monicaj

Vinegroon... I'll research it. Thanks.

Much thanks wlg! I'll definitely try it out.

Thank you Jen! Sorry I'm responding back so late. I've been getting ready to move and I haven't been focusing on doing leather stuff and I haven't been on this site for awhile.

Thanks!

That's pretty awesome... I want to be living off grid sometime in the next couple years (NOT in FLORIDA) so I was wondering how to fight humidity using battery power or no power. I figure in the winter it would be easier because I'd be using wood heat and that dries the air, but I was trying to mastermind what to do in the summer... It would seem like I could get an old chest freezer and convert it... use either a battery operated dehumidifier or try the silicone beads?

Ahhhhh!! Thank you!! This is extremely helpful. I took everything out of the bags and bins and hung them (in a pantry) so they wouldn't be rubbing against each other. Figured I could just put a covering loosely across the top to keep dust from settling on things, but still wasn't comfortable about the humidity. And now to find out that it can spread... ugh. So I feel a big relief knowing about a humidity sensor. I so much appreciate you sharing this information with me! Thanks! (I'm going to take things to a craft show, but I don't know when I'll go or how much I need, so I have to stock up. I think I'll end up doing the vault thing just to be 100% sure things are safe.)

Thank you guys both for your answers. I'm going to get them out of bags and rig up something different for them. Thanks again!

I feel stupid asking this because I'm probably being OCD... but I'm wondering how humidity can affect leather things you've made. I'm putting my stuff in bins in baggies, but wondered, could mold and mildew grow on the leather inside the bag? Even though the bags aren't sealed it seems like they aren't getting a lot of air and with leather having moisture in it....

If I use thinned resolene, and then lightly sanded to make it softer, would the sanding compromise the seal of the resolene? For some reason I thought that if it didn't have a lining or wasn't colored, then it was drastically unprofessional. So I'm super glad to hear that I can leave the backside bare aside from using some kind of protectant. Humanity feature... I decided to make a dear friend a surprise photo album, but I was having a real off day and ended up creating too many 'humanity features'. So I cut out more leather and started again... and dang if I didn't do the same mistakes (stamping letters backwards, upside down, etc). At that point I just decided to finish them both and send them, mistakes and all. She's actually the kind that would find humanity features enduring. So it was a win win. I'm still learning about the leather itself. I just found out that it seems like the shoulder part is easier to cut and work with than the scrap pieces that Tandy sells for $25 (I think it's the belly, not sure). But next time I go get some I'm going to look at the backside, because I'm just realizing how 'unstable' the leather is when the back is really hairy, like the fibers are real loose... seems more stretchy and less solid. Mushy like. How does this look? Is the leather quality good, and are my edges getting close to what they should be? (this is still black dye though... I ordered some edge kote and some paint to try out, waiting on it.)

Thank you. I will.

Robs456, I hope whenever I start to line my backs that they look as nice as yours. And thanks for letting me know your steps when you dye the backs. I'm going to try to just keep the backs clean but it would probably be a good idea to practice a few dyed backs just to know how.

Getting sparkles out of shag carpet... lol great analogy.

TinkerTailor, thanks for the wealth of info. I'm really glad it's ok to leave the backs un-dyed. And I'm glad too for the info on the oil, I have wanted my leather stuff to be softer but thought putting oil on afterward would make them lose shape. I'll definitely start with a minimal amount of oil so I don't overload it. I'll give edge paint a try LatigoAmigo, thank you. It will be a lot less worrisome, to just work on making the edges nice and keeping the back clean. Relief...

I couldn't resist trying to figure this out... Could be something like this? Maybe where it folds (the big part, not the part on the ring), use a V gouger? Just saw that my post is redundant... Northmount already went where I went only he did it better.

Sorry for pic quality... stupid cheap phone... You can't tell it much but I'm so worried about bleeding, I used Angelus satin finisher around the edges where the black is, but it made it look a little sloppier because it discolored it... maybe I should have just used it over the whole back. Worried that it'll be harder to get the leather wet for adding some shape. The last thing I do to everything is wet it and shape it... it makes the bracelets the bracelets easier to try on when it's roundy rather than straight as a board. Thought about going the other direction and seeing if I can make things really soft and pliable with maybe pure neatsfoot oil. Would that be better than giving them shape??? And thanks in advance! I really appreciate the help!