Klara

No idea. I just made a dog collar with a needle size 002 and a linen thread 18/3, diameter 0.6 mm. Worked very well, but the leather is much thinner than you are planning to use (it's a show collar). You could choose thicker thread, with a bigger needle. It's a question of personal taste, almost anything goes. As long as you don't try to sew fine gloves with 1 mm thread or a saddle with very thin thread....

Just checked: Rocky Mountain Leather Supply do indicate which thread to use with which needle size. But I take back the bit about needles being cheap - that was based on what I pay in France. For once we have it better

Another vote for the stitching clamp/saddlers clam/stitching pony. There's videos on YouTube on how to make one (if you have (access to) a reasonably equipped wood workshop, making a stitching pony is a lot faster than waiting for delivery. And cheaper.) In a pinch a vise on your work table might do. But you need a way to hold the leather in position while you use both hands for stitching. Once you have that, working with a stitching wheel and awl just needs practice. For your very first pieces, you dont even need the wheel - you could mark the holes for the stitches with your scratch awl (or any other pointy object) and a ruler. Regarding needles and thread size: John James 002 isn't big. JJ 2/0 is big... My local shop has tables on its site for optimum needle/thread combinations https://www.decocuir.com/couture-cuir-fil-aiguille-choisir-guide-c1200x67488 It's in French, but have a look around the web sites of your suppliers, they might have the info on there. Needles are cheap, you can buy several sizes (is there any retailer who makes packages of 5 needles in each of the 5 sizes?) Thread is more expensive, but good thread is worth every cent! Do you have Al Stohlman's book on Handsewing Leather? It's brilliant! My take on tool quality: If I have experience with a tool and know for sure I will use it often, I buy good or even top quality (cordless drills come to mind - the third one was finally a Makita). For starting out, not. Yes, you can easily sell top quality, but I hate selling... Anything that has a cutting edge (knives, but also diamond awls, edgers, groovers) needs to be maintained. You'll want to buy some polishing/honing paste/jewellers rouge and make a strop for your first project (even xacto blades are improved by stropping, though I still hate them for most purposes). If you can sharpen tools, you can greatly improve cheaply bought ones, if you can't, even the most expensive tool will use its edge. Incidentally, I believe that Osborne awls are just as good as Vergez Blanchard, if not better (or at least harder). The VB blade is the one that got a bent tip without dropping on the ground, the Osborne was relatively fine even after falls (then I learned from an old post here about a safety line for the awl: Drill a hole through the handle, attach a loop which you put your hand through. Saves on sharpening as you'll no longer drop the awl.)

Actually, my review there is not complete, because omission of the awl was discussed on page 1 of the thread.

Good thing there's not too many leatherworkers around, otherwise Ikea might run out of Plugghast! I'll certainly try to get some, the shops should have opened yesterday...

My copy arrived yesterday, and my feelings about it are mixed. What I really love about the book is the chapter on pattern making and the exact description of the design process which allows readers to adapt the measurements to their projects. Or to make a different thing altogether... Nigel also describes what leather is needed because he is completely aware that many of his readers will not be in the UK and thus not have access to the exact same materials he has. But with the information he gives it should be easy enough to substitute (at least if one knows enough to understand different leather qualities, which unfortunately are not explained. Incidentally, what is "case leather"?). Enabling readers to adapt the project to their requirements is something I have seen all too rarely in "project books", so that part (actually, those parts, because for every project the design process is described in detail) is excellent! As I haven't actually made anything from the book I can't say how clear the instructions really are, but they certainly look well-written, with beautiful photography. (Though I've just discovered that there are no instructions on how to draw an English point on the belt template.) My biggest criticism is that I see a discrepancy between the projects - which are starting at "first time I'm holding a leather needle" level - and the necessary tool investment. I completely understand Nigel's argument that especially a beginner needs to be able to be sure that his problems are not caused by bad tools. But when I look at what he considers necessary and add up the prices for top-quality tools I guesstimate that one arrives at £/$/€ 500 long before the end of the list. And I see very little advice on how one can get away cheaper (using washers instead of a corner cutter is mentioned). Also nothing on how to recognize the necessary good quality. Or how to maintain it (my logic is that there is no point in spending big dollars on anything with a cutting edge if I don't know how to keep the edge sharp. I prefer to practice sharpening on cheap tools.) There are detailed chapters on measuring, cutting, and stitching (right handed, by the way, though Nigel pokes the right needle through first) - though he does not have any helpful tips on how to get a good stitch line (one of the things I struggle with - the divider too often goes somewhere it shouldn't). Same thing for edging/beveling - there is a page, but it's nearly free of information. In summary, what is in the book is very good. But I miss quite a few things I'll keep the book, but I would only give it four stars out of five. (Incidentally, I'm not much happier with Valerie Michael's book: I like the general information in the first part, but I won't be making any of the projects any time soon. Not just because of taste, but because they get pretty complicated pretty quickly, meaning lots of parts to cut and put together. Whereas Nigel's projects appeal to me with their - probably deceptively - simple elegance. )

