Handstitched

G'Day, thank you so much for your reply. Unfortunately , I don't know anyone with a spool rewinder, so I'll just keep doing it by hand. I done enough research now to convince me to stick with polyester for its UV properties . I also use a M40 poly UV bonded thread on my Seiko, that I use on horse rug repairs, its super strong and just perfect for my needs.( I can even use it on my old Pfaff 60 machine) I thought about using a nylon thread because it can be a bit cheaper than poly, I have noticed. And while its strength is pretty much the same as poly, its UV property is not as good. HS

G'Day, I'm doing a bit of research on nylon thread and found this post. I have an issue with a brand of thread, not nylon, but polyester . While the quality of the thread is OK, its so tightly wound on the spool it causes tension issues on my saddle machine, almost as if its caught on something. So what I do before using it, is I manually unwind a few metres etc. of thread from the spool by hand , re-wind it back on , and then sew, and it sews fine after that. I'm wondering if theres a bit too much bonding agent on the thread. I only tried it because its a bit cheaper than my regular brand ,and every dollar counts when you're a small operator. HS

G'Day Raksha, Its just something I've picked up over the years from experience , probably somewhere on this site no doubt. I apply 'leatherphane oil' , let it soak in, before applying antiques , and black dyes ( it can darken the leather a bit) . For other colours like browns, tans and lighter colours etc. I use ' Laceol before dyeing. http://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/DLAw/Laceol/pd.php its a very light thin liquid and doesn't darken the leather like some oils do. It pretty much dries clear. Its a Birdsall Leathercraft brand here in Australia . It smells totally gross, like a mouldy fridge, but works great. (I ignore the directions on the bottles ) My method will no doubt be totally different to what other leather crafters do , but it works for me , and you can see the result. I have always believed that there are no " rules" when it comes to leatherwork, we all have our own techniques & methods, but its the end result that counts. HS

G'Day and thank you all very kindly @battlemunky, the client requested no lining or pockets, which is a pity, but if she did, I could have really gone to town I made the pattern from scratch using the dimensions she requested, making minor adjustments to the pattern as I went along. She also requested the leather not to be too thick & rigid, so I used a 2-2.5 mm leather , with a liberal dose of oil before dyeing . She picked it up this arvo, and was obviously very happy It was a shame to sell it Some projects I have difficulty parting with , this was one of them. ( PS: thanks go to the late Anne & Al Stohlman for a bit of help with the handles. I've lost count the amount of hours I've spent going through their books over the years for ideas & inspiration most people read novels ....I read leather books ha ha !! ) HS

G'Day, This is a variation of nurses bag / hand bag . I made this for a client that asked for an ' antique look ' . Its all hand stitched with solid brass fittings and theres two different antique colours. It had a good dose of oil to begin with , and the first coat is my regular ' Birdsall' brand of brandy antique, and the second coat is a Fiebings medium brown that gave me the colour I was trying to achieve, and finished with a few coats of antique sealer . The dye took a bit of work , but I'm really happy how it turned out. Pics don't always do justice HS

G'Day Karlova, Love your work...and your dog, what a star I just love to be able to just make & create all day like you do .....but , being a ' one man band' ( working for myself) , I'm forever filling customer orders ,from a simple 10 minute repair to a 3-4 day job ,( I also do horse rug repairs which are coming in now , as its Winter here in Western Australia ) , which leaves very little time for me to doodle and create...and have fun Its a case of ' start project...order comes in ( customers come first ) ... project gets put back....and back further...repeat HS

G'Day, Thats actually quite good, well made . I've been in two minds whether to make these or not but with spikes etc . Not even sure if theres a market for them here, though, I could be wrong if I started making them and people see them displayed. But I also wondered about the comfort side of things . I've also taken into consideration that necks do sweat against leather and thought about a fabric backing. The chain is a great idea . Well done HS

G'Day Noob, I am about 140 k's east , in the Central Wheatbelt , where a lot of farmers are doing rain dances about now , Ha !! The tri-weave just takes practice...and more practice. I don't always get the basket weave right either , I always have to practice on a piece of scrap before stamping on a project, even then I still don't get it quite right. But I guess if I was to use the weave stamps on a regular basis, I'm sure to master it.....eventually HS

You seem to be like a kid with a new toy, and couldn't wait to use it, stamping your name on everything But it is nice. I used to have such nice hand writing, but these days its just nondescript ' scribbledeegook' . HA !! HS

G'Day, My Mother used to spin and prepare her own wool, knit , make garments etc. While she kept her colours natural, as in how they came off the sheeps back, her friends used natural dyes like boiled spinach water, (amongst other vegies and plants) , mulberries, assorted berries etc. I guess thats where the influence came from . HS

I think hand stitching will look nicer than rivets, but thats just me . Not so much for myself, but I made a cartridge belt for a client (also a friend) , a re-creation of a ' western style' cartridge belt , for use with shot gun( 12 gauge) cartridges with the intention of it actually being used , only to find out that he's put it on display in his house because he thought it was too nice use. Doh !! HS

