Handstitched

You've nailed it in one ...woo hoo thanks friend I preceded the words French Cleats with ' metal' . HS

G'Day, I'd like to make a custom detachable extension for my sewing machine table to accommodate large or long items . But for the life of me I can't seem to find the joiners I need, or what they're called. Forgive the very poor drawing , the bottom part is all wrong, I know , but the top part will give you an idea of what it is I'm looking for. Just two simple pieces that slot into each other . Some on here may have used them to make extensions to round arm sewing machines Thanks for your help HS *this may even go in the sewing machines thread

Man, that looks so much fun !! << pardon the pun HS

I've always favoured the threaded needle, but others may say the opposite HS

Howdy hope your New Year went well . I just put the barby on with a few snags ( sausages) and some steaks , and I made a nice ham , pineapple & pasta salad , quite tasty , all washed down with a nice sav blanc ...and some champers later HS

Yep, same here, ' double cordovan ' or double loop Try practicing the triple cordovan Quite a nice braid . HS

G'day G'Day G'day to one and all . Oz is about to celebrate the New Year 'down here' , the drinks snacks and nibblys are at the ready , including the champers I've already been busy getting my workshop tidied up and vacuumed for the new year , rearrange a few bits and bobs , put up some shelves.woo hoo ..etc Have a Safe and Happy and Brighter New Year Peace HS

A few eons ago, I was at a mates place enjoying a few drinks etc. His wife was having a little difficulty with their young child, about 1-2 yo, crying screaming etc. he was teething, poor 'lil mite, all parents have been there no doubt, all the usual remedies didn't work . So I dipped his dummy into my Guiness and stuck it in his mouth..... ....shut 'im up for hours So not relevant or on topic....just saying HS

I normally get my leather from a regular supplier 2-3 hrs away in Perth , ( Western Australia) but I keep seeing vt leather sides on ebay from a tannery in the east of Oz a lot cheaper than what I was paying.But had a gut feeling , like a ' too good to be true' feeling. So, my curiosity got the better of me. I bought some . It was crap !!!!!!!! Uneven thickness, wasn't tanned properly , the colour wasn't like the normal vt pinky, flesh colour, it was more like a light olive wouldn't tool properly , like tooling rubber, as for dying...well, I've never seen leather 'drink' so much dye . It was like dying a sponge . I didn't waste it, I used for odd jobs occasionally , but with a lot of oil, but once its gone, its gone ..never again! Lesson learnt. Go with your gut feeling HS

Really nice work When I do 'stuff' , gilt/brass & chrome/nic hardware go together , including the snaps , but thats just me . HS

Did a nice job on the case HS

Not knowing where you are or availability . you could try VT kangaroo leather , available in Australia . HS

I am very late to this chat, but I can say for certain that roo hides are around 0.8 - 1mm thickness. I have quite a lot of them . Not sure where you get roo hides where you are though I get mine from Queensland Australia . HS

I have a 441 clone , like the Cobra Class 4 . I use it mainly for heavy leather .For thinner leather items like wallets etc. I use a Pfaff 60 , I also use a Seiko STW mainly for horse rugs & canvas, but also medium leathers . I find it better to have more than one machine than to keep reconfiguring the ' big' machine each time.Saves a lot of down time . Each machine is ' set' , just turn on and use it Like KGG said, no machine will do everything , I wish . HS

I keep seeing in the news the extreme cold weather that parts of the US is experiencing . We too are experiencing some serious weather, extreme heat. Its a case of " one spark and we're f***ked ". Its a lot different to a few months ago . How quick it changes. Just stay safe eh over Christmas ??? My respects to Mother Nature @tsunkasapa Nice dog LOL HS

Wanna swap?? ...mmmmnah !! 42C atm, thats about 107 F, harvest bans will be in place about now too , and no machinery movements , and bush fires all over the place, it ain't nice. Stay safe peeps HS

'Tis the season to be drinking' Well it is here in Oz , damn hot now. Already 38+ degs ( over 100) Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Christmas and a Happy Leather Crafting New Year . May all your leather crafting dreams come true HS

Thats a great idea, and put a recipe on the back, ...just kidding . How much scrap leather ( aka money) do we all have ?? HS

I'm sure you can come up with a creative solution, even for a childs belt...with a ' mistook' . Croc leather piece, or coloured leather, or whatever you have in stock, be creative . Or, cut it into 3 pieces, put ' D' rings between each piece and a buckle at one end and a billet at the other , that extends the length . I make 3 piece belts all the time to use up sizable off cuts. I tool them or put studs etc. on them , I can really go a bit silly and have fun on some off cuts . They sell ' Mistooks' help concentrate the mind IMO HS

Yeh, amazing things eh ? ...books I have a possible solution. see pic. Underneath the tooled leather piece is a ' mistook' , so using my creativity, and not wanting to waste a belt, thats what I did . Tooled, dyed and sewed a piece over the ' mistook' . Didn't take long to sell either , and I charged a bit for it to make up for the ' mistook' . Just a thought I have done that a few times to cover up stuff up's . HS

@Klara The customer picked his belts up finally , with correct sizing, but get this, he told me he once did leather work himself as a trade in his earlier days, traveling around various venues selling his wares,so I would have thought he would have known how to measure a belt. ( he's a pest control operator now ) So, I'm guessing he was measuring his belts incorrectly the whole time he was making leather goods ...wha....?? I now feel a sense of ' vindication ' HS

Looks just fine to me I've been wanting to have a ' makers mark' stamp made for sometime , about time I did. I think its the cost that puts me off having one. I don't have a mark of any kind atm. HS

' a breakfast of champions ' Hope theres a beer or two to wash it down ? I did do a champagne breakfast once, first time I ever got drunk ...in the morning. Did our very last event of the year yesterday .. body aches now , .. takeaway, champers to celebrate....boots off..socks off ( steam...smelly lol ) . Time to relax Got my last Christmas order made today.... workshop now closed ...sleep in tomorrow ..woo hoo !!! HS

I have a bottle of champers in the fridge for our last event of the year and I ain't cooking....nup ......takeaway . So tired now . I have one more ' Christmas present ' to make ...and thats it...woo hoo !! We do anywhere around 60 to 70 events per year *sigh* ( with the exception of covid) . WOW!! 6 inches of snow!!! .....and heres me cooking up some BBQ honey pork ribs on the barby yesterday, I used a sun umbrella to cover me from the sun on a warm Summers day. Quite a contrast eh ? Stay safe friend during the cooler months HS

G'Day, This my latest effort. Its for a client. Theres a board game inside. The board is soft/flexible with components & instructions rolled up inside a custom made 'velveteen draw sting bag' . The leather is 3-3.2 mm veg tan, dyed with a whisky antique , and all hand stitched ( complete with sore fingers & hands lol ) and with solid brass hardware. I very rarely make ' round ' stuff, but this turned out alright . I modified an awl. I still need practice using curved needles , my ( sore) fingers just couldn't hold them, I went with straight needles in the end. I also need a bit more practice sewing ' round' things' . I got this done just in time for Christmas. * the blue "thing" in the background is a modified canopy for a boat....but thats another story...' again... just in time for Christmas '* HS