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Hello everyone. I hope you're doing well. I'm hoping for some advice in solving my zip installation problems as shown below. This is the first zip I've fitted, and although it turned out ok, it's just ok, and needs to be better. In brief, and for some background, the case you see below was hand stitched with a 2oz leather exterior, a stiffener board, and then a veg tan lining of approx 3oz. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice as to how best to fit a zipper that wraps around the sides of a product, specifically where the zipper and product meet at 90 degrees. More specifically, I'm looking for advice as to how to tackle corners in this situation. I realise in my model that I've attached the zip to close to the edge of the product at the corners, which explains why the gap between the front and back cover are not even all the way around. This I can solve in version two. What I'm not sure about is how to avoid those puckers / pleats at the corners. When I examine commercially available products like this, I notice that there do not seem to be any pleats at the corners, and the zipper fits (in many cases) perfectly. Secondly, when making something like this, how do you all ensure that the outer and inner components align perfectly, so that your stitches are equidistant from the edges? In my case, I pre-marked my stitches, punch a few using my awl, and used a handful of needles to align the components. This was semi-successful. Does anyone have a better solution? I've often been able to solve problems like this by finding a YouTube video or two showing a professional making something similar. This time however I'm stuck for resources. Help! Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some suggestions. Nick www.madebynick.co.uk

I am in the market for a flask, and I plan to make a custom leather wrap as well. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get any results from a search asking for "high quality, plain flasks". When researching flasks of good quality, everything I get is either engraved or otherwise decorated, or already has a leather wrap on it. Wasted money, me thinks. So, I am here asking anyone with experience making custom flask wraps if they know of a brand or model of high quality to use as a blank. Obviously it would be nice to have the lip on the top and bottom to make the wrap more seemless, but the most important thing is, of course, that it's robust and reliable. I don't plan to buy more than one flask, and I don't want to end up with something that's dented or cross-threaded right away because it's cheap. For this reason, I figured I would ask before I buy. Thanks a bunch for reading, and another bunch for responding! EDIT As I continue to search, I have discovered 'Top Shelf Flasks'. Of course the marketing says good things about them and even includes some real facts like 5mm thick 304 stainless construction. However, user reviews for flasks are scarce and everywhere I go, these flasks are priced between $1 and $5, even though the "suggested retail price" is $20. That pricing makes me feel like it's over-marketed junk... information is so scarce on this topic it's killin' me.

Here are some leather mug wraps that I've recently made. Edges are done with an embossing roll, and then dyed / painted using artist brushes. The center, personalized parts are a combination of stamps and tooling with dying / coloring brushed on and usually some antique paste. Various types of dyes are used for the larger areas. Finish is usually saddle-sheen or resolene, front and back. The celtic beard pullers on Tom's wrap are a traditional celtic form that he really likes, and the lettering and tree are a silver gilding. I have to give props to BDAZ for his laser printer transfer technique for the beard pullers. I could not have managed the detail there any other way. Bill

Greetings to everybody! Here i want to show some little expirience about creating boots. This is my first shoes i ever made. I very much like older version of Merrell shoes like chameleon series, which in production no more and i thought why not to make them by myself. It was interesting job that i done. Everybody are welcome to watch result on youtube.If you have some questions, i will answer with pleasure. to be continuum......

Greetings to everybody! Here i want to show some little expirience about creating boots. This is my first shoes i ever made. I very much like older version of Merrell shoes like chameleon series, which in production no more and i thought why not to make them by myself. It was interesting job that i done. Everybody are welcome to watch result on youtube.If you have some questions, i will answer with pleasure.