! YinTx

Lookin good. Show us some action shots, and results! YinTx

cjartist, thanks for piping up. I was beginning to think I was the only to ever get EcoFlo dye to work on this forum! I know others swear by the black EcoFlo dye because they can use it on the inside of belts without worrying about it rubbing off on clothes, like the USMC Black from Fiebeng's might do if you don't buff it so long your arm falls off... YinTx

Cseeger, I finally turned off my brain and just did the antique. Came out pretty good I think, no dye, no resist, just Fiebeng's Antique Paste, followed with Tan kote then an acrylic finisher. Now I'm excited and can't wait to stitch it all up, but its going to have to wait until I can plow my way through some orders... mike and retirediff, I have several airbrushes, but lack the skill as of now to utilize them. I tried to airbrush the backside of a large piece of leather with the Iwata airbrush, ended up with zebra stripes. Perhaps it was a bit too fine a pattern for the task. Another learning curve for me, and a skill I look forward to developing as well. One thing at a time. bikermutt, Thanks much for the positive encouragement! I get frustrated sometimes, so its nice to know I am still moving forward and improving! sorry the lighting isn't so good on this picture...

gandgphi, that entirely depends on the type of dye you use and the use of the leather. Veg tan leather that is going to be flexed like this phone case would generally require some nourishment, and the Eco flo dyes tend to prevent oils from absorbing into the leather, so I tend to put neatsfoot oil on before hand. I think for this type of dye, you would not necessarily need a final finish. For the solvent based Fiebeng's dyes, they dry the leather out, and you need to renew them with oil and/or other beeswax/wax/oil mixtures. Sealing them is usually recommended as well - use Resolene, acrylic finisher, leather balm with atom wax, tan kote, bag kote, etc depending on whether you have tooled it, want a matte finish or shiny finish, etc. YinTx

Try this instead of using a dauber. Use a cotton round (one of those little circle thingies, quilted, that you get at CVS, Walgreens, etc in the makeup section). Apply the dye like a lotion, rubbing it in until it is absorbed into the leather. If you want it darker, add some more. You can rub in quite a bit of dye this way. Then with a soft cloth, buff it while it is still wet, until it is dry. Don't press down hard, just buff it lightly. It will start to shine some. Then, let it dry. Here is a photo of an Iphone wallet I made a year ago using the Bordeaux Eco-Flo Waterstain. The leather was a Tandy Alligator print... so not the best. Also photos of the same wallet after 1 year of continuos daily abuse. And trust me, day long daily abuse. Like open/close fifty times a day - at least. Thrown about, dropped, tossed into the bag, wet, food spills, etc. I don't recall putting any finish on top of it at all - if anything, I may have rubbed in some Aussie Conditioner just to give it a bit more shine. I have not done anything else to it in the year it has been in use, either. Never had any color rub off. I think for all the negative spew Eco-Flo gets around here, it's held up purdy darn good. Day 1 One year later The Dye YinTx

Ok, so the OP has a bottle of ECO Flo dye he'd like to be able to use, presumably. ECO flo dyes work differently than Fiebing's. I have used both with success, and won't hammer on either, since I am fully aware that my capabilities are what tend to limit my results. There are some who swear by the ECO Flo brand as much as those who swear by the Fiebing's. All that being said, how did you apply the dye, gandgphi? Perhaps we can see if it was applied incorrectly, or maybe using the atom wax is the wrong thing. Certainly wouldn't have been the first seal coat that I would have thought of for Eco Flo. YinTx

Huh. Yeah. I think I'll not buy any - any time soon. and hope no one asks for it! YinTx

Now I'm baffled. I had heard time and again not to use Leather Balm with atom wax on tooled items, because the tooling will fill up with white chalky wax that is hard to get out. I like leather balm, but haven't used it on tooling because of these comments. How are you doing it without the issue? Thanks! YinTx

No doubt! Those are cool! and look like a lot of work to put together. YinTx

I'm a bit baffled by the Saffiano leather craze as well. I've seen it in high end stuff, and I've seen the leather for sale, if you can call it that. Perhaps there is some inherent quality that I am unaware of.... YinTx

??Huh? You put the liner in after you are done stitching the bag? How do you attach it? New row of stitches? Hope you photo document this one also, it has been enjoyable watching this bag come together.. YinTx