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Hello everyone, I just became a member of this site and am excited to be apart of this community. I am a leather goods designer based in Los Angeles. I specialize in leather bags and other leather accessories. To clear up space in my studio, I am trying to sell old machines. The prices are flexible. I have a Stimpson C1 Foot Power Machine, Stimpson 479 R1 Foot Power Machine, and grommet machine. They are used, but they still function well. Attached are some pictures of the machines. If interested, feel free to message me by responding to this thread!

Hello everyone. It never occured to me to look for a dedicated online forum when I first started out on this little adventure. My story starts the same way many of your do too - A couple of years ago, I was in need of a new belt. I was usually content with the store-bought belts that I had been wearing all my life until I saw a guy with a genuine veg tan leather belt and asked him about it. I told my brother about what I had seen and the conversation that ensued, a week later a beginners leatherworking tool kit arrived with a dozen belt blanks and a note from my brother telling me to have at it and see what I could do. Those first few belts were a disaster; horrible dye jobs. The edges were nowhere near nice enough to show anyone. I rushed through the first batch rather than taking my time to get them right. I have since slowed down. Each step it taken with care. As my skills improved, so have my tools. My most recent project is a new wristband for my watch as they don't make them long enough to go around my wrists.

Hi, Well after all these years I have eventually joined the Leatherwork forum. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Peter from Northamptonshire in the UK. Back in the 70's my wife and I where on a trip in Scotland when we came upon a leatherwork shop and in the window display a handbag caught my wife's eye. So we went inside and chatted with the owner. I spied on a back shelf the large Tandy's beginner's kit. To cut a long story short. I bought my wife the handbag, the owner became a lifelong friend and I started my career in leatherwork. Some many years later and after a change of career I went into the building industry and unfortunately my leatherwork was put aside. In my retirement, I now have resurrected my workshop, and will be once again enjoying my leatherwork. Over the years I have bought many books and pieces of equipment, but now I find its time to downsize, so quite a few of these I no longer will be using. So please watch this space as I shall be having a clear-out and put them up for sale. Quite a few of these are unused and 'as new' so they will be excellent for beginners who wish to save some cash. My passion has always been to learn the art of leather cases. So I shall most likely concentrate on construction and stitching, with less emphases on carving decoration. Although I quite fancy creating some designs based on the Celtic tradition. Look forward to chatting with you all.

Hi everybody ! I'm Mary and I'm French I live in Bretain near Brest and I love leather works ! I started sewing leather in 2016 and I'm very happy to have this hobby but I can't sew as much as I'd like .. I like make collars for my dogs, bridle, and bags, wallets.... I'm glad to be with you in this forum ! There is a lot of beautiful works ! And sorry for my language Have a great day and see you soon !

Hi there, I am Scott and this is my introduction post. I have been doing leather work for about 9 months after doing woodworking for 25 years. It has been a fun journey so far and I am happy to be here. Wishing you well and a Happy New Year! Scott

Hey, you clicked the title! Thanks for doing that. As you may have deduced, I am a new member; while I made this account awhile ago, I am just starting to get more active on this. I am a hobbyist leather worker, and hopefully I can change that and become a leather worker full-time. I have done this for about 2 years, and it’s been an amazing journey so far. I am still in college so posting pics and being super active unfortunately isn’t a luxury, but I’ll try and post when I can. I'll attach some of my old work so you know I am a human, and not a robot. Please keep in mind that I am only a beginner, so any criticism is welcomed. Thank you again for reading, and if you want to see some more recent pictures of my work, check out my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lowellleather/ -JW

Hello and an Introduction My name is Heather Pendragon and I live in Vancouver, BC. I am a brand new "baby" leather worker. My story is my vinyl purse (like a brown paper grocery bag) finally gave up the ghost and I could't find a suitable replacement. I had purchased it at Value Village to start with and the lining finally tore and I couldn't find anything similar anywhere so I decided to make one myself. I figured if I was going to go to the time and effort I wanted a leather one and so my story begins. Since making this black purse from repurposed buttery soft leather with a truly funky Disney Villainess lining and matching red clutch wallet I have had a zillion compliments and six order requests! My husband has purchased me my very own gorgeous Pfaff 145 who now has been christened "Rosie" and completely renovated what was a floor to ceiling packed "store/junk" room into my new sewing space...and I haven't even figured out how to thread her yet! Did I mention I have the most AWESOME hubby EVER? So...I just wanted to say "HI" and join a group who truly know what they're doing because I most certainly don't. I know I'm going to have a TON of questions...like where is the best place to purchase Pfaff leather needles? What size do I need? I will be sewing only light 4oz upholstery grade leather mostly. How do I learn this machine. Right now it's been fully rebuilt and has a 1/2 hp motor with a small pulley on it. Like I said, I haven't even learned how to thread her yet! Any/all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello from Northwestern MN! I stumbled upon this forum and boy I wish I would have found you people earlier. I farm and have a small dog collar business on the side. I'm also very active with my dogs in areas of agility, flyball, dock diving, hunting, shed hunting and herding. I help others train their dogs too! I'm heavily into rescue work and have been known to foster up to 10-20 dogs a year. Outdoors is where I prefer to be, I'm a creative soul that loves to try new things. I tend to jump in and learn as I'm doing. My business is called Off Leash Collars. Since 2011, I have specialized in fabric dog collars and a little over ago, I started working with leather. I fell in LOVE with the leather medium and after much investment, I'm selling leather dog collars alongside my fabric ones. I also make memory leather cuffs and add a hand stamped name or saying to help people grieve the loss of a loved one. I am self taught and have learned mostly by trial and error. I have learned so much over the course of the year and I want to learn more. My craft has evolved so much and there are tricks to everything. I've searched for so many places to learn in person or a mentor since I'm such a hands on type person, but I have failed at finding any schooling type places. When I found this forum yesterday I was on cloud 9! My goal is to have a finished product to die for. Us crazy dog people love to deck out our pups! I'm needing help to make those tweaks in looking seriously professional, not just artisan. I have companies that are looking at my work and want to offer my collars for sale on their sites. Which brings up another topic of how much to charge. I've included a picture of one of my collars, all my other pictures are apparently too big to add

