Sheilajeanne

SO glad I asked that question! MIke, thank you for that video!! WOW! I'm going to try that for sure!

What is a swivel bevel? Never heard of it!

Mike, here's the link to the workbook: https://www.amazon.ca/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Workbook/dp/1585429228/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1531026046&sr=8-2&keywords=draw+on+the+right+side+of+the+brain And here's a quote from the blurb about the workbook, which is very appropriate for this thread!

Here's the boot he's referring to: https://www.getoutsideshoes.com/red-wing-shoes-classic-moc-1907-copper-rough-tough-leather.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping-Ads&utm_content=Red-Wing-Shoes&m=configurable&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyYHaBRDvARIsAHkAXcteL5GojMUyf7BaHdWGBpvb_kFYTXma3IMUREgweFZlE_kaXNe640EaAl3fEALw_wcB

apparently there is one, but I would make my own. Just buy a sketch pad so you can practice what the book shows you.

Don't forget the workbook exercises! This is one book where you absolutely HAVE to combine the head knowledge with the doing!

Mike, interesting to hear you say that! I had a similar experience one day when I was home sick from school. I began sketching pictures of some of my favourite actors, and in 20 or 30 minutes had accomplished what normally would take me hours! It hasn't really happened to me since then, at least not to the same degree. Much later, I came across a book called 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'. The right side of the brain is the spatial and visual side, the side involved in art and architecture. We normally work mostly out of the left side of the brain, the side involved in using language and logic. That book also talks about an artist who was giving lessons to his class. He said there always came a point in his demonstration of how to paint where he just had to shut up and paint - he couldn't talk at the same time! It shows how it is difficult to use the right side of the brain and the left side at the same time, even if you ARE an experience artist, who is used to using the right side to create pictures. This could be what happened that day when you were so 'inspired'. You were able to access that part of your brain in a way you hadn't done before. In order to unlock this side of the brain, the book tells you to draw a chair upside down, so that the logical side of the brain doesn't come into play. There's a huge difference between knowing what something looks like and actually SEEING it. For instance, people often draw Christmas trees as triangles with a trunk and downward-sloping branches. But if you really look at an evergreen, the branches slope UPWARDS. This helps them shed the snow - when weighed down, the bend in the branch acts like a spring to snap the branch back into an upward position, shedding the snow in the process. Anyway, I highly recommend the book for anyone who is interested in figure carving, or improving their artistic skills with leatherwork! https://www.amazon.ca/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=draw+on+the+right+side+of+the+brain&tag=googcana-20&index=aps&hvadid=267704540073&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16485149707524145779&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000741&hvtargid=kwd-315407491679&ref=pd_sl_25d1pklljr_e

I used to have this as my sig when I was moderating on the Allnurses site: Good judgement and the ability to make right choices comes with experience. Experience comes from making wrong choices.... And, from a famous SF author: Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. You use them when you've got nothing else to try. If they work, they go in the Book. Otherwise you follow the Book, which is largely a collection of nitwit ideas that worked. -- Larry Niven / The Mote in God's Eye (1974)

Anywhere from 4 to 6 oz., Biker. That would be 1/6 to 3/32nds of an inch or 1.6 to 2.4 mm.

I know, but both the Wal Marts I've visited so far are SOLD OUT!! And since it's a U.S. product, would rather buy locally to avoid shipping and duty. if all else fails, will make the 35 minute drive to the nearest Michael's craft store in Barrie.

That's great, Bob! When I had the fail with the lightweight Heat n'Bond refusing to bond to the leather lining, I looked at the leather coated with it, and thought, "Gee, that definitely looks a lot better with the Heat n'Bond coating it than it did when it was bare and fuzzy!" Never thought of using it with just a fabric liner, though! Still trying to find a Wal Mart that has the Ultra Heat n'Bond in stock...so far, no luck!

They didn't have the Ultra, just the Lite. May have to ask them to order it for me. Even then, expected the Lite to work better. Maybe I should have used a shorter time with the initial bonding, and a longer time with the final. They say to iron for 3-5 seconds for the final. May not be sufficient for leather, even though it's really thin leather.

