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Hello, everyone! My name is Riley and I am the proprietor of Alfred Leatherworks! I've been a member of this forum since 2014, however it seems I have never formally introduced myself here. I am a disabled Air Force veteran, having spent seven years in the USAF as an intelligence analyst. Since leaving the military I have had a somewhat difficult time readjusting to civilian life, however in 2015 I began using my Post 9/11 GI Bill to work towards a business degree. In December 2018 I graduated from Texas A&M University San Antonio with my bachelors of business in business administration with a focus in marketing. My goals regarding my presence on this forum are to network, chat with other people who are as passionate about leather as me, to learn new tips and tricks, and to occasionally offer some advice and answers to other folks. I began working with leather as a small child in my father's taxidermy shop. He often had people bring in a whole deer and only ask for the antlers on a plaque back. The surplus of deerskin led to him learning to work with leather (and me getting an awesome deerskin backpack for school!), and by that I began to learn because if he was in the shop I was out there too..."helping", lol. I got in the way a lot, I'm sure, but I learned to love helping him make wallets, bags, backpacks, and all sorts of other neat things. Years later, while in the military, I found out a mentor of mine was also a saddler and I began spending a lot of time in his shop learning from him. I would never, at this point, call myself a professional saddler, but I can certainly do repair work at this point. After leaving the service I found another leather working mentor, this time specializing in leather garments, accessories, and leather quilting (apparently, a big deal in some parts of the world). I have a rather varied bit of leather crafting training, and more than a few years of "dabbling" and "hobby-crafting". As time has gone on I have chosen to try and start up a full-time leather shop as an enjoyable way to spend my day and earn some supplemental income since my disability stipend only goes so far.

Hi! My name is Jon. I am the manager of a growing leather shop in Castroville,TX called Spartan Custom Leather. We are being blessed with an overabundance of work orders and are searching for anyone in the San Antonio, Castroville, Hondo, Lytle, Natalia area that would like to make some money making quality leather products. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our shop number is 830-388-1907 Thank you

I'm looking to get rid of my consew 227. I've had it for a year now, used it to make bags and wallets. I'm in need of something that can sew thicker leather, as the 227 is comfortable at 1/4 inch. I just had it serviced at IMSCO in san antonio, and it's working smooth. New hook, stitch regulator works. It's on a custom stand with casters. $1,000.00 or best offer. I can deliver up to an hour away for an extra $50. Anything more and you'll need to come get it yourself. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c287/purezit/IMG_20150103_170309539.jpg -Alden

Greetings everyone! My name is Paul Alfred, and I am a new member here. I took an interest in leatherworking from my father, who used to run a taxidermy shop. Often he would have extra buckskin left over and would use it to make wallets, pouches, bags, backpacks, etc. I loved watching him make these things, and I enjoyed "helping" (often it was less than helpful, I'm sure). Years later, while I was in the US Air Force, I found out that a mentor of mine was also a saddler. When I mentioned my interest in leatherworking he began taking me to his shop and showing me the ropes. I enjoyed working with him, and with the leather, and I learned much over the next three years before deployments, and life, took me away to far and distant places. I have an interest in two types of leatherworking primarily. First is Medieval and Celtic leatherworking, for use at SCA and Renaissance Festival events. I have no intention of making leather armor (cool stuff, but not my thing). Instead, I enjoy making more practical things; bags, pouches, belts, book covers, etc. I also enjoy drawing Celtic knotwork, and many of my bits of artwork are drawn for leatherworking projects. My second interest in leatherworking is for reenacting, be it Celtic/Viking (or possibly Roman) items, or American Civil War and Texas Frontier items. I am starting to learn how to do classic Western leatherwork tooling, and hope to be able to create pieces for SASS members as well (I have a few friends in the SASS who are kindly asking me to learn this, lol). As of yet, I do not have a website. I have one under construction, though it will be at least a few weeks before it is up. I do have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/alfredleatherworks), a Google+ (https://plus.google.com/u/1/113615960789211711186/posts), and a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/AlfredLworks). Once the website is up I'll post it here for y'all to take a look at. Also, I thought I'd post a couple pictures of me, just for fun.