Handstitched

I think it has a lot to do with the pollination . Flowering Almonds only produce flowers, like ours have done since we've had it. But now, nuts have appeared . Thank you Mother Nature Look forward to eating some fresh Almonds now Our Christmas will be different this year. I've got some Turkey drumsticks for Christmas Day for me and Dad, with a small ham etc. cook em slow in the oven, and Turkey wings & salad for Boxing Day , and a Christmas pudding, of course . Our climates are complete opposites , thats why I so love the changing of the seasons on both sides of the planet . Awesome pics too HS

Howdy doody friend from a very hot Western Australia Harvesters across the district have been busy before a harvest ban is in place , its been that hot. Not long ago that I was talking about the cooler weather, remember that? . My deepest respect to Mother Nature What do you know about Almond trees? ( we pronounce it ' Armond' delete the ' L' ,, like I said, us Aussies are weird, lol ) Anyway, we have a Flowering Almond tree in the back garden, only around 6-7 ' tall, and in all the 10-15 years we've had it, its only ever produced really nice pink flowers and thats it. Almonds are very heat and drought tolerant here in Oz thats why Mum got it . However , this year I have noticed ( just this arvo) that its started to produce Almond nuts . According some research, for a flowering Almond to produce( fruit) nuts, it needs to be ' cross pollinated' , and some varieties are ' self pollinating (wha..?) ' and they also rely heavily on our best friends the bees for pollination . Ever heard of flowering Almond trees producing nuts? This tree has changed , not complaining, I love Almonds, so hopefully by Christmas or the New Year I'll have Almonds to eat So I'm guessing Mother Nature has done me a favor . I'll keep searching HS

I have never used linen thread, but thats is something new I have learnt today HS

Man, they are so nicely done That will bring joy to those that receive them HS

Thats a massive difference in price @Frodo , good thinking . The closest I've got is making a wood mold from a tracing of an actual original . However, if I went into a bank with that, I'd be arrested, LOL . Might come in handy at the meat section at the local supermarket though , the price of meat has gone stupid !! HS

Yeh man, I have 4 machines all up, , including " Brutus" my 441 clone . I get all my threads needles etc. from ' Sewing Machines Australia', they are in QLD , on line, but you can chat and order with them over the phone , and they are quite helpful . Not too many industrial machine suppliers in Perth, and what is available in Perth are not as good and not as helpful ,according to those that have tried ' other' suppliers. HS

Mmmmmnah! Neither would I TBH . I had to remake some "leather" belts that were marketed and sold by a large Oz company as ' vegan leather' , needless to say they fell apart , and the majority of the material was synthetic . The customer wanted me to reuse the twin prong buckles . I remade them with actual leather . Customer was happy . There is a company in the lower south of West Oz that specialises in fish skin leather, damn fine products too , long lasting and durable . I also have some fish skin leather in my collection of 'stuff'. I've always had a saying , if it breeds and bleeds you can turn it into leather Man, thats just beautiful, so serene *sigh* HS

If you're uncertain about the belts, perhaps they can be replaced with the proper belts , as it sounds like they were replaced at some point (?) , I have to wonder why if that is the case. Otherwise, if everything is moving freely and the hook is working fine , they may be worth getting, just a good clean and service and some TLC. Good luck in whatever you decide HS

Likewise. They paid a fortune on feed , but rarely spent time with them . Puzzled by that. Perhaps people get a horse because they have ' grandiose' ideas of riding, or breeding them and later lose interest, who knows, ...dunno. My apologies to @Teddyi for hijacking her thread HS

Also , if you need to case (dampen) the leather, the water may not soak in , depending on how it was treated or if it has a sealer on top. HS

G'Day, welcome I'm from WA as well, Central Wheatbelt. That machine looks like it just needs some TLC . HS

So I guess the last person you'd want to have along with a date, is the Pope, lol HS

Its extremely late to answer this, but I would have thought Al Stohlman covered absolutely everything and every style of leather crafting , embossing/stamping, carving stitching using dyes , paints etc , too much to list, from beginners to advanced. But could you be more specific? HS

Timing and tension came to mind first . @Wizcrafts may be able to help, as a well as a few pics to pin point the problem HS

You just 'broke the internet', as the expression goes , I like to think so anyway And besides, cows are vegan, they eat grass, hay, grain etc. , I don't ever recall a herd of cattle sitting down to a Lamb or Pork roast with a nice chardonnay , picture that Although, they do 'drink' ( eat ?) beer, silage and grain from breweries. HS

Likewise. I like to make the cases so its easy for the phone to slide in and out easy and so it doesn't interfere with controls on the side . Rather be a little bit loose than too tight. HS

Get dimensions of phone, make a wood mold, simple. Or, if it one of those thin things that break easy, , perhaps one or two pieces of leather thick enough to match dimensions will do the same . I've been making phone & knife templates for years. I have a whole box of them now. HS

I recently worked with vinyl, does that count ?

I am not an upholsterer , only know from trial & error. Is there any piping involved? If so, you may need a piping foot on your machine, it helps . I used the old pieces from swabs/seats as templates, and allowed enough for seams etc. The springs have to be free from rust, and not broken. They also need to be tied together in a certain way so that they don't move around . A good source of info is ' good 'ol Uncle Youtoob ' HS

I just knew I should have got the popcorn out After reading that, you're probably right , lol Some animals still need to be cared for, whether they get eaten or not, especially sheep , common breeds need to be shorn . I've seen sheep that have been left behind, the fleece is so over grown they cant see out, and so heavy they can hardly walk. ( google ' shrek the sheep ' ) Thats going to stick with me now HS

Fungi ? Whats his name ? lol, sorry its late , almost my bed time. Shhhhh... just don't tell the vegans So love to try an Elk steak with mushrooms and onions on the barby , with a nice red wine HS

They look great Brass and leather go so well together . Thats a mess?? not on my bench, thats neat & tidy for me. HS

Now theres a bit of irony. I wonder how much land has been cleared and how many trees had to be removed or destroyed in the process to grow the fruit & vegies in the first place , and to build the factories to process & package the fruit & vegies ? Shall I get the popcorn out?? , lol HS

Yup, 'leather' crossed with ' vegan ' = " Leagan" ...wha...?? lol Theres a UK TV series called " Worst Jobs in History" hosted by Tony Robinson that shows how soap was made in the early days, animal fat mixed with lye , quite fascinating . It didn't lather like modern soaps, but it did the job . These days, soaps are made with so many chemicals with names I can't pronounce . HS

https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/101110-spring-flowers-and-good-food/page/12/?tab=comments#comment-723526 "But no part of the sheep was wasted,everything was used. " I recently used some ' blood 'n' bone' ( fertiliser) in the garden , that came from an abattoir . Just sayin' HS