Handstitched

@Mablung former, akubra, newbie, again, statesman. My very first hat was a statesman and is now a museum piece on display in my workshop. My next pair of work boots will from an Aussie company, also not owned by a mining squillionare HS

@chuck123wapati well done and well deserved . They look so good and will polish up nicely. There are times when we just love to treat ourselves. I'm contemplating buying a new( stetson style)hat for myself for Christmas. The brand/ company i would normally buy from has now been bought out by a mining squillionare . They can go and jump. So I'm going to support another Aussie made company instead, not owned by a mining company, a bit pricey, but so what ! My current hat is around 10 years old, stained badly, smells. and worn out and has holes in it and was a prezzy from a former flame and not a good look at the markets. Time for a change 👍 Enjoy your new boots 👢 👍 HS

I have never seen a raccoon break into a bottle shop ( liquor store) in Virginia, get absolutely sh*t faced and pass out on the toilet floor, and wake up with a massive hangover . I wonder if he had a kebab ? He might need rehab. HS

I have a Pfaff 60 that I use for thin leather, wallets etc. It was my late mother's machine that she made or repaired our clothes on. But some more info would be good 👍 HS

When I need to apply contact adhesive with precision, I use cotton ear buds, ( or Q tips) single use, and you might use a few, but are cheap as . It might be a bit fiddly but it saves cleaning up after. Hope that helps. HS

@AlZilla a bit like ' where does the chicken come from' .......sorry, couldn't help myself but would be so handy not to keep refilling bobbins on long runs, like shade sails, horse rugs, etc. I just pre-load 2 -3 bobbins before I start to save time. HS

@Dwight that's exactly what I do, I wear my wares. I have 3 belts with different designs that I wear regularly. My flip phone case is quite a fancy hand laced and hand stitched one with a fancy concho , and yes , I keep some business cards in my wallet. At the markets I have a few folders with heaps of pics of what I have made, and custom work I have done and place them on my table for people to browse through. Word of mouth has worked better than paid advertising , as for face book etc. , my customers do that for me Great minds think alike HS

In my lil' local country town, I just did some basic market research. I simply talked to people, and when I told them I'm getting into leather, the common response was " we can't get a decent belt , or a knife case" . So thats pretty much where it all started....20 years later.... I just made what appealed to the local market. What you may be referring to may not be as simple as that HS

@TomE that's pretty much what I do, leave a wider margin around the edge. The excess gets sanded away and neatened up. All looks quite neat when finished. 👍 HS

All of the cases i make have a bit of excess around the edge just wide enough for the (441 clone) machine to sew without changing the foot. Once sewn, i sand the excess off,then edge dye, burnish, etc HS

@fredk they look quite good 👍 my late mother made some of those but in felt of different colours with a little mouse sitting inside the boot, so cute . I still hang them on the tree every year. HS

This reminds me of a song here in Oz by Paul Kelly , " I've done all the dumb things" . and so have I . Not putting belt loops on a case , only realising AFTER I've assembled it , and lots of other pre-assemble mistooks and silly injuries HS

I'm using a hand held gizmo, and seems to load quite well, here in west ' upsidedown' land , Western Australia 🇦🇺 HS

@chuck123wapati as i am typing, I can see and hear a combine harvesting canola on the other side of my neighbours property. The whine of the turbo is quite audible its a ' New Holland ' I think . They've just turned the massive spot lights on, it's getting dark now. There's already been a few B double semis full of canola drive past my house . Quite a sight to see at this time of year The harvesting wont be finished until later tonight. Needless to say, I only use canola oil in all of my cooking 👍 HS

The one in our local museum may be a ' Junker Ruh' SD 28, not a Pedersen. Good luck in your search HS

@Westaussie There's someone on here that was asking about parts for one of those. The name is @Calidora just wondering if they were successful in obtaining parts? or the only other place i can think of is ' good ol ebay ' i'm in the central wheatbelt, WA . I think There's one of those machines in our local museum. Not too many West Aussies come on here, welcome HS

That's identical to my Seiko stw 28b , which is a twin needle machine, but I only use it as a single needle machine. Mine was under a tarp on a verandah for quite a while and a bit exposed to the elements, I just oiled everything up and turned it gently by hand before I started it up, i had to fiddle around for a while, it needed a few adjustments, but works fine now. I can't find a manual for mine either. So I use a manual for a consew machine only as a guide. Good luck 👍 HS

I am intrigued 🤔. This is something I have never heard of. So,the pieces are too small to make into other small saleable items ? Like using wood dust or wood particles i guess .So you use a binder like in particle board or chip board? HS

Calvin & Hobbes in today's paper: 'Mum and dad quietly sitting and reading in front of the open fire . Calvin, getting ready to chuck a snowball: " Incredibly, people NEVER expect to get hit with a snowball IN the house " Hobbes, casually walking away : " I'll see you in your room momentarily " . That's the sort of thing I would have done when I was a kid,if only we had snow. That had me in stitches! Incredibly, 4th year students on the 3rd floor of my high school doing their exams would never expect to get splattered with a rotten tomato . It wasn't me, honest, it was a naughty fellow student. Instead of the tomato going IN the window, it caught the edge of the frame , spraying the students. We got busted big time ! ! HS

Well there's a something we don't have, leather trade shows, at least in my state. HS

My sander has both belt and round sanders. I use the round sander mostly. Also does your sander have an attachment for a dust extractor? I just use an old vacuum cleaner, with a few mods to make the pipe fit, but it doesnt draw all that well but it does the job. I also wear a dust mask 😷 HS

I would approach that with extreme caution ⚠️ PTO's can be dangerous. I have 3 vintage tractors,2 with pto pulleys ( and hard metal seats, and i end up with sore back and a sore a...se) Perhaps leave it well alone if it's still in tact and functional? But all the very best with the restoration , you're preserving history👍 HS

@chuck123wapati ive kept up on my basil and oregano, and my parsley has gone ' kapoof' almost two feet high. I also planted some capsicums, both red and green , something I use a lot of in cooking. Dam catapillers keep eating my mint, not happy. Just made a heap of sausage rolls, and curry sumosas , some for dinner tonight and the rest get frozen. I can get sausage meat from our supermarket. God bless mum for teaching me how to cook Your ' burb looks quite at home in that picture. HS

I used to sell heaps of those on my stall, in 3 different sizes, they were very popular . That and many other 'western themed 'products . I won't name the company that I bought from, but it was in Pennsylvania . I even bought one for my mother . But economics have changed and I no longer buy them. HS

They look incredibly tasty 😋 they'll go well with a nice red, or in this case, champers . And happy anniversary 🎉 I have never tried tanning my own leather. Mum did try doing a sheep skin many years ago, but that was messy. HS