Corvus

I see your point about demonstrators as judges Ray, the public vote does seem a good idea.

Wouldn't it make sense to ask the guest demonstrators to act as the judges?

Thank you for your replies, very helpful as usual I'll get to work on making a slicker.

Is there a way of smoothing out vein lines in leather? I don't see them in finished leather items in shops. Parts of the hides I have are free of them but lots of perfectly good parts of the leather have them running through it. Is this the same in all leather or does it depend on the quality or part e.g shoulder, butt etc that you buy?

Using Fiebings Pro dye in saddle tan I am finding that areas which are bent or flexed after dying lighten in colour and/or get an odd crazed effect ... The leather was treated with dye prep before dying and then neatsfoot oil afterwards which I let dry over night. It then had three of coats of leather balm with atom wax with lots of buffing inbetween. I did two other collars at the same time, one black which is fine and one dark brown made by mixing the tan dye with the black, this shows similar effects to the tan collar but not as bad. The tan collar also felt quite hard or brittle compared with the other two until for an experiment I tried rolling it up. I got this effect .. a kind of distressed look and the leather is now remarkably soft and flexible. Any idea what this is all about? How can I stop it from happening?

Absolutely top class! What are the two lumps? covered in dark leather behind and to either side of the pommel? I don't know anything about western saddles.

Have to add that I have made a raised band of leather ... haven't made it into anything yet so no photo but I'm very excited!

Mike: Love the way Tigger is watching intently to make sure the work is done right! I once fostered two feral kittens who were also ginger, they got named Hiss and Spit. I was quite relieved when they got homes. wildrose: Shmoo is my kind of cat - black! I forgot about the way cats have to sit on any flat thing, the more carefully laid out the better. dirtclod: Looks like he has found himself a nice little kennel there :-)

Thanks for the replies! 'Whipper Snipper' and 'Weed Whacker' caused much puzzlement and hilarity here until I Googled them - we call them Strimmers over here (UK) which in hindsight is rather boring :-) I'm going to have a go at this technique today, I'll post the results.

I hope information becomes available soon for you, I can't imagine how worried you must feel. Best wishes to you and your family.

Hi Spence, This is a really interesting method, does it have any benefits in use or is it just about construction? I'm going to have to try this out for myself.

Lovely, imaginative work.

Fabulous work, I'm amazed Is the concho on the front just decoration or part of the construction? Also, if you have any more photos - of the back and the other inside flap for instance I would love to see them.

Wow!! Thanks for everybodies comments, it's a real boost considering the level of craftmanship on here. Tim: The basic blue colour is Fiebings Pro Oil Dye Royal Blue. Over this I rubbed some Fiebings white dye believing I could just rub it into the cuts but it sticks rather better than I thought and covered the piece. After trying vigorous rubbing and dye reducer to get it off I had to resort to deglazer which did the job although it was still hard to remove. I got the white left in the cuts this way as well as in the leather texture if that makes sense but it also in places removed some of the blue giving a 'distressed' look and leaving a thin layer of blue over the white, turning it light blue. After a couple of coats of Resolene I rubbed a bright blue acrylic paint (Fiebings again) over a couple of sections wiping it off straight away to leave it in the cuts and indents and finished with another coat of Resolene. That makes it all sound a lot more planned than it was! Jeeperaz: The lining leather is a small piece I got from a place that sells off cuts. I'm not sure what it would be called. The top layer has a patterning which seems to be produced by removing the top grain layer. MadMax22: The stitching is 7 SPI, I think it could acceptably be a little less but I only have a 7 stitching iron and can't at the moment afford another. Sewing the collars up is always a bit of a struggle and even one less stitch per inch would be welcome! I find the stitch groove really helps the neatness. The dog this is for is a spectacular silver brindle afghan hound, if I can get photos of him wearing it I'll post them!

Thanks for this Barra, I've been wanting to know how to do this for ages :-) I was wondering if you could use a leather dust mix as the filler for this technique? I'm keen to try making a raised dog collar. Jim: What is 'tri raised' please?

This is a collar I made recently, the design is an original based on eastern geometric patterns. The hand stitching was hard work! I'm just waiting to hear if the client is happy with it, fingers crossed.

Wildrose; It's the two that would howl in protest if they were shut out that are causing all the trouble! Same as your cats they want to be in the middle of anything that's going on. Spence; Likewise they are big enough to whisk away anything they fancy, Hobb just likes to get on the tables so she has a good view of the garden. I wouldn't trust them in there alone even for a minute - bad enough when I am there!! Hilly; Yes, they might be just a teensy bit spoilt I admit . I think I need to work harder on the exercise. Hobbit is an Afghan though and so doesn't give a dam about rules; she knows them and understands them but nothing will persuade her that they apply to her. Pharaohs more the kid that just can't help themselves. Funnily enough they are both stars in their obedience classes

How do people manage with their dogs in the workshop or am I the only one daft enough to even try it? Hobbit is a complete menace, she loves leather and takes anything she can. Sometimes she just wants my attention and so blatantly grabs something I'm using and makes a show of trotting off with it. Some bits of leather she just wants to chew ... fortunately I know basically if she isn't making her presence felt furtling around the tables then she off mauling her latest ill gotten gains. She loves standing on the tables too. Pharaoh at least attempts swapsies for anything she wants and will shove a toy or chew onto the table right in front of me, usually on top of what I'm doing, she tends not to wait for me to accept the deal but just assumes and then helps herself to whatever it is that has caught her attention. She also loves nice smells so most leather has to be rolled on or have her head/neck rubbed all over it. Polishing cloths disappear all the time to be rolled on. Dune doesn't generally bother too much but when he does you won't notice a thing until you find a piece of leather thoroughly chewed. Topaz is thankfully a complete angel! Long walks only subdue them for a while.

Thank you very much for your input guys. I've done some research and emailed Fiebings who say that I won't have fading problems with the Pro Oil dyes so I have some ordered and look forward to them arriving.

Thanks for your reply, I will get some of the Eco-Flo and give it a try. I'm wondering about trying some of the general fabric dyes that are around too as some (such as silk paints) say they are light fast. Obviously that can only be up to a point but worth trying. Hi Tim, Emailing Fiebings is a good idea! When you say that they 'wash' as lacquer is applied do you mean wash out? Thanks for your input.

I have had the cracking effect with Fiebings too.

I've found that where I have used Fiebings green dye on a couple of projects the colour has faded out really badly in use, seems to be exposure to light that does it but not excessive exposure. I've finished off with Resolene. Has anyone got any answers to this problem? Are there any green dyes that are more stable, can I finish with anything to prevent this etc. Any thoughts very much appreciated.

What exactly is a honda? Here in the UK it's slang for a cheap and nasty motorcycle LOL Looking at the pictures I'm guessing that it might be the loop in a lasso ... I'd always imagined you used some clever knot for that.

That's a superb piece of work, what a nice thing to do for her.

Hi Badger! I'm another UK'er and a fairly recent addition to the board too. There's so much inspiration on the board it's a real eye opener about what can be done with leather. What kind of thing do you fancy making?