Handstitched

I agree, I'm starting to lose my grip. @Klara"I have never felt any need to somehow fasten the needles to the stitching pony" . I just use myself as a pin cushion, I stick the needles into my T shirt , ...I may feel a bit of a prick ...nothing new. HS

Yep, same here. My machine is 55 years old, has a few scratches etc. similar to the singer , but not enough to warrant a re-paint. The only thing I did to it was clean & service it, oil it etc. paint the logo, and cleaned up the brass plate and clean up the shiny bits HS

Bet that was awkward? The scar on my thumb is faintly visible, even after all these years. HS

G'Day, @IslandMoose I love it the way it is , looks great, lovely patina I'd be just giving it some much needed TLC , and thats it. HS

@Klara My wood working skills are , well...... crap. In woodworking class in high school way back when I was a wee lad, I nearly cut my thumb off. I think the universe was trying to tell me something @fredk The top one is like my ponies that I still use. I have 3 sizes with different size jaws. One I bought when I started leather, the others I made with a few off cuts of wood. HS

It did take some getting use to, but I use it a lot mainly on large or awkward stitching jobs. I got it at a farm clearing auction /sale not far from me ,( love those) . I'd like to make a slotted block/foot thingy for the narrow bit down the bottom to sit in as it does slide about sometimes, apart from that , it works fine. I gave it a good clean up as it was covered in a gazillion years of gunk @plinkercases thats a great example . I hear ya about the thread getting caught. Thats one good thing about my saddlers clamp, the thread doesn't get caught.

I have a ' traditional' saddlers clamp about gazillion years old, , plus a few small home made ponies , but nothing as fancy as yours , just the regular ' T' shaped jobs, with a bolt & wing nut, but they all do the job just fine. . I just put a few pieces of scrap split pieces on the jaws. But I really must change them every so often as they do get a bit dirty over time, wax etc. don't want that spoiling anything. But I do love the fine examples shown on here, I quite like them HS

I've been saving my old credit cards, old drivers licences etc. they make good templates. I also have piece of ' credit card shaped' perspex with a handle, approx 3-4mm thick, that I use 'open up' the slots straight after I have finished making a wallet etc. The cards slip in just perfectly Just a thought . HS * "There's probably more science supporting wearing garlic....." Eat enough garlic, people stay well away from you, good for social distancing I thought.........pickled chili's are worse

No, not at all. Every day is a new day to learn something new , and age is no barrier I think we'd love to see your work in the future. Its a long story , but I'll keep it short. I'm in my mid 50's now, and I started leather a bit over 16 years ago. Work was a bit thin where I live in the Central Wheatbelt Western Australia, I had a few odd jobs, but I ended up working as a 'rousy in a shearing shed. The long days and lots of heavy work with sheep ........and a painful hospital operation, took its toll physically . So I tried my hand at leather. Never looked back. I've learnt so much , and I'm still learning. I wish you the very best HS

@Constabulary I've got it sussed, have a look . Using some scrap upholstery leather, I managed to sew a ' simulated' piping ( nylon cord) , and you can see the clearance of the presser foot in the 2nd pic . Learn something new every day. I'll be using 3-4 mm piping. My Pfaff 60 was able to sew 4 layers , but it struggled a tiny bit, 2 layers sews just fine, and it's a LH zipper foot I have, not a RH. It may have been " passable" . I still have the original twin needle feet. O'h well , fingers crossed. HS

@FirebrandPaul I have purchased leather from ebay ( Australia ) once before . I had been curious about this particular company in the east for some time. The only way to satisfy my curiosity was to buy a side, only to be very disappointed. While it was the 4mm thickness as advertised,a good size, length , natural , "veg tan" , but it wasn't what I expected. The colour wasn't right, more like a ' dull light olive...ish' . I cut some belt lengths, that was sort of ok. As for dying, well, OMG !! , you've seen water soak quickly into the sand at the beach before your eyes, , it was exactly the same as that. I ended up using 2-3 times as much dye . 'Curiosity killed the cat', as the saying goes. I used what I could, but never again. Theres a saying here in Oz, " no point in complaining, 'cos no bugger listens" I'll stick to my regular supplier, where I can pick and choose my leather , they look after me, its a long 2-3 hr drive, but worth it. HS

@Spyros I got the Rockwell this morning. Off to have a 'play' soon HS

Update: The piping foot set for my machine wont fit. Got a reply from Sewing Machines Australia ( Queensland) "The compound feed piping foot set is not suitable for your twin needle machine due to the offset on both needles regardless of only one needle in use. There is not a piping foot available for your twin needle machine either. If you wanted to use this piping foot set, you would need a single needle machine. " Bugger !!! I'm not buying a single needle machine just for one job. Glad I didn't just buy the foot set . Starting to see the disadvantage of having a twin needle machine . Where to from here ? I'll just stare at my machine for about an hour or so until I get a ' light bulb' moment One thing I do have , is a Pfaff 60 , with a zipper foot ( RH half foot) that has sewn upholstery leather before, but not sure about 4 layers though. . The test laboratory is open Watch this space I guess...perhaps for expletives ? HS

G'Day and thanks for the replies. @oztraveller & @chrisash SMA have been my go dealer for many years, always helpful, and where I get my thread too, but I hear ya about the price. It really needs to fit, bolt straight on, , and I don't want to fiddle about making any mods. This machine has been brilliant, ( touch wood) and I don't want to stuff it up. And I just want to bolt the original feet straight back on when I've finished the job. HS

