Handstitched

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

@chuck123wapati just popped my head in to say ' G'day' . Mother Nature has been kind..for now. Its been quite mild , not too hot-ish Is there a phenomena, scientific or otherwise , that causes people to place orders at the last minute at Christmas ? Thats all I've been doing these last few weeks . Just when I think I'm all caught up, the phone goes, and someone needs something made ' as a Christmas gift' . One was a doozy, all hand stitched , my hands are so sore atm . One more market to go this weekend.....and its Hope things are looking good in your part of the universe ...and no more trees through windows eh ?? HS

Thats a great idea. Theres often times when my regular anvils just don't work . I have a ....thingy? not sure what its called actually , but I think it was used a by a smithy that I use. It has a square post that fits into a full size smithy anvil ? Old shoe lasts are handy too. Is that for a loader for a hand gun ? HS

OMG !! I wouldn't have the confidence to do what you have done , just looks great I've worked on old tractors, old landrovers and an old triumph and made them go again,, but not old sewing machines. I think I would have trouble re-setting the timing, but I will be paying attention on here on how you do it. I've always been fascinated by peeps on here doing full restores on old machines. Still reckon the deer emblem will look good in gold against the black, but thats just me, ... or is it ?? Well done HS