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Hey all, I have a minimalist wallet I am working on using fish leather (looks like carp to me if that matters). My question is, what's the best process/product to use to seal it to stand up to daily use? Thanks! Josh

I see high end goods made with exotic leathers pieced together to make wider panels. The seams are nearly invisible. I want to learn how to achieve that look. I bought a couple carp skins from Springfield a while back. They're not quite wide enough as one piece to cover my cane handles with. They're around 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide and I need closer to 5 inches wide. I decided to experiment on one of them to see if I could make it wider. I cut it in half and trimmed the edges so I could put the bottom edge of one piece on the top of the top edge of the other in an attempt at keeping the scale direction running the same way. I lined them up face to face and stitched them together using a saddle stitch and 0.6 mm tiger thread. The leather was pretty stiff so I soaked it in some water to make it more pliable and folded the edges of the seam open on the back side. I clamped it open and flat overnight so it could dry. This is where it's at now. I'm mostly satisfied for a first attempt. Due to the scale pattern a perfect match just isn't possible. I'm ok with that. It's usable for a handle cover and wetting the fish leather made it much more pliable and easy to mold. It's pretty stiff and almost papery feeling when dry. The seam is visible, but not bad. I'll have to pad it somehow so the edges by the seam don't show under the leather. My stitching chisel is large for the thread size. There are a few small holes at the stitch line but they're not visible unless you hold it up to a light. If I do it this way again I'll use my sewing machine and regular thread for a less bulky, flatter seam and line it with wax paper. the leather wanted to stick to the wood. I'll also use wider boards. Am I on the right track with this method? I know this method can be improved. How do the pros join two or more smaller pieces together for a larger panel? What should I be doing differently? Should I try just butting the two pieces together and gluing them to a backing of some sort? I'm concerned about gaps at the seam opening up if I try that. I would like to use some exotics like these skins and ostrich legs, I'm looking at toad skins too, but many are too small to make one piece covers from them. Thanks for any advice.

This is my latest small offering. A variation on a Tandy project for a swivel knife case. Fish leather about 1.0 - 1.5mm thick, hand sewn with waxed poly thread. Any errors are entirely my own any critiques or advice welcome.

I am trying to help a friend in locating leather for a pair of boots he wants made. What he is looking for is Pirarucu aka. Arapaima leather. It is a South American fresh water species and is one big fish. I have seen some boots made from it on a couple of different sites and they look great. He has a boot maker but wants to find the hides since the boot maker doesn't normally use it. I suggested he call Jerry Van Amburg but I am not sure if he carries Pirarucu. Does anyone know of a supplier that has Pirarucu and sells retail? Thanks.