Noob From Bay Area, Ca

[JanC]

Hey guys. I'm about a week, and two visits to Tandy in to this craft and so far loving it! My initial intention was to build some watch straps but as I wait for my hardware to come in, figured I'd try other things.

Here's my first completed piece. A pouch for my Samsung Galaxy S II with cardholder. I've only a single shoulder I picked up for cheap to learn on. I've only rubbed some beeswax on it and hoping to get a nice patina. Going for a nice minimalist appearance. I suppose, my only real question is how do you guys get curved cuts? Is there a tool that helps? I originally tried to cut a rounded opening, but had to cut that portion off because it was so bad.

Anyhow, here it is:

Any and all tips/feedback is appreciated. Cheers.

[Mijo]

Welcome JanC, from another Bay Area resident. I've just started handsewing recently, so I'm pretty much still a noob myself, but the holes for your stitching really seem to stand out. I don't know if it's b/c your not using a stitch groover or maybe the needles your using are just too big or maybe it's the size of your thread but the holes look excessively large to me. Other than that it looks nice.

As far as your question regarding cutting curves, I haven't done that myself so I'm no help at all. However, I just received a circle cutter from MisterArt (recommended by another forum member on another thread) which I planning on using to cut circles of leather. I was thinking that the circle cutter could also be used to cut rounded ends

[TTcustom]

I have circle templates. Barge cement can size and small rubber cement can size. I have a few drive punches cut in half too. and a strap end cutter. sometimes I have resorted to using my dividers to scribe a line that I cut to.

You are off to a great start!

[Andrew Chee]

Considering that's your first piece, that's really not bad at all. Very clean lines and clean cuts. As for curves, what kind of curves are you talking about? Turn semi-circular curves or wider flowing curves. For wider curves, get yourself something called a clicker knife. They have disposable blades that are pretty heavy duty. You can get curved blades for them that cut curves pretty well. Just draw the curve and (holding the knife as perpendicular as you can) follow the line. For tight circular cuts, the cleanest way I found was to use something like a dime or some small circular piece of metal as a guide. Don't try to cut along the curve. Get a craft knife with a flat chisel blade and cut wedges straight down. The smaller the wedges you cut away from e leather, the smoother your curve will be. Not sure if I'm describing that sufficiently.

Andrew