Klara

I was thinking about that, but as I mentioned above, I currently have a dedicated nylon belt with attached pouches and I find it very helpful that I can just grab the belt and be sure to have everything I need.

Hahns Atelier have a video on Youtube about copying (?) the Hermes version. They use two full-size layers of fairly thin leather and sandwich a square of stiff split leather between them on the bottom.

Isn't a golf ball much too large for an awl haft? Regarding picture size, I can reduce it in my tablet's viewing app (Samsung A8)

@YinTx Thanks for the info, I don't think you are wrong. But I don't think potential customers should need to do the research that you have done - Jojomojo could have explained himself, either here or on the website. Also, I flat-out refuse to make allowances for people's lack of language skills if they market to me. (When I want something from a Russian who normally only sells to Russians, it's up to me to find a way around the language barrier.) When I wrote my brochures in French, I had native speaker friends look them over. Apart from that I actually find the concept quite interesting... Looks like a great way for a struggling small shoe factory to drum up some business (anybody here seen "Kinky Boots"?

Sorry, still looks like a scam. Not saying it is one, but you might rework the website. kgg has already mentioned the nonsensical sentence. Then you claim that the shoes are made from "pristine Italian leather" but a bit further down I read "This shoe is made from Italian canvas, with details in leather..." And HOW can you have testimonials for shoes that are not in production yet? And WHY should anybody pay € 194 for a basic pair of sneakers? It's not custom work if the customer's only input is choosing a size (which doesn't work on my tablet in Opera, neither does the sizing help). No way would I order these shoes, even if I could wear flat shoes...

Same here, but I find the files hard to read on an 8 " tablet. And the page layout is not always well suited to zooming. I constantly miss things and find that the books get better every time I read them. Which is why I bought the book on tools and am seriously thinking about getting the handsewing one on paper as well. But the Cases are such a mix of brilliant timeless basic information and useless patterns that I wish somebody would compile the former, add some basic patterns, pull out the generally useful things from the obsolete patterns and drop the rest. For such a book I'd be prepared to pay good money!

Normally I'm not a fan of flowers, but these are beautiful! Great, amazing work!

Thanks for the offer but I don't have a problem. I had rivets that turned out too short for the thickness of the leather, so I thinned it a bit as Al Stohlman suggests (Al has the answers to every question I've had so far - I wish somebody would make an updated compilation of his cases books!). And then I hit the rivet harder with a bigger hammer... In a bit I'll see whether that did the trick. My dog training "guru" is Patricia McConnell, the great old lady of behavioural research and therapy (and wonderful author). But at least my borzoi is not difficult at all...

I'd say whether you take treats depends more on one's ideas of dog training than on the location. But I congratulate you on not needing money or keys... The first test has shown that two small rivets are not enough to securely fasten a belt loop to a big bag. Especially when they are not long enough and I forgot to skive the leather... Now the interesting question is whether the two slits loop method works with a gussetless bag and stiff leather. Or maybe I could try skiving the loop and hitting the rivets harder...

I've branched out from dog collars into bags because the bought nylon training belt is coming apart and I wanted one made to my needs: Treat bag for normal treats, bag for tin of cat food for special occasions, bag for tupperware container for filled poop bags (I don't have a smaller one), poop bags distributor, bag for everything else (money, keys, etc...) I'm getting a feeling the treat bag might be too small and some of the others too big, but the best part about having made it myself is that I can always make another, better one I had a lot of fun trying out the different ways of constructing a bag!

Brillant idea, sadly too late. During my recent bed-building I covered the whole wood-workshop in wood dust. Fortunately it's separate from the one for leather and textiles.

It's available for free download: https://tandyleather.com/blogs/leathercraft-library/ideas-for-leather-projects-vol-2-1934

Not if you want to get into leatherwork. It's just a clamp to hold your leather for sewing, after all. Function is a lot more important than looks.

