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Just my take on the lowly Dopp Kit. After I made it, found out they sell for like $30 on Etsy, Made in USA no less. Not likely to compete with that! Horween leather body, Hermann Oak tooling on the rest. Hand stitched with Juane Fil Au Chinois. Half of the tooling pattern I drew myself, the other half is adapted from some Don Gonzales sketches. This was some thick leather, thought I would never get it turned back right side out. Would probably make it from thinner leather if I did another in the future, although I must say I like the heft and form that resulted, just not the corners, even though I skived them! YinTx

I've been cogitating on this off and on for a year or so. Finally decided on altering the design put forth by Anderson Leather - many thanks to him for sharing the process and a base template. I altered it significantly, making it much larger than the one in the template. I had originally decided to do it as a prototype, but as it started to turn out nice enough, I decided to go with a liner, since he had indicated that was his one regret with the one he made: not putting in a liner. Of course, putting a liner in as an after thought has compromised the edge work, but it is what it is. Open to comments as I progress! YinTx

Finished this one up today, not my best work, had lots of things I wasn't happy with. This is version 2, Version 3 is slated for an IPad cover for a customer, so I wanted to get some practice in to perfect things a bit. Version 1 never even got to the dye stage. Oye. Heavy Campbell's Satin Laid linen thread. All kinds of different dyes, leathers, antiques and finishes. YinTx

Might never make another like this, but it came out ok I think. About 100 hours labor in this one, Rose Chevre Chagrin on black Wickett and Craig 3-4 oz Bridle leather (from NStarLeather), with 25 linear feet of hand stitching using Pink Fil Au Chinois Lin Cable thread. My hands are tired! YinTx

Finally finished the Sheridan style wallet I had carved a while back. Think it came out ok, but overall some things I'd change for next time, like using thicker leather. The interior was like 1 oz, the exterior I think was 3 oz or so. Juane Fil Au Chinois Lin Cable thread. Let me know what you all think of the end result! YinTx

Managed to do these when the family was looking the other way - will be Christmas gifts. sorry bout the hurried photos, didnt want to get caught So, tooling, painting, dye, antique, stamping, carving, stitching, edging.. a bit of everything I've managed to learn here... YinTx

Not sure how I feel about this one, now that I am finished. Over 1 month in the making. I debated putting it in the "critique my work" section for a while, since this is the first box stitched trunk I have made. For sure, a learning experience, many things I would change on a next piece. Not too happy with the back "hinge," so I am off to the drafting board again for that design bit. Also picked out a different basket weave, and it was an entirely different beast to manage! And oye, the wayward camouflage tool! I'll get it under control some day! Took me three different types of awl blades and about 14 hours of stitching to put this together. Thread was heavier than what I normally use, 332 Campbell's Satin Laid Linen in yellow. Blue suede lined, very heavy veg tan - I think 10 or 12 oz. This little box is pretty stout and heavy. So.. many.. corners... so. many. stitches... ! Anyhow, hope you all enjoy..comments welcome as always! YinTx

Just finished this up, custom color by request! The edges were a bear with this leather, and did not come out quite like I'd wanted. But, customer was happy, so thats what mattered! I opted for the unlined version since I was unhappy with the wrinkling liners. Second version of this had the black dye bleed all the way through the leather to the front: aarrrghh.. ruined. start again! anyhow, hope ya'll like it. YinTx

If someone can help by providing information or pointing me in the right direction I would be most appreciative. I have been searching the forum trying to figure out how to "polish" pricking irons. Some of the irons I have from Osborne and Joseph Dixon are a bit rough, and I would like to know an efficient way to get in between all of the teeth. The metal is pretty hard on some, I believe the Osborne irons are drop forged. I have tried wrapping sandpaper around a flat bit of leather, but I am concerned I will actually wear a different angle into the teeth, ie sand only one side. This is less of an issue on the European style irons than on the diamond shaped stitching chisels, which are designed to go completely through the leather. Many of these are really rough the entire length of the tooth, which makes them difficult to pull out of the leather once punched through. Thanks in advance for any advice! For other images: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=galleryℑ=28911 YinTx

I am looking for some used European style pricking irons, 7 stitches/inch and 10 stitches per inch, not too particular on which, and would consider other sizes if the price is right. If you are looking for other tools or leather, perhaps we could work a trade. (I have caimen, ostrich pieces, veg tan, chrome tan, many tools) PM me if you have some you would like to be rid of! YinTx

I think I may do the next one with suede on the inside. Thoughts? I covered the insert with keys, because, well, it's terrible. YinTx

Finished up a couple of custom orders... still not happy with the way my keepers sit between the layers... but otherwise, came out ok. Enjoy. YinTx

So far, the smallest item I've made other than zipper pulls... finally got up enough nerve to attempt a watch strap.... custom made for a very small wrist... and a tiny watch. My pinky is bigger than these straps! The 432 Fil Au Chinois is a bit too thick for this application, but... the recipient seems really really happy, so thats what matters... YinTx

So, after a year and a half at this, I finally feel like I can post something in the Show Off section! I know it isn't perfect, has some things I can do better next time like skive the side where the binder covers the stitched section, and I will still reburnish the handles (got ahead of myself taking pics...) and still haven't perfected the binder overlap, but overall I am pretty happy with this one. Hermann Oak leather for the straps and binder. Waxy pullup green leather for the body, hand painted liner (No, I did not do the hand painting myself.. ) More Posted photos here: Please let me know what you all think! YinTx

Get to do this one over again. Thats a lot of hand stitching to screw up lol. YinTx

Pretty excited, I've waited nearly 7 months for these to show up! I put an old Joseph Dixon iron in the photo for comparison. I have yet to use these, so they still have the protective plastic dip on the ends, but they look spectacular, almost mirror finish, and appear pretty sharp. I can't wait to have a project to try them out on! YinTx trying to upload a photo.. but getting blocked. I'll add it when I can...