Hello to everyone on this interesting and friendly forum of leatherworkers. My name is Brett and I am hungry to learn about leatherworking as a hobby and a business. I live in the north western part of Virginia about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. I find myself in a career field where it is difficult to find a place for someone of my age (53) and with the lack of currently required skills. Not to mention I have hated what I do for the last 8+ years, which makes it hard to go to work and have any happiness. So I am exploring other options for making a living and I am looking for some advice as far as the leather business is concerned. I know hearing about one more newbie wanting to get into the leather business is probably the last thing a professional wants to hear. I have done what I would categorize as leather craft projects in the past. Belts and holsters mostly and all my hand no machines. Unfortunately I made my first holsters when I first became a gun owner (I had experience with firearms in the military)and did not know very much about either. That was 25 years ago and now I am an avid gun owner, shooter and hunter. So before I start spending real money I want to find out if this is this a business someone can break into and make a living? Thanks everyone and anyone who replies. Brett

Hello to everyone on this interesting and friendly forum of leatherworkers. My name is Brett and I am hungry to learn about leatherworking as a hobby and a business. I live in the north western part of Virginia about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. I find myself in a career field where it is difficult to find a place for someone of my age (53) and with the lack of currently required skills. Not to mention I have hated what I do for the last 8+ years, which makes it hard to go to work and have any happiness. So I am exploring other options for making a living and I am looking for some advice as far as the leather business is concerned. I know hearing about one more newbie wanting to get into the leather business is probably the last thing a professional wants to hear. I have done what I would categorize as leather craft projects in the past. Belts and holsters mostly and all my hand no machines. Unfortunately I made my first holsters when I first became a gun owner (I had experience with firearms in the military)and did not know very much about either. That was 25 years ago and now I am an avid gun owner, shooter and hunter. So before I start spending real money I want to find out if this is this a business someone can break into and make a living? Thanks everyone and anyone who replies. Brett

Hi All I thought I'd say Hello to all! New to this forum and look forward to my time here. Need to ask one question in the "How to" forum I have posted a forum post. But it has posted itself three times slight technical difficulty on my side. How do I delete two of the three posts as I have tried without any joy? Thanks

Hello there I've been a lurker for a little while. I'm a British Bagmaker - I mostly use British textiles, but I like to dabble with leather too. And I obviously like to use leather for my handles. Although I'm fairly new to leather working I'm already addicted. My tool box is already over flowing - I've developed a bit of a thing for vintage tools... Hope to say hello to you all soon - on a mission to learn more about skiving (of the leather type). Emma

Hello, strange new community of artisans and hobbyists! I've been brought to your community through some hours of searching for profitable crafting ventures to embark upon with my leftover materials from a recent renaissance faire costume. Of course, being the purist that I am (perhaps a bit of a perfectionist as well), I just had to make sure that the armor for my costume was actually armor, and not... well, a costume; this has left me with quite the expensive pile of 9oz tooling leather, pigskin suede, rabbit furs, waxed thread, rivets, blockout, dye, finish, weatherproofing, etc. So here I am, trying to fill in my spare time making my money back. Currently I need to make about $300 to match expenses, and I only have about 20% of my materials left over. Short of selling the actual armor peices I made (could probably make $300 on them alone, if only I had a will to sell them), I can only think to make some common leathercraft items out of my premium materials and sell them for a pretty penny. I, of course, understand that this means a quality production and not just quality materials, and, of course, I understand that my armor was indeed the very first leathercraft project I have ever attempted. That said, I feel I did a good job, and that my experience in other crafts combined with my innate perfectionism will allow me to make a fine product worth a sale. I do, of course, have one problem... I have no idea what to make. Of all the bows, bullroarers, slings, digeridoos (geez, never realized how big a hippy I am), electronic gadgets (that's better), flash games, websites, and etc. that I have made in my life, I have never once tried to make money on any of it. So it suffices to say that I am a level 0 newbie at selling things or business in general. And there enlies the reason for this blog... I will be posting images of my materials and past projects to begin with, and perhaps keeping my new projects logged here as a receptacle for criticism and advice. Enjoy!

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie from Canada.