This exact problem is explained vey well in Nigel Armitage's book. The thing is that when you cut verically towards you with the hand in front of your body, there comes a point when your elbow has nowhere to go but to the side. The solution is to cut at an angle, giving your elbow space to move. If you need illustrations to understand what I'm talking about - they are in the book (which is easily available, not very expensive, and if selling well will lead to more good books on leatherwork being published).

What items were you thinking about embroidering? I don't have an answer for you, but a point to think about. I did some by hand on lamb nappa for a dog collar. The leather isn't resistant enough, but holds up reasonably well (there's safety belt material underneath for stability). But the stitches are frayed and don't look good any more. So now I only use decorative rivets. I believe that embroidery thread will always be more delicate than leather, and as I would use leather for hard-wearing items, I've decided for myself that it's not a good combination. But it all depends on what you had in mind...

My two cents after 10 years of selling handmade wool items (from handspun yarn): The money you can get depends on the market. The money you should get depends on your cost, including a hourly rate. If the difference between both is too big (not in your favour) then you might as well not bother. Because it is no fun to discover after years of practice, when you turn out a really well-made product (not just my opinion), that you are still working for 1 or 2 Euro an hour because the market or the product is all wrong. A leatherworking colleague of mine started out making, amongst others, hand-tooled hair barettes (the piece of leather with a stick through). He stopped because people just were not willing to pay the time it took him to make them. Now he is making extremely simple belts - no tooling at all, but good quality leather and buckles - and they sell like hot cakes.

@MtlBiker Thanks a lot for the review!

Problem is, I live in France. Ordering from the US involves shipping, customs, time. Whereas Ikea is under 2 hours away, I need a new kitchen knife anyways and am thinking about a new bed... So I'm looking forward to your review, @MtlBiker !

The trick to piercing round thread is to untwist the bit you want to poke the needle into. None of the books I've read and almost none of the videos I've seen suggests knots and glue at the end of stitching. But simply a few back stitches, which supposedly is enough for waxed linen thread. Needles need to be big enough for the thread. And I find bigger ones easier on my fingers. Fortunately I make dog collars...

@MtlBiker Have you seen this? https://www.ikea.com/fr/fr/p/skvallra-sous-main-blanc-transparent-10394935/ No idea whether it is suitable for your purpose, but I'll have a look when the shops reopen.

Do you produce and sell amounts so big that you need automatic order processing? Otherwise, put up a website (with an independent hoster) that shows what you can do and tell customers to contact you by email. Cost is next to nothing, moneywise, time is another problem. Incidentally, I don't consider holsters as "attaching" to firearms - one wouldn't say that a tool box attaches to a hammer, would one?

Someone on here cuts up the steel bands that are used to fasten some goods to pallets to get a similar blank.

I am pretty happy with the modification of my bracelet snap: The bracelet has collided often enough with the feedbags I've loaded and unloaded this afternoon that I am confident it'll hold up to normal use. I don't have a press either, but I find the glove snaps as easy to set as rivets - once I'd figured out how the pieces go together and that there are 4 different colours in my box...

