Klara

Back to the book: I tried to watch Nigel's saddle stitch video, but as he works with the awl in the left hand and considers the left side the front, his instructions are the opposite of Stohlman's. Or are they? Trying to figure it out made my head spin! So, question to the people who have read the book: Are the instructions in there for left-handers as well, or is the front on the right?

Are you talking about machine sewing? Not my problem I did glue my latest collar (not sewn yet) in the round, but I had marked the stitches flat beforehand. I think that should work. If I had the right thread...

Exactly. Which is why I was surprised by the pro's work and asked the question in the first place. But I suppose the explanation is that most dog collars are stored and sold flat. The wrinkles only form once on the dog and then they are invisibly on the inside... But martingale collars - the only type I am currently interested in - are always round anyway. At least until I find a way of adding a buckle without removin comfort or looks...

If it doesn't fit, it'll be made to fit. I ordered a new awl haft, hopefully solid enough (the one I inhereted is coming apart) and when it arrived I found it too big for my hand. This one: https://vergez-blanchard.fr/en/awl-handle-with-chuck/1929-spare-chuck-handle-for-edge-beveler.html I could have sent it back, but then I still wouldn't have had a usable awl. So instead I spent an evening with some tools and a morning with linseed oil, and now I have a haft made to measure. The red one is the old one which I now find too small.

@Sheilajeanne I don't doubt that one can spend huge amounts of time on leather goods. My point is that the people in my crafts association don't. But they still sell their products for good money... I have enormous respect for saddle makers, bag makers, shoe makers, tooling, beautiful finishing... But not for people who cut a strip off a hide, punch a few holes, set a few rivets and sell the result as a belt. My next belt I make myself (Probably means I should buy a strap cutter...) Regarding your round knife: If the main problem is the handle, it should be easy enough to adjust with a file and some sand paper. I just adapted an awl haft to fit my hand and it wasn't difficult (it was soft wood). And I really like rounded blades where I can cut by rocking the blade...(probably why I hate craft knives and box cutters)

As @airplaneguy said! A neat work area is part of an artist's blood, sweat and tears. Look at it this way: A customer might want to visit you - do you really want to stand there as a lier because your workshop is not as represented?

The 6 mm padding is also according to JH Leather. For once I tried to folliw instructions... But I agree, I'll try 4 mm next. @LeatherLegion Your collars are beautiful! The day I get edges like that I'll jump with joy!

As Sheilajeanne said, the water tightness didn't come from some special stitch. The type of stitch is not named, but Severin writes that they worked with an awl and two needles (held by two people, one inside the upside-down boat, one outside). Sounds like saddle stitching to me. What is also not mentioned, and really makes me wonder: How did the hides stay in place during sewing? Sadly, with handspinning you can't really "make a project" to get a taste of the craft (unlike felting - there I created two little bowls in an afternoon intro course). Handspinners either get bitten by the bug while producing something lumpy that can hardlybe called yarn, and is mostly unuseable, or not. Regarding leatherwork, unfortunately I am coming to the conclusion that prices of finished goods are much too high for something that's not too difficult and goes fairly quickly. I bartered a belt from a colleague - he got a crocheted mouse that took me an afternoon and a needle-felted cat head that was about an hour, I got a strip of leather with a number of holes, two snaps (I furnished the western-style buckle) and a running loop. The edges are not burnished, the flesh side is not treated in any way... I've always accepted the price of leather goods because I figured the material to be terribly expensive, but it isn't...

Probably, they look like it. I'm not surprised that Springfield are selling them as well. They probably all come from the same factory in China. But with a bit of luck, "our" retailers demand decent quality and check for it. If not returns are not too difficult...

@Tugadude The best value sets I can find on this continent seem to be Deco-Cuir's own "brand": 40 Euros, currently discounted to 32, for 3 pricking irons with 2, 5 and 10 teeth. But that's pricking irons, for marking stitches, not for making holes. Where have you found true stitching irons (not diamond chisels) for 20 Dollars? Might be worth paying shipping and customs... @Sheilajeanne The Stohlman books I find most interesting are those on handsewing, tools and case making. I've not even started with tooling and stamping yet (and I figure with my non-existent drawing skills there's not much point)

Our library offered to buy a book on leatherworking, but there doesn't seem to be a single decent French book in print! I know that most people here think that leatherworking is expensive, and I got a shock when I first saw the prices for tools. But then I remembered how much money I've spent on spinning tools over the past 15 years. Not going into details, much of it was not necessary (not to mention how depressing adding it all up would get). But decent starting equipment for halfway serious handspinning (wheel, spindle, drum carder) would set you back between 500 and 1000 dollars. That's just the tools, not the material you transform. And there's probably no shop nearby where you could get advice and try out things to see what you like. My closest leather shop is one car hour away, I feel I got some decent advice, and I could try which knife fit my hand better (saved me 10 Euros). Not all that many tools are really necessary, it's just so difficult to find out which are and with my three weeks of experience I strongly disagree with some of the advice out there (I hate craft knives and box cutters with a passion. I'll literally rather use a kitchen knife for leather (but then I have good ones). But I only found that out after buying the craft knife.)