So I am gradually getting accustomed to the new site's functionality and looks, but there are some things I miss. One is in the gallery view, ability to see my photos in groupings. Also, being able to see how many views topics or images have had, helps me gauge interest in subjects and guides me on what I post or don't post. When I go to the drop down at my user name at the top of the screen and go to "manage my content" I am unable to see which topics have unread content, and I can't just jump to first unread post on those topics. Also, I am unable to see number of views and number of responses. Are these functionalities gone now, or am I missing something? Thank you for the time to answer, I suspect others may have similar questions but have not asked... YinTx

Not so sure where to post this, but I thought I'd start here: So I just got my hands on this stitching clam that came from Scotland as far as I know. It is different from the Vergez Blanchard style in that it has no hinge, and it has a ring and an opening which I presume is for a strap. I don't believe the two screws in the side are original, but for all I know they could be something that should be there. At any rate, I don't really know how to use this style of clam, or how you would attach a strap and use it. I was hoping to use it without a strap, as it would allow me to use it on items that are really large. Any help I can get would be much appreciated, what I would really like to see is someone that has one like this demonstrate in a youtube video, but I'll take any info/photos etc. that I can get! Thanks in advance, YinTx other photos in my gallery here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=2597

I started on a new project yesterday, so I thought I'd post some progress photos as I went along to keep me moving. If I'm making obvious mistakes along the way, feel free to say something! Positive comments welcome too, as always. Yesterday, I cut the body for the project from purple leather. I'll line it with chocolate suede. Discovered skiving suede makes for weak edges, so I had to make abrupt short skives. Anyone have experience with this or better suggestions? Also started with Chocolate dye on some veg tan pieces. Treating the leather today. YinTx

I have moved my available thread to an Etsy shop. You can see it here: Thread on Etsy. This is what you will find there: Campbell’s Satin Linen Thread Size 332: Beige,Ecru, Orange, Red, Light Blue, Yellow Campbell’s Satin Linen Thread Size 532: Orange, Havanna, Beige, Campbell’s Satin Linen Thread Size 132: Beige Coats Barbour, 35/3 Black, 25/3 Brown, 18/3 Whitey White Ritza Tiger Braided Waxed Polyester: 0.6mm: Cream, Purple, Orange, Havanna Cigar 0.8mm: Orange, Cream, Black, Beige 1.0MM: Bishop (like a light purple) 1.4MM: Yellow YinTx

Pretty excited to finally get to make something after being away so long. My aunt had requested a new checkbook cover, she didn't want anything fancy, so I hope she enjoys this one. I am clearly out of practice on my hand stitching, but other than that and a few small errors here and there (forgot to burnish the pen holder edges before I stitched it up---Aaargh!) I think it still turned out ok. Open to suggestions for improvements, as I think I'll make a similar one for myself. Please let me know what ya'll think! Thank you! I will put more photos in the gallery: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=2662 YinTx

So before I purchased my stitching irons and hand stitching thread, I searched around for comparisons of the different threads and irons and how they looked side by side. I watched all the Armitage videos, but did not see all the different samples side by side to actually make a comparison. I have seen one or two comparisons of different brands of threads, but nothing that allowed apples to apples and apples to oranges looks. So, I made a card that compared 7 different stitching irons, all around 7 SPI, some 4MM, and using 3 different sizes of linen thread (Campbell's Satin Laid Linen Thread), and 1 Ritza Tiger thread 0.6mm for comparison. The 0.6mm Ritza and 7SPI seem to be a common combination, and linens are fairly common too, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If someone wants to see a particular combination, with a different type of thread or SPI, let me know and I'll see what I can do. It was interesting to me to see how different the marks were, yet how subtle the differences were in the actual pattern of the stitch. I am not a master stitcher yet, so some of the differences are no doubt due to my inconsistencies, but I think it is somewhat clear which irons do and don't work with which threads. The 132 thread is some pretty heavy stuff, but I enjoyed working with it and really liked how it came out on some of the rows. I still need some practice to get the back of my 532 stitching to be more even, but some of it is passable, I think. I hope this comparison is useful to someone out there. The various irons used on each row, top to bottom: Old Joseph Dixon 7SPI Abbey England EconoStitch 7SPI CS Osborne 609-7 7SPI European Style Stitching Iron from Ebay 4MM Kyoshin Elle 3.5MM Ebay stitching iron 3.85MM (about 7SPI) Ebay Stitching Punch 4MM Thread used from Left to right when viewed from the top of the stitch: Campbell's Satin Laid Linen Thread 532, beige Campbell's Satin Laid Linen Thread 332, beige Campbell's Satin Laid Linen Thread 132, beige Ritza Tiger 0.6MM braided polyester thread, Cream Front side and back side images before tapping down with a hammer, and after. Images of the marks made by the tools. Images of the tools. Gallery with higher resolution images here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=2727 YinTx

I wanted to practice hand stitching with my new tools, so I made a guitar strap. It is lined and has about 11 feet of stitching, so plenty of practice! It is the first guitar strap I have made, so please let me know what you think. I still have to put the slots on each end... More photos here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=2687 YinTx

I have a large stitching horse, so for sale: Fairly new Tandy Stitching Pony. $15 plus shipping. Paypal. YinTx

First thing I have ever completely stitched on the machine. Still need to replace the bobbin spring to deal with thread tension issues, and kind of messed up the plastic carbon copy cover, but for my daily use I think it will be functional. Debating putting edge coating. Open to suggestions for improvement as always YinTx