RichBliven

I bought some hand sewing needles from Maker's Leather Supply. They're fairly thin but durable. They're all I use for hand sewing. And - I didn't go through every response to this thread so if someone already mentioned them...apologies.

First, I’m thankful to be here. I know there are many people here that are way more talented than I, and I look forward to learning from everyone here, in whatever form that may be. I’m a professional firefighter and I’ve only been working in leather for about 4 years. My Instagram is @156leatherco. I often look at my posts and laugh because I see where I started, and where I’m at now. As an uneducated fool, I’m proud of how I’ve developed. All in all, I feel privileged to be a part of this group.

I’ve been punching these out because they’re easy and profitable. Average sales are $45, depending on tooling/hardware/plain. Recently got asked to sell these exclusively in a local store so I’m pretty proud of that.

Awesome, thank you. From what I’ve seen your response seems more than appropriate. I appreciate you taking the time to do that.

Bro radio straps were some of the first things I made when I started leather work (I'm a fireman so I got a lot of requests). It's really not hard to make a template. My IG is 156leatherco if you want to see what I came up with. Like what mike02130 said - Paper and pencil. Give it a try - you might surprise yourself!

Does anyone have experience with Sailrite? As a novice, I (like many others) am growing tired of hand sewing as my production has been picking up. I came across the Sailrite Leatherwork machine and it appears to be a decent product, and it's within my financial wheelhouse. I typically do small items, like wallets, valet trays and the like. I feel like it would be good for what I do, but have zero experience with leather machines. Does anyone have any experience with these - or an opinion? Thanks...

My neighbor's son-in-law brought me a western style (for lack of a better description) that he asked me to reduce in size. The holster is attached to the belt and it has ammo loops all around it. He's asking me to try to reduce it from 46-52" to somewhere around 36". I don't really even want to touch it as I don't see a practical way to do this, other than cutting 10" out of the back and splicing it back together - but even that doesn't seem practical. I thought I would ask here to see if it's even possible. TIA.