Prusty

It’s fairly easy, you start by making the first stitch with the blue, then passing it back through the first hole making a stitch on the flesh side, trapping the red thread in the loop. Then you stitch forward again making a double stitch on the front, and from there stitch normally. Then at the end you do the the same but in reverse, so you only use the blue thread for the last stitch. May not be the clearest explanation but I hope that helps!

Welcome! Used to live in Germany for a while too, what part are you in? Those are ambitious first wallets and looking pretty good.

I made a few of these but a fair bit smaller in size just for cards a while ago, and got a request for a larger version so had a bash at doing just that. Still using some pretty fleshy 1.2mm cowhide, so the burnishing didn't go as well as I'd like, but the two-tone stitching still looks good. Adding the card pockets was easy enough, went for a thinner thread so it wouldn't show up so clearly, and actually I think I like this design a little better than the small ones. Any criticism or suggested changes would be welcome!

Just finished making these three bracelets, they’re pretty simple but a good chance for me to learn some stamping. Still not got the hang of it, especially bevelling the borders and getting enough depth for definition on the basketweave. But I can see why people like doing it. Sort of. The bracelets are two layers, a 2mm veg-tan shoulder for the tooling and a .8mm calfskin liner of the inside, glued and stitched together. Stitching straight lines is getting a bit easier, always going to need more practice there. Quite pleased with the burnishing on these. Feedback and critique is very welcome

That’s damn good looking, can’t imagine the patience it took to get through it! Very lovely. I actually did a bunch of research into this, at least for the 10th-15th centuries floral patterns, like acanthus scrolls, crop up all over the place, along with a lot of basic geometric patterns and a lot of animals. All much more basic though, and not ‘carved’ as such as there’s no cutting for the most part, just impression with blunt tools.

Photo doesn’t seem to have uploaded? And I’ve been having trouble with basketweave stamping too, Tandy have a quite good video on YouTube I found helpful.

Like the tooling! How did you get the dye streaks on the hills?

Nicely done, is that embossed leather or actual croc?

Tried out doing some simple stamping for a friends birthday gift, had a hard time keeping it all aligned properly. You can see a kind of wave through the pattern which is annoying. The stitching for the strap is also a bit iffy- finished it about 1 hour before it was gifted so it was a bit rushed! Any advice for the stamping would be really welcome. Made from 2mm veg tan, dyed with Identity Store leather stain. My partner attached the paper leafs, since I have no idea how to do that!

That’s a cute little piece! What leather did you use?

Blimey, that is a lot of detail! Really beautiful, especially that shipwreck.

Absolutely true, any craft is about failing your way to success and making whole new mistakes! Did a similar thing myself making a sword scabbard several years ago. Everything was cut out perfectly, the main scabbard part was stitched up and fit the sword perfectly, then when it came time to integrate the belt I realised the slits for the belt to pass through the scabbard were set up for a left hand carry, and I am VERY right handed. Good 8-10 hours work wasted there!

That's some really neat stitching, looks great!

Decided to take one of my old re-enactment pouch designs and shrink it down to a smaller 4-6 card wallet. It’s also the first time in a long time I’ve used fiebings oil dyes, so that’s taking some getting used to again! 1.2mm veg tan, stitched using 18/3 linen thread at 8spi. Any feedback/critique is very welcome!

Small card wallet made to look like an old airmail envelope. Had the idea for this a while back but couldn’t figure out the best way to make it until recently. Its made from one piece of 1-1.4mm veg-tan that’s been folded, glued and stitched together. The decorative stitching is 18/4 linen thread at 3.35mm stitch spacing. Bit too chunky for that spacing normally but it helps hide any offline stitch holes at least!

Leather handguard made for my local HEMA groups single-stick fighting. Single-stick fencing was used to train for Scottish broadsword and military sabre, and being in Scotland I tried to make this more like a basket-hilt in shape. Also gave it Scottish flags for a little visual flair. 3.4mm veg-tan leather with 1.2mm veg-tan edging. The main body is box-stitched under the edging(first time doing edging so pretty rough in places) with 18/4 linen thread, so there’s effectively 3 lines of stitching holding it together. There’s washers around the top and bottom holes to help keep the leather from deforming, and cutaways at the top and bottom to give the wrist room to move. Been through some fights now and still holding up! Feedback and critique really appreciated!

Only in my head I’m afraid, but it’s a fairly simple design. Two rectangles, one longer than the other, and two circular end pieces. The tooling is just whatever I can fit into the space Stitch length is 4mm, so fairly standard. Not sure of the weight conversion but it’s 1.2mm calfskin. John James no.1 needle do the job? Can’t find my ruler for some reason!

The lid is a separate piece that slides up the thonging, and is held in place by friction with a inner liner.

Set of 13th-14th century stamps finally got delivered so tested them out making a needle case. Still need to become familiar with them and how best to use them, but not bad for a first design.

Starting again after a bunch of bad health by trying to make card wallets. 1.2mm veg tan with calfskin linings, one one the right was a first pattern test and the one on the left a more finished version, but still needing some improvements. The pattern measurements work, just being let down a bit by the burnishing and stitching, having difficulty keeping the chisels in line. Also really having a hard time keeping the burnish where it bends, not sure how to stop it going rough. Any feedback/critique greatly appreciated!

That's some lovely stuff, especially for first attempts!

The dye is from The Identity Store, it's their own brand of water based stain. It doesn't penetrate through the leather really, but it does bring out some great colours, and is easy to water down to get varying shades. Used for reenactment stuff for a couple of years and grew to love it. A bit of both. Experimented a bit on these so there's a combination of hand and motor burnishing. Used a Armitage Leather spool burnisher for the flats, then sanded it down lightly with some 800 grit sandpaper, beveled the top edges and went at it with some canvas. After that applied some dye, quick polish, and a final coat of burnishing gum, although given how much this leather wants to rough up(really fleshy and soft) I may use beeswax instead next time.

Lovely looking bit of stitching there!

Trying to do modern leatherwork again to take a break from reenactment. I had the idea for these about 3 years ago, but the design wasn't all there and I didn't have the skills to make them how I wanted, so they've sat in the back of my mind for a long time! They're made of 2 layers of 'economy' 1-1.5mm veg-tan and lined with .8mm calfskin, and are stitched using 18/3 linen thread. I don't know if its the size of thread, the chisel tool, or the tool making them, but the saddle stitch isn't sitting quite how I want it, so I tried using a running stitch on the blue one. Going to have to come back to these when I have some nicer leather and tools. Any feedback and criticism is appreciated!