Alisdair

I must say that nice tools are my weak point...for example, that Jeremiah Watt divider/compass was an impulse buy...could've bought about 100 Chinese dividers for the same price! I practise my stitching and try out new tools, materials and methods by making new protective covers for all of the pointy bits. An Alisdair ended up in Geneva by way of a Swiss grandmother: I came here to go to university and to practise my French...and like many other people, ended up staying here! BTW, @LumpenDooodle2 ...I see on your site that you're into detecting. I published a book on Late Roman Bronze Coins a few years ago that's quite popular with detectorists!

Welcome! I love your stuff...and the way it's photographed! Having been brought up in a tropical country, I recognize the sharp light, shadows and angularity that comes up with it...works well with your work. We're always influenced by what's around us, be it in terms of materials available or our surroundings.

Thanks guys...I think its a question of finding the right angle. I really bought them on a whim. As I altrady have a good set of edgers, I think Ill try to flip them...

or bag-kote if you want a more matte finish.

Hi Guys, I recently chanced upon a pair of vergez blanchard edge bevellers - a no. 0 and a number 2. Identical to the ones in the photo below. Question is: I can't for the life of me get them to work. I've sharpened them. Maybe I'm using them incorrectly. Anyone else have these?

Sporrans are definitely born and not made! I'd be terrible at doing this full time, because I have trouble sending them away to their new homes!

A client asked me to make him a custom sporran, so I spent a day or so making this. He's a big laddie, so I had to adjust my usual dimensions.

Thanks, guys, For some reason, the text disappeared from my post. The leather is veg-tan belly from Italy, the rolls and handle are made from brass tubing. I made this for my wife. I'll also be making a longer strap, so she can use it for both evening wear, as well as a normal, small-sized handbag.

Thanks guys! Regarding the keeper being different, I wanted to add a fancy stitch somewhere, but not on the strap itself, which I wanted to be quite sober...so it's just a quirky signature.

Nice stuff!

Hi guys, Here's my first attempt at a watchstrap. I like the texture of the pigskin. Stitching is okayish. Any advice welcome.

And a hunter sporran, again, execution is not perfect, but I like the concept.

Hi Guys, In my introduction, I mentioned that I got back into leathercraft after a 30 year hiatus when I started making sporrans. Here are few I made. First up, a brogued pigskin sporran. The stitching's not quite there, but I like the concept:

Hi Guys...I wanted too introduce myself. My name's Alisdair, and I live in Geneva, Switzerland. I am of Scottish, French and Swiss extraction and lived the first half of my life in Zimbabwe. It was there (Zimbabwe) that I first started leathercraft as a hobby from the ages of 10 to 13. I then sort of forgot about it (adolescence and chasing after girls is probably responsible for that!). I came back to leatherwork about 6 months ago, when I wanted to make myself a proper sporran. I've been going Scotland every year for the gathering of my Scottish clan and up till now, I wore a cheapie sporran. I started big and made an 18th century styled brass cantle sporran...the kids got enthusiastic, and I make some for them, too. These designs are rather forgiving, as most of the stitching is inside, but the brass cantles were a pain to make for someone who has no workshop! Since then, other people have asked me to make more sporrans and I've done so - I'll doa separate post on these. Anyway, I'm hooked on leatherwork again, and each new piece is teaching me new skills. My beer money is drying up as it is being invested in tools. I'm doing my best at improving my stitching at the moment.