G'Day and welcome from ' upside down land', aka Australia Love your work and the use of the herringbone stitch on the carry bag with alcohol warning, I've only rarely used that stitch...and the lovely dog is very photogenic . My dog is 'photo-impatient' . In Australia, you won't need alcohol warnings...Ha !! HS

G'Day, The markings on the skin are just perfect. Even the markings on the blade of the knife look cool too. Speaking of natural colours Rockoboy, , I have thought about using stuff like paprika, turmeric...and tea... as a natural dye, amongst others. I'll experiment with water based & oil based versions. They can stain clothing & kitchen benches if you're not careful when cooking. I think the oil based version will work better.... the paprika on my steak tonight and my love of curries gave me the idea. HS

G'Day, No complaints here, they look beautiful . Antiquing was a challenge for me once upon a time, but now I have the hang of it. I've by no means mastered it,I still make ' mistooks' , but my antiqued projects looks so much nicer these days, thanks to a bit of info I got from this site I have a bag full of my little sample pieces like you have there. One day I'll mount them all in an album of some kind for advertising & showing off purposes . but well done on those. HS

G'Day again, Hey BDAZ , It took me a good 3hrs to find these, and another hour or so to compile them, but here they are. A lot of these are from my early days, like the collection of 8 & the silhouette carved for example, but when I compare them to what I do now, I seem to have come a long way. ( I even found some cool music CD's I never knew I had in the process, ...bonus ) HS

G'Day, Thats quite good. The red on black with white stitching is very striking and very precise . I have a pic or two of some silhouette carving on a stubby holder.....somewhere. I'm going to have to do some serious searching I have done 'multiples' before ( about a dozen) of the same carved pattern on stubby holders in the past, but they are so time consuming.... .and costly for the client. You finish the very last stubby holder and its like.." yey !!! " , ...........and celebrate with a coldie....or two > HS

G'day, Thank you very much. Nothing but pleasure, and joy seeing the end result in creating those. HS

G'Day, I finally got around to updating my photo page in the photo album I take with me at various markets for advertising etc . Just thought I'd share just a few of them on this occasion. Some of these were custom orders. You may have a different name for the same thing , but this is the ' Aussie way of keeping our beer cold around a barbie ' aka "foamies" I know I have a lot more other pics of stubby holders...I just need to remember where I put them. HS

G'Day, What an interesting subject. I have used ' Mr Google' , as I call it , mainly for logos, ideas and inspiration etc. and custom jobs for clients . But the majority of my patterns come from Al Stohlman books from the 60's & 70's etc. . I have done some free hand stuff as well, but only because Al Stohlman has inspired me to do my own . I couldn't draw to save my own life before I got into leather work. But these days, if I have an idea of my own that pops into my head, its now almost instinct to grab a pen & paper and scribble the idea down , even on the closest bit of scrap paper I find, ....before I forget what it was..... and kicking myself later. If I'm doing an Al Stohlman carved pattern , I don't always copy that very pattern from his books. I often use a ' a bit of this pattern and a bit of that pattern ,like a flower from one book, a scroll, from another, perhaps a horse from yet another, so that the end design is a combination of different patterns and has come from 3,4 or five different books, but also adding & drawing some of my own ideas as well. It sometimes takes me hours for me to finally settle on a design too . But I don't think ' Mr Google' is killing art...well, not mine anyway . Google only plays a small part of my leather designs for me. HS

G'Day, I think its time for a bigger shoe box now . Some of my screw ups have been unceremoniously thrown across my work shop , some hitting the wall on the other side, with a trail of expletives behind it , like a leather Halley's Comet . HS

G'Day , Thats beautiful work. Love the ' step-by-step' pics, and the little....um ...bunson burner? The tea pots caught my eye too They look exotic . Good to see I'm not the only one that uses those springy paper clips. I have boxes of them, and they are a Godsend. Well done

I have a ' special place' for my screw ups...its a shoe box and lives under one of my benches , in a dark place, in a corner with a dunce hat < ...........I made that last bit up < not a dunce hat Needless to say the shoe box is full . HS

G'Day....from Western Australia Thats really quite nice, well done. I have made hobble belts before but with 5mm DB or shoulder, harness. The brass hardware really looks the part on these. I see what you mean by ' 50 Shades of Grey' pic . and no horse ?? Yeh....right HS

Yep....been there done that I don't want to list too many ' mistooks".... and I don't wish to embarrass myself any further O'h well, we can't be perfect all the time eh ??

Well.... in support of a newbie doublehbar .........yep , I have done done that . Another silly " mistook" of mine in the early days , I'll be doing a leatherman type knife case, all is going really well, " geez, I'm on a roll here ...nearly finished....wow that was quick .......all dyed, stitched, burnished , polished...all done....now feeling proud of myself....@#$%^&* !!!!! " ........ I forgot the belt loop !!!! How on earth can I miss that ??? But I did But now I have the feeling that I AM the only one that has done that HS