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Hi Everyone, I am pretty new to this and still learning tricks of the trade, honestly the reason I got into it was all because I was searching for a pair of nice pair of soft sole moccasins and couldn’t find ones I like so, I decided I would make my own. My first attempt honestly did not go well I learned a lot about what not to do and things I can do differently second pair was made from pieces of suede I found at hobby lobby, I can’t count how many times I stitched ,unstitched ,modified my pattern and did it again, after about 2 weeks of working on them on and off I was finally done, and I’m pretty sure I work them consistently the entirety of the whole COVID lockdown, my next few pairs were for my girlfriend and at the time 2 children. After wearing them around for sometime people started to show some interest in them and I had a few requests for some custom designs ( side note, I don’t know about you guys but the moment you hand the finished product to the customer is absolutely terrifying, but seeing the reactions when they saw them and put them on was one of the coolest feelings I have ever felt, since then I haven’t had a lot of time but I managed to make a few other pairs I still need to post on to my Reddit which I will link my forum because I have no idea how to get pictures on here haha but any input or advice would be gratefully appreciated, thanks for reading! https://www.reddit.com/r/BessMoccasins/

I am a new member to this website, and also a fairly new leatherworker (about 5 years or so). Admittedly this is also my first forum post of any kind. Let me start by saying that I think this site is a great idea, and has been extremely helpful to me (which is why I decided to sign up). The amount of knowledge so freely shared here is amazing. I can't thank everyone who contributes enough for that. The topic I propose is this (forgive me if I am doing this wrong, or this isn't an intended purpose): From reading through posts, I have noticed a lot of tools, techniques, tricks from multi-talented individuals. What I propose is a discussion about innovation. I do not have the means or the tools to produce new and innovative tools, and quite possibly techniques. I would like to get a discussion going about tool and technique innovation going. Perhaps someone has an idea for a new tool that would be useful, or a technique that they would like to try, but can't because of limited means (no machine shop, lack or the tools to try it). What I see coming from this post is this: New ideas: A tool that someone cannot create but may prove useful that someone has the ability to make, test and ultimately gain use from, hopefully manufacture at some point. Seemingly new ideas: Something that seems fresh, but someone has tried before, but didn't quite work as expected. Perhaps they can provide some insight as to why. A technique using current tools: A what if question, but maybe someone doesn't have the tools to do it, but would like to know what might happen if they did. The results that may come from it. I apologize if this post is too wide reaching, feel free to direct me to a post that may have already covered this (I tried to look), or flag it as needed. To start it off, I bought a roller beveler from Jeremiah Watt. I like the idea, but wondered if a tool with interchangeable wheels, like embossing or overstitch, with different patterns (crosshatch, lined, smooth, different angles/sizes) similar to the multiple beveling stamps available would be something useful. The problem I see, on top of it not being quite the same as a fully stamped piece, is depth and contrast. Any thoughts, contributions, criticism is welcome, and I appreciate it. Mark (I promise any future posts will be shorter)