Sheilajeanne

I second that! He shows in detail how to do many different breeds of dogs. However (just checked my copy) he doesn't specifically show a lab, though he explains in detail how to do the fur, eyes, etc. on different types of caninds including wolves and foxes. You will have to find your own lab/picture of a lab to use as a model, then trace it and use Stohlman's book to help you fill in the details. Do a practice piece or a couple of practice pieces first, and you should be fine! If you don't want to pay full price, you may be able to find a used copy. Also, most of Stohman's books are available as downloads from Tandy's Leathercraft Library: https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/category/79/ebooks?pagenum=2

:agrees with ballemunky: You should see MY first stitching project!

When I was a kid, it was quite common to store nuts, bolts, washers and other assorted hardware that way. There was a metal device hanging from the ceiling of the workshop, with 4 sides to it, and each side had, if I recall correctly, 4 sets of lids secured to it. Only problem was the jars that screwed into the lids were glass, not plastic. My dad gave my brother and me pretty much free rein in his workshop. And there was more than one time that the glass jar didn't get properly screwed back into the lid, with predictable results! One of his caveats for using his workshop was that you clean up after yourself. I would usually ask Mom for help with the cleanup when one of those jars came crashing down! And she'd help, because it was easier than dispensing band-aids to a bleeding kid... Edit: this is what the storage system looked like! https://beachpackagingdesign.com/boxvox/mostly-red-revolving-jar-racks

Yeah, I still laugh at that story about the guy who decided to test the edge of the leather worker's round knife, after he'd cut out a holster for him...

Yeah, the rotary knives are the best for thin leather, which stretches when you are cutting it. Sometimes the pressure of the knife will cause just enough stretch that you don't get a nice straight cut. The rotary cutter does away with this problem.

A number of people who knew him are upset at how little recognition his passing was given. His obituary gives nothing but his name and the year of his birth and death. So, we're thinking of planning a get-together in his honour. Dammit, Bill, you SO deserve better than that one-line obit!! You gave SO much to so many people over the years! Oh, and I was shocked to find out he was 4 years younger than me! [sigh] I guess smoking has claimed another victim...

I really don't think so. Just don't make it too big at the top, or you will have trouble getting it to fold nicely, and also, coins might spill out when you open the flap. Edit: trying to figure out why the item in the photo you display has TWO gussets! What IS it? A coin purse with two pockets and TWO flaps?

No, if the work were not for sale, it would not be. And I am sure celebrities get used to fans doing pictures of them! I am a member of different fan groups, and fan art is one of the most common things you see, other than photos of the celebrities.

AB, that is completely correct the way you worded that. Even some very, very good artists I know need photos to work from. I follow a FB page called "The Art of the Horse" and one of the most frequent requests from the artists is for reference photos they can use. Many photos out there are copyrighted, or you need the permission of the horse's owner to draw or paint the horse.

No words for how awesome that is! Did you use a photo as a reference?

She says Fiebing's Pro tan dye. I imagine she meant saddle tan.

Sad, sad day...I just found out the man who gave me my start in this wonderful hobby has passed away. He worked at the Tandy store in Barrie, Ontario, and was the one who taught their classes. He was an older man, and in a lot of pain due to arthritis in his hips. He walked with a cane, and obviously had trouble moving around, but still came to work faithfully and still taught the classes. He was very generous with his help and advice to newbies. Whenever you asked the staff a difficult question, they'd often say, "That's a Bill question...you'll have to ask him!" He will be greatly missed.

We dissected sharks in uni. I don't remember the skin as being very thick. Their main defense is their keeled scales which makes their skin rough enough to be used as sandpaper!

Wow, nice work!

Very nice! What did you use for resist

kiwican, DG2, she says in her blog that the leaves are printed on the leather. Her other work is traditional leather carving - you can see some tool marks here and there if you look at it closely.

I'm surprised to hear someone complaining about Barry King, but you're darn tootin' right about no one hesitating to badmouth Tandy!! Sauce for the goose, and all that...

Very nice! How is the lining attached at the top of the bag? I can't see any stitching. Did you just turn the edge and glue it? And what fabric did you use? I like the way you use pink as an accent colour, especially the contrasting pink edges...acrylic edge paint, right?

Agreed, battlemunky!

I like the idea of a woodcarving tool. I think a half-round gouge would last longer than a cheap punch that was ground down. And from the looks of it, you are going to be using it an awful lot if you are going to do those chaps! Definitely the pinking shears would be faster if the leather weight isn't too heavy!

She does boots and shoes, too! http://blog.sina.com.cn/kayired Regardless of how it's done, she obviously has talent! Some closeup views of her work: look at those lovely smooth edges, and even stitching! Do you think they are hand-stitched or machine stitched? http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_557e05900101jt8v.html Second edit: I can see tooling marks around the border of some of the figures on the key wallets. Not the leaves, though. I am thinking those must be printed/silk screened directly on the leather. Third edit: as you get near the bottom of that page, you can see how she has taken traditional Sheridan design elements (scrolls, leaves, seeds) and added her own touches to them! I am VERY impressed with her work! When I opened the page, it asked if I wanted to translate it from Chinese, so I hit the 'translate' button. That means I can now read the comment section at the very bottom where she says she uses French veg tanned leather. She also says the leaves are printed on the leather. (The translation is pretty poor, but you can get the gist of most of it.) On exploring her site some more, I find out (no surprise!) she is an artist, and she has ONLY been doing leather carving for about 8 months!! She also carves wood (see the pea pods, balls, squirrel figure and acorns) and makes decorative wooden boxes. What a talent! Think I'll just slink back into my Neanderthal cave...

?? I don't understand what you did. Did you rip out all the stitches from that side of the wallet, then resew? Hand stitch it, so you used the same holes as before? Alpha, I thought the same thing, and was wondering why a scratch could be such a big deal!

Way to go, Turves! Did you cut them so the horizontal parts of the T's are offset from each other? Keep up the good work! Silly me! Of course, I meant VERTICAL, not horizontal!

Wise words, AB! That would be really cool for us to exchange a piece of our work...now, I need to get off the computer and GET BUSY!! The main thing holding me back in my leather work is procrastination, especially now that I am retired!

Yes, the usual way to deal with the edges of nylon binding (or any type of binding) is to sew them into the end of your seam. If the binding is leather, it has to be skived very thin at the end to reduce the bulk . Also, when going around curves, slits need to be cut in the binding to keep it from bunching up. This means the binding needs to be glued as well as stitched, to prevent raveling.