Well, how many tables do you need in a year? If you make them for sale, you better invest in dust management... Regarding the risk, I nearly took off the tip of my thumb when slicing carrots yesterday. Very annoying when grabbing a needle... But I'm not a woodworker (or cook), I just make things when I need them.

I have never felt any need to somehow fasten the needles to the stitching pony. I just put everything on the table and when I want to continue I find the needles at the end of the thread. I have however thought about integrating a strop semewhere for the awl...

But you were lucky enough to find a saddlers clam. I can't even find farm clearing auctions

Which is probably the reason for the design. Sadly I'd need skills and wood I don't have to make one. The traditional French style also is smooth so the thread won't snag, and easier to copy in a home workshop.

The Corgi is wonderfully done and really clever. But for everyday purposes I'd probably prefer the mandala. Or neither, the mandala is also a bit much for my taste.

Incidentally, my design hit its limits yesterday, when I wanted to sew a bag. The bolt is too high up and the inserts for the jaws are much too big. I'll try making a new French style clam (already have one, but the jaws don't close straight)...

Are you sure you don't want to take up leatherworking yourself? I'm still sorry that I didn’t keep my mother's knitting machine...

This is mine. Not beautiful, but it does the job, didn't cost me anything and was made very quickly. You see what I meant by putting a strip of leather over the handle...

That's not a bad idea either... And I think it's not just contraband ivory - I would imagine game wardens pick up the ivory in elephant graveyards. In any case a friend who uses mammoth ivory for his knives told me several years ago that arme authority in Africa chose to burn tusks because they didn't know what else to do with them.

Leather on the jaws like everybody said. I would also put a strap of leather over the upper bolt (vertically, and loosely enough so you can reach in to work the bolt/nut) to avoid having the thread catch on it while sewing. The lower bolt you can saw off or take out altogether and replace with glue or wood screws as you have a hinge for movement. As for the clamping surface, horizontally it looks fine to me. Vertically you could reduce the size, that might make it easier to clamp things when there's hardware in the way. Though I have a similar surface area and it has not caused enough trouble for me to do something about it. I have never felt the need for a spring, either to open or close the clamp. I don't quite understand what you want the magnet for. It almost sounds like you thought a magnet would somehow help with sewing. It won't. You don't want to have anything dragging on the needle in any way. Besides, your leather won't always be clamped in exactly the same position either... I'd say leave it as it is, just add the 3 pieces of leather. Once you've used it you will realise what improvements are needed, if any.

You write about problems with British customs. How exactly is the EU responsible for them being unable to cope with the work their government created for them?

Personally, I have no problem with the PETA lady being barbecued and turned into a handbag... We have domesticated certain species, now we are responsible for them. Most sheep breeds must be shorn because otherwise they'll suffocate under their wool (there are no wild sheep!). In the wild my horse would already have starved for lack of teeth (he's 31 and fine - apart from missing teeth). Many dog breeds are unable to fend for themselves. A dairy cow must be milked because her calf can't empty her udder. So what's the plan? We let the animals go into the "wild" where they die in agony? In Germany there used to be an association for the protection of horses that promoted the eating of horse meat. So that unwanted horses would be slaughtered and eaten locally instead of being shipped to Italy or France. There still is an association for the protection of rare domestic breeds, and their motto is: Preservation by eating. Because there is not enough of a market for purely pet sheep, pigs or cattle. Not to mention that any halfway serious breeding program only works if you cull inferior animals. As for the exotics: I am torn between "if an animal is dead anyway, let's use it as completely as possible" and cybertracy's very real concern (14 Oct 2008). If there is no market at all for a certain product, there is no point in poaching... But burning a pile of elephant tusks because there is no longer room to store them seems like a terrible waste... But maybe only because I grew up with the idea that ivory is something precious. I have no problem with tons of farm animals unfit for consumption being burned every day... Difficult subject, and I very firmly can't decide... (well, I won't use exotic leather any time soon for lack of money and skill)