G'Day , I am soon to recover some leather cushions, with piping. I have done re-covers, upholstery, repairs etc. before, but not with piping. After a quick search, I found a piping feet set, but just need to find out from the more experienced on here, if they they will fit my Seiko STW 28 B ? ( I only use it as a single needle, in case you're wondering ) https://www.sewingmachinesaustralia.com.au/shop/buy-accessories/presser-foot-set/piping-feet/compound-feed-walking-foot-piping-foot-sets.html This is my regular supplier of sewing machine stuff . It does mention 226R . I often use a 226 manual as a reference as I can never find STW 28 B manual. Alternatively , I could just get a right hand presser foot. Thanks, HS

@knivesarequiet welcome to the forum .........and to the world of leather HS

Yep, the last time I saw a stitch like that was on a bag of chook food, except, I can never get the damn thing to do just that...'unzip' , I always cut the wrong end HS

G'Day , I once used just oil based dyes on belts etc. in my early days but ran into problems. But the leather I was having some serious issues with is some chrome tanned 5 - 5.5mm buffalo hide that was on 'special' . I bought about 6 small sides, but little did I know that it wasn't sealed properly, or just simply wasn't finished properly, which is maybe why they were so cheap. . So every time I made a belt or a dog collar, the dye kept coming out, even after so many coats of my regular sealer. I even had to give a refund to one customer because the dye came out onto his dogs neck...OOPS !!! Awkies Where to from there? my efforts to get a variant of Neat-lac failed, so I experimented , I tried a water based varnish. It worked. I have yet to try @fredk 's idea of using Mop N Glo. Sometimes we have to think outside the 'leather square' . But I now use ' Seal & Shine' on all of my veg tan leather projects after dying , belts, knife cases etc. HS

You don't necessarily have to buy new everything, I didn't . I also utilised whatever I had lying around. I looked in $2 buck shops, discount shops etc. Anything that I could use and to save money. Coins & basically anything that has a round shape, do make good templates. I've used the wood curved part of a beveller handle as a slicker ( still do sometimes ) .I used an off cut of timber as a sanding block. Scratch awl, a sharpened long nail,or an off cut of thin metal sharpened to a point? Cardboard cereal boxes , or beer boxes, make good card for templates. My maul is a rubber mallet ( approx. 7oz) from a kids toy tool kit. Still use it today, its perfect for me Just a few suggestions. HS

I though about that too, however, the new massively OTT Burnnings in Midland (WA) has moved to another location , and its a real PITA ( Pain In The A....e ) to get to and park , but the the auto shop, SuperCheap Midland where the Rockwell is , is much easier to get into along my journey. But thanks HS

G'Day, Like FredK, I don't use waxed leather or oil based dyes, I learnt my lesson a long time ago, same thing, dye bleeding . I only use water based dyes now. As Neat-Lac is no longer made and its variants cannot be transported by air, I now use a water based varnish ,normally for wood, I only use it on particular projects. But I have also found a product, (only here in Oz), called ' Seal & Shine' https://maclaceleather.com.au/product/seal-shine-1-litre/ . I use this pretty much all the time now. It does have a nice smooth shine, feels nice too, polishes up nice, and no rub off or bleeding. HS

I think I have it sussed. I have an appointment in Perth ( 3hrs drive) in a few weeks time. I can pick up a rotary tool on the way. Its not the 'Detroit' I wanted, its the ' Rockwell' brand and is pretty much identical and about $10 more, but works out a lot cheaper than freight. The Detroit brand is available at a shop further north, extra 40 mins, but I can't be bothered driving that far. Wow, what a saga just to get a new tool and save a few bucks eh? In the next gripping episode.....just kidding HS

Just went to order my ' Detroit' tool online , only to find the freight is a bit over 2/3'ds of the product price, $49 for the tool and $35 for freight to my address ...that sucks. However, if I buy $100 worth of tools, I get free freight...go figure? It'll cost me around $45 bucks in fuel ( + traffic snarls/ hassles/ rage ) to pick the damn thing up !! Theres an expression we have here in Oz " NOT-HAPPY-JAN !! " only an Aussie will know what that means.... I'll.... figure something out...apart from inventing new curse words @tsunkasapa Sadly, Buck knives, an American icon, are now made in China. Yep I hear ya !! Happens far too often to our icons. And I always keep an eye out for any old / vintage leather tools at s/h markets etc. practically any tools related to leather. They were made to last . HS

G'Day, The ' Rockwell' tool looks identical, apart from the colour. I guess it was naive of me to think that the ' Detroit' tools are actually made in the U.S. , the price should have been a give away. I was just trying to be supportive and do the right thing by buying either Australian or American . I'll just have to bite the bullet and go for the Detroit, I can at least be supportive of the name , and its only going to be used occasionally anyway. I also have a ' Spear & Jackson ' pneumatic staple gun.I do have an ' Ozito' electric staple gun, good for small light jobs. S.& J. tools were made in the UK once upon a time, not anymore. HS

G'day and thank you for your replies. Does it say anywhere , on the tool, packaging or storage box where its made? I can hazard a guess. @Spyros I still have a few ' GMC' tools , (that are no longer made), drill, jig saw, bench sander and a compressor , and , touchwood, they still work fine . Its seems that we can't get away from ' Made in China' . I might have to take a bit of gamble. It doesn't seem to matter what brand I go for, it will still be ' Made in China'. I agree. This will only be used for the occasional restore job, cleaning/polishing, removing rust on small components etc. Thank you once again for your help HS