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You could also try exploring leather stores near you. Not stores that sell ready made items but stores that sell supplies, like Tandy. You have not mentioned where you are located, else people might be able to guide you. Explore such stores and see what leathers you like and would like to work with. Employees in such stores are usually helpful and guide newbies well. They usually have kits available, check them, try them and go from there. @Mulesaw has given excellent information for a beginner's project and you should be able to get all the supplies for a belt in such stores. Besides all this, the internet is a great resource. You can learn absolutely everything from there but you have to put in the effort to search and explore - not just what you want to make but how to do it. Start small and simple.

@Sheilajeanne, Yes, shipping really adds to the cost, doesn't it? I believe Rocky Mountain leather supply has discounted rates for international shipping. There are a couple of others, if I remember correctly, but I've not bought anything from them.

Absolutely true! So we might hear about more store stores closing. Sad. I sometimes cannot help but think that management should work with the lower levels of employees to get an idea of the business. The same principles cannot always be applied everywhere.

She used to be the CFO. So not surprising.

Tandy has made more of their staff part-time, so many of the good, knowledgeable ones have left. The Tandy store near where I am, is one of the top 10 grossing stores and they too have just 2 staff members now, and that includes the manager. Naturally they are overworked. They have been looking for more staff but their pay is pretty low and they have not found anyone as yet. Their manager is new and has some great ideas. Hopefully, he will not lose interest and enthusiasm over time There is a new CEO now. Let's see what she does to increase staff morale and to recruit more people.

Sorry to hear that @Sheilajeanne. I hope you find a good alternative for your future leather purchases.

My dog insists on only eating what I eat, so I have to eat what is healthy for her! Healthy for me too, so its fine. She does not eat leather because i don't nibble on it. LOL. I tried giving her dog food that the vet says is good for her while I have my meals but she looks at it and comes and sits looking at me.

That is comprehensive. Thank you!

Weaver leather supply has a free video tutorial about making a mouse pad. You might get some information from it.

@Wepster Thank you. I need to look into replacing those handles. Swamped with other matters right now. Hope to get back in a couple of weeks when I will look into getting this. I appreciate your help.

Welcome to the group. I love what you are doing about horse equipment. I do not make any but I understand exactly what you explained. Each horse is different, just like we people are, and a proper fit will keep them comfortable. You clearly love horses. Good luck.

I use the Thread zap too but I got mine from Temu. It's one third the price for the same thing but it takes about 8-10 days to arrive. It's working fine and mine came with a spare tip. I always compare products and prices between Amazon and Temu. More and more Temu items seem to be appearing on Amazon at inflated prices.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Great. I'm checking my leather sets this week.

Welcome to this forum @JPCox Checked your Instagram - your work is beautiful.

@Aven Thank you. I will look at it. It's fun to learn something new to me that is an old technique.

@Sheilajeanne Love that too!

I'll go get the Vaseline brand of PJ and see what happens.

OBSERVATIONS: FRONT BACK EDGE CONTROL S, WD0, TN; FD S,TN, FD S CM S, WD0, TS, FD S, TS, FD S PJ1 S-, WD, TN, FDRY S0, TN. FDRY S50, TN, FDRY PJ2 S-, WD, TN, FDRY S0, TN, FDRY S50, TN, FDRY PJM1 S, WD+, TS, FD+ S, TS, FD+ S PJM2 S, WD+, TS,FD+ S, TS,FD+ S The key: Soaking: S = heavily soaked. SL= lightly soaked S- = surface water absorption S0 = no water absorption. S50= half absorption Water droplets WD=water drops present WD0= no droplets WD+ = Many water droplets Feel of leather: FD = damp FDRY = dry Texture: TN Normal TS = soft Control: Soaked through no water drops on surface, not softened. Sides clearly soaked through as is the back. Control plus mineral oil: Darkened due to the oil, no water drops on surface, soaked through, sides and back are soaked as well. Noticeably softer. PJ1: Darkened due to PJ, Water drops on surface, surface water absorption, sides show water absorption on surface, back dry, texture unchanged. PJ2: Darkened due to PJ, Water drops on surface, surface water absorption, sides show water absorption on surface, back dry, texture unchanged. PJM1: Darkened due to PJ and MO, plenty of water drops on surface, complete water absorption, sides show complete water absorption, back show water absorption, texture soft, leather feels damp. PJM2: As for PJM1. CONCLUSIONS: It is clear that PJ does inhibit water absorption by leather, this inhibition being affected by other factors. Here, the mineral oil clearly decreased this water repellent effect. Petroleum Jelly is not absorbed by the leather. It remained on the surface. When applied on plain clean leather, it stays in place and is an effective repellent. When applied on top of mineral oil however, the 2 greasy materials slide against each other and the petroleum jelly being on the surface, probably did not spread well and possibly got drained away by heavy water drops and left the leather vulnerable. With a night of being exposed to heavy rain, the leather pieces with only PJ are still not soaked through. For short exposures, petroleum jelly appears to be a good water repellent. When and with what to use it and how to ensure it remains in place are the next questions. I will next try to see if warming the leather after petroleum jelly application helps. Unfortunately, although PJM1 and PJM2 both had plenty of water drops on the surface, they absorbed a lot of water as well. Need to see how to avoid that, other than not leave the leather out in torrential rain all night!

I kept several pieces of veg-tanned leather with petroleum jelly , which I shall now call PJ, in the rain. These results are after a night long, heavy exposure. It rained heavily overnight and I could check the leathers only in the morning..: I used 6 pieces of leather as follows: Petroleum Jelly Mineral oil Control. N/A N/A CM N/A Yes PJ1 Yes No PJ2 Yes No PJM1 Yes Yes PJM2 Yes Yes Observations and conclusions follow.

You're welcome. Incidentally, it's Ma'am. Not Mister..

Just checked, so many translucent leather lamps from the East! Nice. Searching for translucent leather does not show them. I searched for leather lamps instead.

I bought some transparent leather and it smells of LPG! Or rather, the additive they add to the actually odorless LPG. Could it be that today's methods use some of what was done so long ago?

Yes. That one. It did not darken but it was not as effective as the ones with oils and waxes. But oils and waxes always darken leather, at least temporarily. Maybe you could do trials on small pieces of the leather.