Sheilajeanne

A closer look at my work space, with my current project on the table. The chargers are for my electric drill and weedeater. The work surface is a formica kitchen countertop. I salvaged it from a cupboard I rescued from my previous home in Bradford. The most amazing thing was it fitted the space available in front of the window with only a couple of millimeters gap on each side! You would have sworn it was cut to fit!

Battlemunky, in the first of the second set of photos, what's the 4x4 section with the two planks attached to it, and the pliers resting on top?

I'd worry about that, too! Most metallic objects eventually do get magnetized to some degree by being in contact with a strong magnet. I still have a knife I liberated from a local restaurant after I found it was able to lift another piece of cutlery up off the table because it was so strongly magnetized. I am guessing it must have fallen into the bottom of the dishwasher, and been magnetized by the electric motor!

Yes, I was told when I bought some deglazer to only use it outdoors or with the windows wide open!

LOL! I was kind of thinking the same thing!

Me! My cat likes to sit in the window, and between the cat hair, dust and cobwebs, it was pretty disgusting. Tonight is the first time in nearly a year I've done any serious leather work, so a big clean-up had to be the first thing on the agenda. My mom passed away a year ago last November, and I've been dealing with her estate, and I find dealing with grief really stifles creativity. Feeling pretty good about getting back into it again, even though my first project has been a major disaster so far! i expected it might be, so I chose something really small and simple to work on.

Indeed he is! :D

And yes, I need to dust. And sweep. The joys of dog ownership... Edited to add: this is what I started out with, about 2 years ago: https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/product/basic-leathercraft-set It all fitted in a box that was about 12" x 6"x 8" Before the 8 weeks of free lessons that came with the kit were finished, I had to graduate to using a Rubbermaid bin that was about 36" x 24" x 12" deep. Noobies, beware. You have been warned!

Okay, here goes. This is my tiny perfect work station. Underneath the work surface are two of my power tools that I haven't found another storage spot for, plus an old boot that I am planning to salvage the leather from. I may put the shelves up in my dining room one of these days soon. Second picture shows the cupboard next to the work station where I store projects in waiting, dyes and other solutions, and stuff I don't use very often. Third picture shows a kitchen cupboard that has been mostly taken over for storage of leather work items. It contains rolls of leather, books and patterns and some of the larger kits I'm planning to work on.

Okay, just thought I'd share this here... Not me, but I'm sure some of you can relate! I finally got my work space decluttered, and will post photos soon.

Okay, this is driving me nuts! I have a key chain kit from Tandy, and the leather strap is shaped exactly like a belt that narrows in where the holes are. I've tried several different methods of drawing a nice, straight border around the edge of the belt, but things go sideways when I have to do the curved bits. I've been using a stitch groover to draw the line, but have it angled so it won't actually remove any leather, just leave an indentation in it. The darn thing tends to skid out of position on the corners. Suggestions for other tools I could try to do this same task? Between mucking up the border, and not doing a good job on the curves for the Celtic knotwork design I decided to decorate it with, it's really starting to look pretty dreadful!

This site is indeed a gold mine of information! I never would have thought of that!

You can use a leather burning kit: https://www.tandyleather.ca/en/product/leather-burning-tool-set?ip_lookup_country_id=CA&loadedFromCookie=1&session_id_token=fdc3c12121a068a8fecbea6d2e1e622923d2d311 I have a wood burning kit which I inherited from my late husband. I haven't tried it on leather yet, but I think it would probably work just fine, if you'd prefer not to give Tandy any of your money! P.S. - chuckling at your signature! Yes, we do make a mess sometimes, especially when dyes are involved, and scraps certainly come in VERY handy, especially when testing out something new! :D

My SIL made a Roman blind for their living room. She pieced together 3 swathes of upholstery fabric which were left over from recovering one of their couches. The first time I saw it, I told her how beautiful it was and what a wonderful addition to the room it was with the way it matched the couch. She told me I had NO IDEA of the struggles she went through making that blind, and how awful she thought it was. The main problem was the fabric stretched as she was trying to sew it. so the blind turned out uneven. I had to look at it VERY closely to be able to see what she was talking about.

Jayker, please see the video in my post above, which shows a man using this splitter. Hope that helps!

In this case, I have a friend who lives 20 minutes from the guy with the machine, and there's another friend in Detroit who wants a piece of my time too. I also want the seller to show me how to set up the machine and the ABCs of using it. This will be my first leather sewing machine! It also happens I am currently unemployed/semi retired.

You guys are TOO funny!

Yes, it sticks up way too high. I have shortened it, but that isn't the best way of doing things, as it was designed to be much taller. There is only so much wood I can take off and still have it work the way it is supposed to.

Okay, if I am out of the country for more than 48 hours, I can claim goods with a value of $800.00, and not pay duty or taxes. I will only pay duty on the portion that exceeds the $800. If the goods are manufactured in Canada, or covered by NAFTA, duty does not apply.

The machine I'm buying is a used Seiko. I imagine the 'no duty'' rule only applies to machines directly imported from the country of manufacture.

I previously mentioned that I didn't like the conventional stitching horse design, where you were supposed to hold it between your thighs, as that meant I had to back away from my leather working table, and didn't have enough light to see well. I've been browsing E-Bay, and found there are stitching horses designed specifically for table top use: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Beech-Leather-Retaining-Clip-Wood-Tools-Sewing-Stitching-Lacing-Treatments-Craft/292328958964?epid=21009401028&hash=item441029ebf4:g:XMIAAOSwldRaCV1e Sooo, if you're like me, and prefer this design there ya go! (No, I have no link to this seller - this is just FYI.)

I mentioned this to my family when we were together for Christmas, and my brother said there would likely be import duties if i was planning to use the machine for business (i.e. to make money.) If I can convince them my leather working is just a non-profit hobby (which it currently is, but am hoping to change that!) I might be able to get it across without paying duty. Anyway, that was what he told me.

Wow, cool piece! Auctions are tough. Last time I won one was because e-bay crashed just as the auction was expiring, and no one was able to out-bid me!

I am planning to pick up a machine from Ohio as soon as I can get my passport sorted out. What do I need to get it back across the border? (I'm driving, of course, and hoping there won't be any blizzards!)