Sheilajeanne

Did that include the cost of the fur? (Can't tell just what kind of critter it's from.) Made me immediately think of Eddard Stark from Game of Thrones! And was the 900 Euros your cost, or what you charged the your customer?

Awesome! It amazes me the expense and effort some people will go to for historical re-enactments and LARP! I am sure they paid a pretty penny for your gorgeous chest piece!

For all of you who have ever had trouble with your machine...

Congratulations, Johanna! My mom was 34 years in the Canadian military, first with the CWAC, then joined a regular (reserve) unit when they allowed women to do so. She went on to become the first female officer in its history. You might say I'm just a little bit proud of her...

Former nurse here - the worst time for a patient to need something is change of shift. The outgoing staff are busy charting everything they did on their shift, and can't wait to bugger off and go home, and the incoming staff are taking report in the lounge, and you could be swinging from the rafters or dancing in the hallway, and they'd never know it! But they SHOULD try to keep noise to a minimum, and be considerate of patients while they are doing all this. Can't blame you for being P.O.'ed!

It's not too difficult to find porcupines dead on the side of the road where I live. I carry a pair of pliers in my car just in case. The first one I found died during the winter up at the military base where I walk my dogs. I managed to get him just as he was thawing out, and before he started to decay. You can buy the quills on the net, but why do that when you can get them for free?

What I really want to know is how safe is it to heat the dye? I'm thinking it's something I should probably do outdoors, as the fumes aren't going to be the safest thing to breathe in! Instructions say it MUST be kept below the boiling point or you will ruin the quills.

[likes Mike's post...]

Have any of you ever worked with quills? They suggest you heat the dye to help the quills absorb it. Of course, I have LOTS of leather dye, but since it's mostly alcohol based, I am not sure if heating it is a good idea! What are your thoughts? I COULD just use regular fabric dye, but it doesn't make sense to buy more dye when I already have so much leather dye!

Like I was saying: http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/81968-how-to-draw-floral-designs/?tab=comments#comment-550243 Where else could you get this sort of help, and so quickly, too?

Lobo, you mean you've retired from leather work? Because, for most of us, retiring means we have MORE time to devote to leatherwork! I see new people coming on here all the time. It's still a great place to learn!

Wet leather stretches, and it's very common for this to happen when it's being tooled, especially if the piece is on the thin side. The only way to get around it is to fasten it to a non-stretchy backing piece with either rubber cement (which can be peeled off after) or tape.

Okay, I've got it figured out now. The top two sheets are for a wallet with pockets on each side. The bottom two sheets is for the longer wallet you show above, with pockets on only one side! I didn't realized they were two separate wallets, so I was REALLY confused!

I am still trying to figure out how to do pockets. Is the bottom of the pocket attached to anything?

Fun story I thought I'd share: Last year, I gave away a beautiful hand-crocheted Queen-sized bedspread my late mother had made, to a family member, because I couldn't bear to sell it to a stranger who was offering me $20 bucks for it. What really made me mad was the person who wanted it knew how to crochet, so she KNEW exactly how much work something like that took! (We really need a decent 'burning mad' smiley for this board. The one I used above doesn't BEGIN to express my feelings!! 20 bucks wouldn't even have covered the cost of materials...)

What do you mean about your one regret being the metal rings and brass button? Did you want the whole purse to be made out of leather? As far as appearance goes, they look fine! Also, lots of videos out there to help you neaten up your stitching. That and the angles (as said above) are the two things that would help improve the appearance. http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/44874-basic-saddle-stitch-tutorial-by-nigel-armitage/?page=4&tab=comments#comment-549454

Thanks, Tom! And thank you for the patterns!

Well, Northmount is a fellow Canuck, so I don't think the dimensions will need altering... I think Canadian and U.S. bills are pretty much the same size. Canadian may be just a tad bigger, but not enough to cause a problem.

Northmount, do you have a finished wallet you could show off? That would help me understand how it all fits together!

The head knife has arrived safely! Now to learn how to use it without cutting any fingers off...lol! Will be perusing videos on YouTube, and going over Stohlman's book on leather working tools. It looks to be a nice size for my lady's hands, and was very carefully packaged. Am still chasing styrofoam peanuts around my car! Will be using the improvised duct-tape sheathe to protect it until I can get around to making one out of leather! Thanks, Levinus! In the same mail shipment, I also got the book I ordered on doing porcupine quill work with leather. Have been collecting quills from FORD (Found on Road Dead) porcupines for a number of months now, so have a good supply on hand to work with. Will be very busy the next little while...

That is so cool! Lovely stitiching, too!

Psst....he didn't say he was SELLING them...he said you were welcome to come and try them out!

Two things I'd do to fix the dog: extend the saddle on his back a bit and make it more irregular. It looks like he's wearing a coat! Second, it looks like he has o nly one hind leg. I'd make the other one a bit more visible Good work: figure carving is HARD!

I lost my husband to cancer, and his was related to smoking, too - 90% of bladder cancer victims are smokers or ex-smokers. Even though he quit more than 20 years before he was diagnosed, it still got him. Could include a few other family member in the list, too... Hard to believe your wife would not want to quit after what you've been through. Hope she's one of the lucky ones who is able to dodge it! God bless, and keep on truckin'! That's some nice work!

You ever met a Holstein cow, or more especially a bull or steer up close? :D The hide doesn't have to be 10 ft. long. They can get a longer piece of leather by cutting on a slight curve, rather than straight.