Okay, Bob, had a bit of a disaster last night. I bought the Heat n'Bond Lite. They had 3 different kinds, and this one was the cheapest. Unfortunately, the ironing time is only 1 to 2 seconds. Any more, and you destroy the plastic's ability to bond. Then you have to remove it and start all over!! I tell ya, once this stuff bonds, you have to SAND it off!! It becomes one with the leather, especially if the leather is fuzzy! I tried a test piece, after my first disaster, and even though I kept the contact time with the iron to a minimum, the lining still did not bond well to the liner I was trying to apply. What type of Heat n'Bond do you use, Bob? You mention a heating time of 30 seconds, so obviously it's a different type. I went back to Wal Mart today, but the other type they have has the same ironing time, and the third type is for single-sided application, as a protective surface for your project.

This is SUCH a great site! Don't know where I'd be without it!

Yeah, I watched that already!

Thanks, Bob! Yes, will be using an iron. Don't have a heat press. Now, if only I can find a way to hide the ugly glue splotches on the outside of the back of the bag that happened when I glued the other liner pieces... Bye, bye glue splotches from now on!

I think this thread just save a tote bag project I made a huge mistake on. I lined what I THOUGHT was going to be the inside of the bag with lightweight pigskin. When it came time to assemble the bag, I realized the inside was going to be the ugly, fuzzy unlined leather, that had splotches of dye on it! I spent the night dreaming about how I could fix this. Nothing came to mind that wasn't going to be a huge hassle, and take up tons of time as well as restitching most of the bag. Even then, I would likely have bare suede showing at the top of the tote! Then, I searched for tote lining and came up with this! Walmart, here I come! I am still going to have to restitch 3 seams, including the most difficult one, where the 4 layers of the bag come together at the bottom, but meh, if the fugly inside of the tote is then hidden, I'm good with that! All 4 sides of the new liner will be stitched, so I don't have to worry about separation, even if the union between leather and liner isn't perfect. Is it more difficult to get this stuff to stick to fuzzy cheap leather than the smoother stuff? Will tackle a more sophisticated bag liner with my next project. Have FINALLY been able to find that Molly tote kit I've been searching for for so long! It turned out my friendly neighbourhood Tandy's in Barrie had 2 of them at the deeply discounted price of $67.00!! Oh, was I a happy camper on Friday!!

Julie, that 'small wood block' isn't going to be nearly enough if this hobby catches on!

When I started leatherworking, I just kept everything in the box my Tandy starter kit came with. Now that the things have gotten um...bigger...it's more complicated. If I am going to a class, I generally put the tools I think I'm going to need in a ziplock bag. I also make sure my project is protected from anything rubbing against it by sliding it into a separate bag. Everything I'm taking with me generally fits into a tote, like the ones used for shopping at the grocery store. I have a small plastic food saver that I use to store needles, thread and laces. Food savers would work for stamps, knives, scissors, etc. as well. Any liquids generally are tightly sealed in their own plastic bags to make sure they don't leak.

Is there a trick for burnishing the edges on soft, floppy leather? This is a piece of thinnish milled veg-tan, and I'm trying to do it by hand. It's going to be one of several layers for a bag. Should I wait until the bag is sewn together, and the thickness will make it easier?

Beautiful work! In that first picture, is the background around the roses painted with black dye, or did you use resist on the carving? If so, what kind of resist? (Eg., Super Sheen, Resolene, etc.)

Not sure what you mean by Bordeaux. Do you mean like the color of Bordeaux wine? Or maybe burgundy? Both are sort of a purple/red colour. Can you post pictures? Also, what sort of leather were you dyeing? Veg-tan?

Tandy still sells the kit. : https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/dasher-handbag-kit If you can't find a pattern for it, maybe you could buy it. The nice thing about these kits is they are quite simple, and once you have the pattern, you can just keep reusing it to make your own. Of course, you will need to make your own templates of the different parts of the bag. From looking at the photo, you can see that the wrap around strap also serves as the gussets for the bag, and is just laced to the front and back of the bag. Looks like the back and flap of the bag are one piece, with the front being separate. Edit: Tandy has a free download of a bonus pattern for this bag. It doesn't show the other parts of the bag, just the flap, but it has a nice clear picture of the completed handbag which would be a big help if you wanted to try making one up without a pattern. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1986-dasher-handbag-kit-44365-00-bonus-tooling-pattern-ii.aspx

Sometimes the school would provide the covers, but again, they were made out of brown paper. The cool part of that was the paper was a good drawing medium, and you could personalize the covers with pictures.

We need a 'thumbs up' icon for this site!