Allotment17

Thank you for sharing your beautiful work.

Thank you for the heads up Fred and a big thank you to Tandy. I've downloaded some of the books I have had my eye on for a while and a few patterns too.

Wow!

That is a really thoughtful and useful gift. I am sure it will be very well received.

That is some very good advice, thank you Handstitched. I'm lucky to have a good sized room to work in so can easily set up a separate area.

Wow, this is a fabulous gift. What a lucky girl.

Thank you for your help Fred. It's good to have these pointers to get me started with dyeing. I made my first ever trip to Home Bargains this month and was pleasantly surprised (I picked up a granite chopping board and a cork block), I'm going again this weekend so I'll get some of the Astonish floor polish while I'm there (if they've got it).

Hi Fred, I've just looked this up, it comes in some nice colours. I've got a quite a shopping list for Le Prevo, I was so impressed with their customer service when I bought some leather that I want to give them my future custom. I'll add a pot of this dye to the list. What do you use as a finish with the acrylic or is ok left as is?

These are great. I really like the look of the black and tan together and the blues are lovely.

Thanks Ed. Thank you.

I'm looking to start dyeing veg tan leather. I have a workspace in a spare bedroom so I'm looking for a dye that is safe to use indoors where there is very little ventilation. Can anyone recommend a tried and tested product available in the UK. Many thanks.

Very clever idea.

Very nice bag.

A few weeks ago I saw a leather toolbag, quite simple, gusset bag with strap and handle, which I really liked. It wasn't quite right so I thought, as you do, 'I can learn to make that'. So here I am. I'm starting with small projects, that will have a use, in order to learn (the above was not what I intended to make but was requested so I had a go). I'm a dog walker, so I can make use of plenty of key fobs and belt loops. I've also made a one card holder for myself and I want to make a decent pencil case to withstand the rigours of a packed school bag. Eventually, after the toolbag, the big make that I'm hoping I will get to is a briefcase for my husband to hold his laptop and paperwork, he can never find exactly the right thing of the right size and he has high hopes that I'll produce one for him. I don't think that is on the cards for some time though. So I think I kind of have a plan of what I want to make but am happy trying out all sorts of things. I've discovered Nigel and Ian on YouTube and enjoyed many hours watching videos from various people and both learning a lot and confusing myself. For example, finishes and dyes, there seem to be so many different types and these days you can't pop along to a shop and chat to someone, or try out various products before deciding which ones you like. I don't want to end up buying one of everything, which is why I was very pleased with your finishing/proofing advice which means I don't have to buy anything for that. I am slowly building up a list of products and tools I think will be useful so I can buy one or two items each month. This month I've ordered a strop and compound, I've already got sharpening stones and have been sharpening everything I can lay my hands on, and finishing them up with some autosol on a piece of denim. I am really struggling with cleanly cutting out so want to work on that, I'm happy with curved corners using a coin, but I seem to have too many ragged edges elsewhere. I also want to work on my edges, I'm currently using water and a wooden edge burnisher finished with beeswax but I'm not getting a result I am happy with. I don't have access to any machinery so everything needs to be done by hand (although I like the look of the sanding/burnishing wheels I've seen people using). Next, I want to dip my toe into the world of dying but I'm happy to put that off for a while until I'm happier with my construction skills. Well, I am well and truly guilty of rambling here. Right, I'm off to youtube a bit more.

Hi zuludog, thank you for your reply and advice, you are right, I haven't given it any treatment. I like the idea of using something I already have in the house, and if it darkens the leather too then that is a plus for me.

Thank you!

Thank you for all the information where to go for leather. I've spent a lot of time looking at the sites suggested and learning lots along the way. I placed my first order with Le Prevo (I was very impressed with their customer service). The leather arrived next day and here's what I've been doing with it over the weekend. Please remember I am beginner so this is very basic, however, I hope it is useful. It's to house my husband's gardening knife, he wanted to be able to hang it from his belt and also keep it in his pocket.

"Simanco on it rather than Singer." Simanco stands for Singer Manufacturing co so genuine Singer part.

Looking at the Le Provo site in their natural veg-tan section, would this also be the right sort of thing? (a bit cheaper!).

First of all, thank you for a friendly welcome to the forum and for some great advice and thank you to Fredk for all your help. I've spent hours and hours and hours reading and watching and trying to familiarise myself with leather, leather tools and leatherwork and I'm ready to buy my first piece of leather. I've visited Le Prevo, AA Crack and Abbey England websites and have to say that I am feeling overwhelmed by the choices out there. I'm very nervous about purchasing without seeing (visiting to look is not on the cards at the moment) and I don't want to waste money on something I cannot/don't want to use. My aim for the leather is something to use for practice mainly. I learn by 'what happens if I do that'. I'm hoping that my practicing can be used to produce something myself and family can use. So far I've made a very basic pouch and several various key fobs. So I think I need plain veg tanned leather which I can practice cutting, edging, punching, stamping and sewing with. I've looked at Le Prevo but I don't know enough to choose from them. AA Crack is bewildering to me. I felt a bit more comfortable at Abbey's website and, if left to my own devices I would order the following, however, as I know nothing (comparatively), I would appreciate some advice as to whether I am on the right track (or not). I was thinking of the 1.8 to 2 mm or 2 to 2.5 mm. https://www.abbeyengland.com/tooling-shoulder-9727.html Many thanks. Clare

Oh, I hadn't realised that.

In my search for patterns and inspiration I've seen that Dieselpunk patterns on Etsy have a 25% off patterns sale today (11 hours left). Just thought I'd mention it here if it's of interest to anyone. https://www.etsy.com/shop/DieselpunkRo?ref=condensed_trust_header_icon_items

Thank you everyone for your replies to my post and welcomes to the board. I really appreciate the sound advice given and I'm very glad I asked the question.

Hello, I'm new to the site and looking to try my hand at leather work. I have a sewing with fabric background but feel I want up my game to creating leather goods. Initially I have in mind to start with a key fob followed by card holder, pencil case, wallet then tool bag. I have been researching by reading and watching YouTube clips. I have an idea of the tools and consumables I would need to get started but trying to buy them all seems to mean purchasing from many different suppliers and incurring considerable postage charges along with the cost of each item. This led me to look for a starter kit but most I found didn't look too good or were suspiciously low priced. I have seen this kit at Identity Leather and would like advice as to wether this would be a good kit to get me started. https://www.identityleathercraft.com/index.php/leather-craft-kits/workshop-in-a-box-leathercraft-starter-pack.html Thank you. p.s. I am in the UK