Glove snaps are the ones with the little parallel wires inside the female part. And so far it looks as if one could "tighten the fit" on a cheap snap by bending the wires slightly inwards. That's what I did this morning after a bracelet came off yesterday. But possibly I had bent the wires outwards when setting the snaps, thus making them worse than they are (I've read something along those lines here in the forum). @Tugadude It's not only the price of the tools but also the price for the snaps! And I don't even know where I would want to use snaps that are very hard to open. Maybe a multitool-pocket for jungle excursions? But in that case a buckle would do it. I have line snaps on a bought belt (to be able to change the western style buckles) and they are fine as I don't change the buckle every day). When I made my belt, I used the cheap glove snaps (they came in a set with setting tools, rivets, revolving punch and hammer) and they work as well because the pull on the belt is not in the direction that would open the snaps.

I've seen mostly glove snaps on clothing and light-weight accessories. Until very recently I didn't even know line snaps existed... Cheap glove snaps can open too easily, but decent ones hold well enough for bracelets. (Now if somebody could tell me how to tell the difference before buying....)

Not a big fan of the lions (I'd be afraid of things catching on the rings) but I love the cut-outs and colour combinations! I have a feeling that pink/black would look good on Rika...

Now I'll be diving into the depths of Aliexpress where things are sold that haven't made it to Ebay ans Amazon yet. Why is there so little demand for decorative glove snaps? The way I see it there could easily be a small rhinestone in the middle of the female cap...

For some products, certainly. Antik-Group seem to actually make what they sell. But I have problems with their terms and conditions (no, theydon't make any more sense in German) : "X. Place of Performance and Jurisdiction The private enterprise ANTIK-GROUP acts in full awareness within the NATURAL RIGHT and the privacy on living Earth, secular worldly fictions and commercial judgments of BAR Accociation. ..... ANTIK GROUP is a private enterprise outside the structures of the Vatican commerce; not a member of the EU or other private organization. It is NOT a legal person and was created by the sovereign SELF, not by means of fiction and PERSONAL rights. It faces the fictional law. ANTIK GROUP is not: address; PERSON; SURNAME; resident stranger; Residence; GERMANY / US; Military; forced agent; not liable according to HJR 192; ANTIK-GROUP is: on earth, not in the world; created by the sole sovereign to whom it is the owner, who is at the same time holder of the title and beneficiary of the birth trust, protection taker and creditor, authorized representative, and with private standing; Vendor of CROWN; outside BAR / IBA; All interactions in commercial law: .. at arm's length (BlacksLaw 1st / 2nd / 7th); without prejudice; all rights reserved UCC # 1-103 and UCC # 1-308; without recourse, sovereign; not a subject of any kind of jurisdiction, not domestic, public notice of UCC-1 Financing Statement. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT LIMITATION without prejudice UCC Doc # 1-308 and UCC Doc # 1-103 and UCC Doc # 2000043135 ANTIK-GROUP is operated privately by sovereign men and women who deliberately entered the state legal system / legal status of before 1914 and legally separated from the Federal Republic of Germany / NGO GERMANY as an occupation construct. We take up where we as sovereign right owners legitimacy. We are a territorial authority with land rights. On the basis of the Charter of the United Nations, we gave ourselves a binding legal order based on the Creator order."

Yep, seen them. Unfortunately I also had a look at their web site, and it's deliberately not up to trade legislation (identy hidden, no company address). Even if Etsy has good customer protection (which I don't know, not having bought there often), that's not the sort of people I want to buy from.

You got me looking, and the main sources seem to be Ebay for cheap ones from China and Etsy for expensive ones from maybe elsewhere. I think I saw the lions' heads on Ebay (I'm more into celtic knots - there's some on Etsy, but they cost serious money. I'll try thrift stores for used belts and bracelets and stuff when they are open again.)

I'm still curious what makes a "good" concho. After all, the lions' heads on your collar don't look as if they'd fall apart tomorrow (but I wouldn't hook the leash into the ring). Btw, where did you buy them?

How do you define "good"? I have some from ,https://www.pethardware.com/en/ , but not used them yet (the star rivets and chaton rivets from them hold up well in use on my dog's collars). They are in the Czech Republic and have a brilliant selection of serious (stainless steel) hardware. https://www.decocuir.com/ (France) have a nice selection of conchos, but I have not yet bought any (though many other things I've been happy with) and the website seems to be French only. Conchos are under Accessoires in the menu. I have a feeling they might get some their stock from http://www.ivan.tw , so you might look there. I have not yet bought from them.