I have nothing against stitching irons - except their price And that I might end up working over a round form... The way I understand it, as long as I know how to use the awl, it doesn't matter how I mark my stitches. Or even whether - I just re-read The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin and he just mentions awl and needles (and a master saddler with decades of experience to oversee the work) for sewing the leather boat he then sailed from Ireland to America (great book, btw.) Slight change of topic: Leatherwork might be a shrinking business compared to video games, but it's a hell of a lot better off than handspinning, dyeing and weaving. Quite possibly because handspinning has a steep learning curve and there is no way around learning to do it properly. No shortcuts, no workaround (but you can still easily spend a fortune on tools and fibres - leatherworking isn't all that expensive by comparison).

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean you bend the collar before trimming the ends? Because otherwise I don't see the difference. I did trim and skive the end of the padding and the leather around it, but there is several centimeters of difference between outside and inside circumference... The first collar, same size as the previous, mostly unpadded ones, came out 2 inches too small with the padding. @fredk I'm seeing myself with a measuring tape in the supermarket, measuring bottles... You managed to get your stitches regular enough marking them "freehand"?

That's the one I started with and I love it! Probably I'm showing my age now, but I often learn more easily from a drawing than from a photo. Or a video, because everything happens so fast in them. Stohlman really has a knack for pointing out what is important. And I've found that I really like the saddle stitch. No, it's not easy, but each perfect stitch, where the left needle follows effortlessly the retreating awl, is a success. I'm also pretty sure that most problems will be solved over the first kilometer of stitching. Besides, I'm making dog collars, where the inside is rarely seen. Not to mention that I don't really see the stitching when the collar is on the dog... I watched Nigel's video on making a box, and I completely understood his reasoning for pre-punching all the holes in this case. But a whole book without awl use seems somewhat lacking to me. If I've understood Nigel's above post correctly, he wanted to write a book about leather craftsmanship for enthusiasts whereas Schiffer wanted to publish a book about making pretty things from leather which would appeal to as any people as possible. @Rannoch You clinched it, I'll have to order both books. And from the sound of it, keep them, too...

That was my thinking as well, hence my original question. But the video from JH Leather shows a collar with 6 mm padding being worked flat and I figured I should for once follow the pro's advice... I already have prepared half a piece of fencepost to use as form...

S Sorry, lost an "e": Valerie Michael, The Leatherworking Handbook

I'll probably order both books (Armitage and Michal) and keep the one I like better. Or both, if I can't decide.

I have worked the last ones flat, and it's definitely a lot easier - but I'm not happy with the result. Next I'll try thinner padding and another leather to see whether that changes anything.

Slowly I'm getting there. But I feel that 6 mm padding is too much....

@Rannoch Thanks for the review! But have I understood correctly, from the three pictures in Amazon and Nigels above message, that all the projects are made by punching the holes prior to stitching? Is the use of the awl explained at all?

Same here. Certainly sounds useful...

Thanks a lot for explaining! Of course, traditional saddle stitch is the topic of about half a book which already exists, but I was still somewhat disappointed that from the little I could preview of your book it doesn't seem to be in there at all. I can understand Schiffer's reasoning - it must be easier to sell a book about making pretty things than one about the fundamentals of a craft (Interweave have sadly gone the same route recently) - but I want to at least be given a chance to do things the traditional way. If you ever get a chance to write the book you really want to write, please let us know! And you could tell Schiffer that there are people out there who want to learn techniques which they can then apply to lots of projects they think up on their own (I generally know what I want to make, but not necessarily how). Your projects seem to be interesting though, which is why I'll order the book.

Yeah, I understood that. But I feel that it's still somewhat dishonest to show pictures of a work area that is not your own. I feel that all pictures on an artists or craftsperson's website should reflect his or her work and environment (seems I'm naïve?). In your place I'd clean up enough so that by zooming in you can get some decent pictures. Just my opinion, though, others may see things differently.

Are you seriously planning on using our photos to market your products?

Given that shipments from Abbey of England now go through customs, and that I only found Plastozote in music shops (in connection with flight cases), the nearest of which is closed for looking around, I thought of gym mats and yoga mats. The cheapest of which is ridiculously priced: 2,50 Euros for 1,40 x 0,50 m, 6 mm thick. 100% polyethylene, doesn't absorb water, the density might be 33 kg/m3 (might because that's the figure I calculated, but I don't trust my math). And best of all, I could pick it up free of charge during my weekly shopping trip to the nearest town. Now the bad news: The chain store I bought it from is Intersport and I don't think they've made it outside of France yet.