Handstitched

I'm a bit late here. I used to approach basket weave with trepidation , but I am getting more confident these days. Great job on that. However, I have yet to master ' tri-weave' . I should really do more projects leaving the leather natural , that looks great HS

That bag was built to last a lifetime , well done . Not long finished a bag myself, that I nick named ' a forever bag' cos it took forever to make. HS

I can do upholstery, but I never call myself an ' upholsterer ' . When I did my first upholstery job, it was a daunting prospect as I haven't done it before at the time , plus the customer wanted his MC seat pleated , yikes !! . But, like everything I have done in leather etc. , I figured things out for myself ( with a bit of help from Mum on this occasion ) , Dad was an upholsterer by trade in his day, but I wanted to figure things out myself, not to get an endless historical " back in my day" lesson from Dad, God bless him , but I did show him the end result. But now, I have done many seats, repairs etc., I can say I'm getting better at it. But I only take on the jobs that I'm confident in doing. So @Frodo, hopefully, the more you do it the more enjoyable it becomes and it may become another skill or another ' notch' on your belt . And, I take 'before & after pics , they're like a confidence boost , for me anyway. I still take on other jobs that I hate, but as you say, they pay the bills HS

Next time I make some up , more likely during the week, I'll cook a few and I'll take a pic . HS

same here Quite often , people would give me old tack, and I also used to attend horse auctions, for the old saddlery, tack , rugs etc. . A lot is used as a ' rustic ' display in my workshop, but I sometimes need the occasional buckle for repairs etc. The old hardware does come in handy . It can also be a trip down ' history lane' . HS

I'm all in favour or re-purposing stuff ( or "free purposing" ) , but I've had my ' ye-olde' microwave since 1995-96. But I'm one of the very few that knows how to fix some stuff, rather than throw out stuff. A fuse went inside, , fixed that, the ' magnatron*' failed, fixed that ( *sounds like something out of Dr Who or Star Trek) . To this day, and while it looks a bit shabby, it still works, touch wood, it cooks food. HS

There are some good qualified registered breeders, but the RSPCA are really trying to crack down on dodgy breeders and ' puppy farms' here in Oz . So many have been caught out , and the penalties have increased. HS

Back to food Just made my very first batch of sausage rolls for Christmas, another Aussie staple ( apart from meat pies....for breakfast ). Not sure if they are that common over there ? I get the sausage meat and the puff pastry and make em up , simple . I freeze them raw, and they are a quick snack or a quick meal to cook up at Christmas . My Mother would normally make them by the dozen . I watched Her make them every Christmas since I was a kid, that and (fruit) mince pies , now its my turn . Mine won't be as good as her's though . Got a few ' samples' in the oven as I type, of course. I'll make another batch next weekend. God Bless Mum for teaching me how to cook HS (Update: they tasted damn good )

I actually googled that, all I got was biscuits ( cookies) and shoes . It looks very thin almost looks like Ostrich . HS

I'm guessing that these are a hit and soon to have the word ' hot' next to the thread heading I have a lot of spare magnets that I could use. These would also make great Christmas gifts. HS

Now we have a clearer idea of what the machine may be , which does help. It may be easier to remove the shuttle to adjust the the tension . From experience,( on my Seiko) its a little awkward to adjust it while its still in the machine, but it can be done. I have had thread break on the thread guide #15 . HS

The word "simple" doesn't quite come into it. Thats taken some thought Now imagine the weave in two different colours? HS

What a brilliant idea Never seen those before. Is it OK if I tried a few of those? Its a great way to use up scraps, that we all have so much of. HS

Yup, bottom tension looks loose. And also sounds like your thread is catching on something for it to break ? HS

Another beautiful example of Mother Nature doing Her 'dang thang' While getting my car serviced today ( in another town) , I sat in the park, relaxing...woo hoo, quite rare that , Mud Larks were all over the place . These birds are quite special because , according to Wiki: "Magpie-larks (aka Mud Larks ) are one of the 200-odd species of bird around the world that are known to sing in duet; each partner producing about one note a second, but a half-second apart, so that humans find it difficult to tell that there are actually two birds singing, not one. " These birds were right in front of me. One would start singing, and another would start, but in two different tones , but then a few more might join in from the other side of the park . But when they sing, they spread their wings out , in some sort of territorial defense . I sat there for ages watching these birds, it was quite entertaining. HS

Try this: HS

Yeh, I know, my bad. I've made some fine stuff ups with basket weave myself. The 'tri-weave' was my worse ever stuff up. HS

Confirmed A case of beer and box of fried chicken did it for me once upon a time . What I '"gave birth" to the next day will only get deleted , lol and never have a beer straight after using mouth wash Meanwhile, back at the Fiebings sea....er... resole....er.. mop n glo....that shiny stuff HS

Yey for basket weave !!! A challenging but rewarding pattern to do . I've just did a BW on a small handbag and put a small cammo + tiny seeder around the border of the BW. I can't even show you cos I sold it at the weekend. Love the colour Well done HS

Orange marmalade is pretty good....on toast lol HS

Is "it" 'Nice 'N' Shiny ?? You wouldn't want to get the two mixed up , "one" is nice and shiny, while the floor is nice and slippery ... o'h ...wha..?? O'h F*&^ck !!!!!! , ' should have gone to ' Specsavers ' HS

So love that Well done .

Bingo !!!!!!!!!!! Great minds think alike. I think this thread has done its dash now HS

@chuck123wapati Here ya go Chuck, sticking to the ' good food' , now this is a "shrimp" . Just bagging up some meat for the freezer after shopping Thursday , I bought some West Aussie prawns for Christmas. Dad doesn't eat prawns .....so more for me . I had to sample a couple , of course, taste damn good HS

Its those little ' quirks' in Nature that we notice and love . On the rarest occasion, a bird came and sat on my shoulder , only for about 5 seconds , must have suddenly realised I'm not a tree , lol , but I quite enjoyed it . HS