Handstitched

I kept getting " your clock is ahead " ...danger danger Will Robinson" each time I went onto LW. What? my computer is from the future? Its XP for goodness sake !! (yeh yeh....have a laugh !! ) Just kidding . But I was almost ready to pull my poor ol' 'pooter' apart though . XP lives to see another day . Take that Microsoft !!!! All good now , Thanks Johanna & all the peeps at LW.net HS

Agreed. The only person I compete with , is myself I haven't been doing leatherwork as long as you or many others on here, I've been doing it for 16 years, and I'm still learning , but I have learnt not to compete with the cheap'n' nasty For me personally, as I do shows n stuff,( mostly markets) the pros & cons of doing them, my 2 cents worth: Pros: Its a great for selling, advertising ( although word of mouth works best for me**) , , 'showing off' , receiving orders, its very social, speak to former leather crafters, share & teach, to those that are willing to take up the craft , invitations to other events. Its cheaper than having a shop, very little over heads, just stall fees,fuel for car, and Public Liability Insurance. EFT is cheap, ' Square Reader' . I don't buy food, drinks, I BMO, Too easy Cons: Idiots ,and lots of them , I could be here all day.. Those that have no idea where leather ( or meat) comes from, and those that have no idea how to try a belt on. I feel like saying " its a belt....not a girdle !!" they pull it so tight, their eyes pop out !! and damaging the belt in the process. or " this one is too short" thats because its a dog collar ? DUH ?! And what I call ' The 3 'P' Brigade' , they Pick it up, Put it down, and P*ss off !! Or, parents not teaching their sticky fingered kids one simple rule, " DON'T TOUCH !! sometimes the parents are worse. And, the other ' con' is Mother Nature, you're at the mercy of the elements , unless we're inside. But we do go prepared for any contingency , and keep a close eye on weather reports & radars ** I went into town yesterday and came back with 6 jobs, and I only went to get a newspaper and a few beers HS

Bingo !! I've seen these marketing schemes ( scams) advertised late on TV at times, but like FredK said, the only ones making any money are the ones selling it , with gullible people that paid to look at screens with fancy grids & graphs with some twit with a stick pointing at them . As for pyramid scams, ( selling cleaning products...have a guess?) sheesh, some bloke tried to get me into one about 30 years ago. At the start, his hand shake was warm , happy, full of smiles, very greeting, enthusiastic. The pro mo video he showed was fast fancy cars, fancy mansions, wealth galore etc. but when I figured out what it was in about a minute, and I refused, his hand shake was cold, loose, and dejected . And besides , the crappy old Toyota parked out the front was a bit of a giveaway . If it was that successful , he'd have nice Merc or Beemer . HS

G'Day, @Anndreak Everything I say here is for Australia , and won't apply to you. Setting up a small business for myself , although daunting ( at the same time exciting) , was easier than I thought, but I am a sole trader, work for myself and have no employees . But I did get help and a lot of advice from professionals . I also did a business course** . When I registered as a business, I had to apply for an ' ABN' Australian Business Number' . Here in Oz, anyone in any type of business or trade has to have one. We simply can't buy & sell, trade ( legally) without it. Registered tradies can't work without it . It allows me purchase stock supplies etc. wholesale. But we have this crazy taxation system called ' GST ' in Australia, ' Goods & Services Tax ' . 10% GST is added to everything, from a new car to a .... new ....can of soft drink, to the hides I buy, even on some S/H goods . It can be a mine field of confusion, it was controversial when it was introduced, still is. It scared the hell out of me and nearly put me right off. But with help, I got my head around it, sort of. All I can say Anndreak , is, get help, don't go doing it by yourself , and don't be discouraged , despite how confusing or daunting it may be . If your heart is set on going into business, you go for it . If you want something bad enough, you'll do it. ** I hate Excel , always have, always will, and will never use it again HS

My wholesaler where I get my hides from , just gives me off cuts of sheep skin, but its up to me to trim them to size, trim all the excess ' fluffy bits' off . Also, sometimes people just give me....stuff ( " he's the local leather worker...give it to him" kinda thing, a good excuse to of load their shite me thinks ?) , some of which was a box of sheep skin scraps, some are totally useless and go in the bin, but I do sometimes find some 'usable' pieces. HS

Yup, I see it . I've done that with phone cases, like a ' one piece' case .

G'Day, Not sure if this is of any help, but I had a similar problem when I didn't have the plate lined up properly . It only needed to be out by a tiny bit for the needle to strike the plate. I now have pen marks on the plate so I can line it up perfectly every time I service the machine. This may not be relevant, but if the needle is just slightly blunt, it doesn't pick up the thread properly, and the machine makes an odd sound...and I have a bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face . Wouldn't have thought something so small would effect such a brute of a machine. HS

G'Day, My Seiko is almost the same as yours ( STW 28B, I use single needle) , and it does the very same thing, the reverse stitches are nearly half the length than the forward stitches, why ?? I just put up with it . Apart from that ' lil' mystery' , it works great ,and I don't want to mess with it while its working just fine. HS

