JoeSnuffie

That roll was skived to that thickness by Waterhouse and normally it's about 2.5oz. I've successfully skived small pieces with a safety skiver but those pieces are the sizes I use for wallet pockets. I just keep the blade sharp, strop it a lot and flip the blade every few strops. It isn't fast because the leather is so soft, but it works.

Here's the 1.75oz calf skin

After playing around with embossing, I decided to make something a little classy with it. This is calf skin skived down to about 1.75 oz with my trusty safety skiver. The black strip is goat because I wanted a crisp logo.

I've been getting this.http://www.waterhouseleather.com/kip_tooling_leather.htm They will split it down to 1.75oz for free. I have another roll of it arriving today and I'll let you know how it looks. It has its flaws but making wallets, I'm able to use all but the tiny pieces that have small scars or bug bites. The back of some of it is a little fuzzy but I skive that down to about .75mm and make card wallets, which works out perfectly. For the price it can't be beat for small items that can use a thinner, softer leather. I've made small bags and they've turned out great. It will take stamping but don't expect it to be as sharp as you get with the typical veg tanned leather. This is some of the calf that I skived down and embossed. The edges of the design aren't crisp angles but I think it looks great and it will hold this design with no problems. The black strip is goat, used to get a crisp logo.

I've used 1.25 - 1.75 oz goat and also 2.5oz calf. The goat is stiffer and probably much more wear resistant but it can have a grainier texture than cow, but not nearly what you get with pig. I have some 1.75 oz calf that will be delivered any day now and if it looks as nice as I think it will, I'll probably stop using goat. The first picture is 1.75oz goat and the second is 2.5oz calf.

That sounds promising. I've called the shops in my area that I would suspect as carrying leather but most of them deal in vinyl, leather too thick for me or scraps so small I can't use them. My biggest shock was a couple of 'high end' furniture repair places telling me that they use vinyl and not leather.

When I cut, I try to cut parallel with the back. But the reason i do it may differ from someone else's reason. I have found that the texture, flexibility, strength and sometimes the thickness changes as you move from the back to the belly. This is especially noticeable when cutting belts and bracelet blanks. I guess as the split or skive the hide, the stretchier belly ends up not as nice. On many hides I also notice that the closer you get to the belly, the more worn or discolored it gets, probably due to the cow laying on it more and scraping it more.

I think I might have gotten it sooner but it appears it was lost. I missed an email that I just saw on eBay that said it was lost by the shipper and not only did they resend but they refunded my payment. I guess I should check eBay messages more often. I suppose this gives me a pretty honest impression of the seller.

Cem, that's good to know. I've only done one bridle repair and I used some thicker waxed thread for that. If I do anything else for an animal I'll be sure not to use this.

Peter, This is the eBay auction I used. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leather-Sewing-Thread-Waxed-For-Leather-Hand-Stitching-120g-250M-DIY-/161008161504?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item257cd592e0

Nice designs. Are you splitting the leather yourself or having W&C do it for you? I see you hand cut. How are you getting the curves so consistent.

Thanks, Dirt4fun. Now I have something else to try. One of these days I'll stop feeling uncomfortable when women stare at me in the scrap booking isle. They give me a look that lets me know I'm not welcome.

I've asked them about even smaller sizes and I hope I hear back. I'll be ordering a few more colors of this and I'll be set for at least a year or more.

I used a rubber mallet. I didn't know if this would work so I wasn't willing to risk more than the $2.99 that the embossing template cost me. The sell a tool that presses it together but I'm not sure how well it would work with leather since it's made for paper. It uses rollers to press it. I embossed some more goat and dyed it.

I decided to try using a scrapbooking embossing template on some thin leather. I'm hoping to be able to add some unique accents to wallets. I've had several female customers ask if I can add something 'feminine' to some of the wallets and card wallets I've made and I saw this at the craft store and thought i'd give it a try. I didn't properly case the leather - I was in a hurry just to see if it could be done. Left to right: 1.75oz goat 1.75oz dyed and finished goat (the flesh side seemed to soak in enough water) 2.5oz dyed and finished calf (not enough water wold soak in) 2.5oz calf These are the leathers I use for wallets so that's what I tested. The back of the leather is also embossed, causing the pattern to be more defined than if it were just one sided.

Not finding a suitable place to buy Tiger thread, I ordered 250 meters of .8 mm black braided and waxed thread from China. I only have Tandy braided thread to compare but I really like it. Only took a month to get here. The picture shows it next to Tandy braided thread that's about 1.2mm I'd my cheap caliper is accurate. It's not as stiff and heavily waxed as the Tandy but it's nice and I'll be ordering a few more colors. This is perfect for thinner wallets.

I don't do a groove. I'm using thinner and softer leather combined wit braided thread that lays flat anyway. I'm using 1mm and thinner for the shell. If i was using thicker and stiffer leather I suppose I would. I do crease a line where I stitch and use a stitching chisel, though. I do the holes for the front and back of the stitch separately, making the angle of the hole opposite so that the saddle stitch looks great from both sides.

The hand stitching looks great. Just stick your fingers in ice and keep going.

They look great. I think we're all ready for the detailed instructions.

You'll probably have to paint to get any lighter than the color of the base leather. I use some decent acrylic paints that are thinned just a little with water to get it to soak in a little and bond. It's thin enough that several coats are needed and I haven't noticed it flaking or rubbing off on my kid's belts and bracelets. Also, I am using a more expensive paint, not the cheap craft stuff at WalMart because the cheap stuff would barely bond with the leather.

OurJud, I'm using veg tanned goat for thinner wallets and card slots. It's thin and very stiff, even after dye, oil, finish and wax. Since you're not interested in dying and finishing yourself you should look for book binding leathers. They have some thin and reasonably stiff leathers that are already finished. Unfortunately, it can be expensive. Typically, though, goat will be a lot stiffer than cow at the same thickness. All of my 1mm veg tanned cow is a little soft, though it still takes stamping. http://www.hollanders.com/index.php/bookbinding-supplies/bookbinding-leather.html This wallet is from 1.75oz, or about .7mm - .8mm veg tanned goat. It is really easy to dye and work with. Oh, and here are the pieces of goat before I stitched it up

Sponge is my guess as well but it almost looks like there might have been a white paint applied as well. Maybe it's just because of the dark colors used. Whatever they did, it's beautiful.

I started using them a couple months ago and they are superior to the Tandy needles and anything I've gotten at the fabric store.

Wow, you really treat yourself right, don't you. This is beautiful!