I just put ' contact adhesive uk' ( not contact cement) in the engine thingy, clicked on 'images' and quite a few brands came up. Here in Oz, I use ' Parfix, , or 'Selleys Kwik Grip' adhesive , both do the same job but Parfix is cheaper. If it gets a bit ' gluggy' in the tin from constantly opening the tin , I use toluene to thin it out, so it lasts longer, and so does my $$ It gets ex$y to throw away the dregs at the bottom of the tin. Hope this also helps HS

At $80, thats a bargain . Good luck with them , you've got us all intrigued now So the journey begins . HS

G'Day, Check this out: https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/75593-how-i-water-marbled-leather/ Its quite effective HS

Yep, buy them As we say in Oz, " bloody oath !!" At that price, they're worth messing around with . The Singer 211w155 looks a bit like the Seiko STW's . They may just need a bit of TLC .......and a few litres of oil It may also be a good opportunity for you to learn about these old Singers . Go on, be brave HS

Your work looks quite good Tim Although I can't see a ' blemish or a faux pas ' in your work ' , but thats what makes the item individual & unique . Love the blue & white lining on the shoulder/tablet bag . I thinks its quite stunning HS

Welcome to leather craft. And, btw, there are no remedies or ointments for ' leather bug bites ' . And theres no such thing as a ' stupid question' , we've all made a bit of a boo boo or a major stuff up at one point or another. But thats how we learn . HS

Welcome to the world of leather and welcome to the forum When I do plain black belts( and other dark colours) , I give the leather a good dose of oil grain side & flesh side....same goes with straps, knife cases etc. Let soak in. I then dye both grain side & flesh side. I have also learnt, from experience, that the leather burnishes quite well when still slightly damp . The dye I use may be different to what others use. I use Birdsall Dye from Birdsall Leather in NSW Australia, water based with a bit of alcohol for drying. No need to apologise about the questions, because the questions you ask may save you time $$ and frustration , and the answers may help someone else new to leather HS

Its not that bad here, its not ' Sue City' Anyone thats comes through our gate might....get bitten by an ant at best or step on a 'double gee' at worst ( google that) ' or ....break a nail on the gate latch My customers come here to make inquiries, or to pick up or drop off jobs to be done. I'm not permitted to have a 'shop front' , but thats a blessing . However, in saying that, I did feel discriminated against by a wholesaler in NSW , because I didn't have a 'shop front' , their loss though , because I found another wholesaler that doesn't discriminate . HS

When a customer asks me to make a phone case,( or knife case etc.) I draw the outline of the phones dimensions in my order book. 9 times out of 10 I have already made a wood template . If not, I'll make a new one using MDF . Easy to cut shape etc. I make any minor adjustments with pieces of leather . I can use them for wet molding or soft leathers . The pic is just a small sample of the templates I have. Phone sizes have changed a lot over the years.Have a look at the two bottom left corner, and then look at the ones in the top right corner. I do have bigger ones ...yikes ! Hope this helps....a bit HS

I think you're right, it could well be the wrong size. I'd get it sorted in case you do any damage to the machine . HS

Is this a hint ? : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392481182519 Its not the same, but it gives you a clue? HS

@machineage when I saw the pics, my immediate thought was, ' the one in the middle' , but when I scrolled down, I noticed that @Matt S had a similar view, great minds think alike I guess. I have a Seiko STW 28B, ( converted to a single needle) super reliable. It turns 54 in July this year If it was me, I'd keep all 3 . You could set them up for different applications, textiles etc.If you get rid of the other two, you may regret it later, just a thought ? HS

Theres two types of boot polish I have used, ' Nugget' & Kiwi' but currently using 'Kiwi Parade Gloss Prestige ' which is quite good . And when the tin is empty, I don't throw out the little hard bits in the corners of the tin, I use those as ' fillers' . The ' Johnson & Johnson ' liquid floor polish' ( sometimes traffic wax ) is what was applied to the mold before making a fibre glass pool, it was stored in a ' hot box' so it went through the spray guns...... but that was in a past life HS

One advantage I have is that my business / workshop is on my property ( approved by the local council ), I work from home, theres no rent and no mortgage .And its taken years to develop the goodwill from the locals , you can't buy that. No fancy advertising, just word-of-mouth, and its worked. My workshop isn't a 'shop shop', like a shop front .And like you, I wouldn't have time to just chat all day ( although my Mum would ha !! I've nick named her ' Pringles' because ' once she pops she can't stop' shhhh ) Anyway.... My market stall is my "shop front'" at regular venues where orders are placed, sell stock, and its a chance to show off my wares a bit . I have picked & chosen which ones are worth while and financially viable . HS

It would be handy if you knew someone with a saddle machine, like a 441 clone.They can sew through the thick leather you are using . I have used my machine to punch the holes through thick leather prior to hand stitching on rare occasions. HS

I have the roll of thread in one hand, the end of the thread in the other and just spread my arms out...and thats it, simple Any large-ish off cuts can be used for any small projects, minor repairs etc. so nothing goes to waste. HS

To perforate the leather all the way through would weaken the leather, and perhaps tear along the perforations , just a thought . HS