Mental Block?

[Dumfist]

Hello, fellow leathercrafters, associates, and friends-to-be.

I can't figure out what's going on with my leatherworking.

Last fall, I started out making a belt from a buffalo strip and buckle I ordered from Springfield Leather. It was for my dad, for Christmas. I sewed around the edge for decoration, practicing my awl usage, using the overstitch wheel, and it was pretty interesting, so I decided to take on leatherworking as a hobby, with the hope to try more complex things after I'd honed my skills.

Well all I've really made so far have been belts and dog collars. I've given away all but two of these, which I was pretty much forced to take money for. I've just wanted to practice and learn techniques, and make friends happy.

Then I had a thought of "lets try a wallet!" Now none of my items were made from kits, and all but the first belt strip have been cut from double shoulders. I've read almost every page of the wallets forum, and studied countless posts in the leatherworker conversation board and how do I do that board. Still, I really seem to have bit off more than I can chew.

I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to reinvent the wheel on the interior parts design. I am doing my own thing because that's what I enjoy doing more than tooling, is the design and fabrication. However, I just seem to have lost steam lately. It's become a headache trying to draw patterns, and scan them, and refine them, and print them, and then put them together, and refine them, ad nauseam.

Fabrication wise, I've been running into so many walls in trying to skive lambskin, trying (and mostly failing) to skive mission pigskin, learning my skife is a piece of junk, the replacement blades aren't even sharp, blahblahblah. I've tried making something different to get my head back into leatherwork, and I just don't feel as interested anymore.

I don't know what to do. I love this stuff, and I feel like completing the wallet project would rejuvenate me. But it's just so damn hard.

Anyone else felt this way? How can I get past it? Sorry for the long, rambling post, but thanks for your time if you read it.

James

[stanly]

Congrats for trying to come up with orig designs!

Next sounds like giving up, but considering frustration u mention, why not get a "top notch" wallet kit (least expensive on market) and use it as a template. This gets u past the design part and into tooling and assembly.

I'll go even further and point out that most orig designs draw on earlier work(s) and so are not really "clean sheet".

skive lambskin? Mine is so soft that would almost be like pinning Jello to the wall.

[papadanny]

james,

I know what you mean. I call it my "leather yips" kind of like what golfers get when they are afraid to putt. So many options and exciting things to learn and do and so little experience to do them with equals frustration lock. I went back to a simple pattern that I had made and started modifying it and had success and took back off from there. This group of folks are very helpful and will help you over this issue,

[Dumfist]

Thanks for the kind replies.

I'm still going at this wallet idea, but I got sidetracked. I'm building a jig to evenly fold over edges, since I was able to figure out my skiving on the mission pig.

Maybe I'm just trying to avoid the actual leather, too. Just a bit.

Stanly, the lamb skiving is a headache, for sure, and until I get better in general I'll put my little lambs into a drawer where they will stay safe. I have been studying a lot of prebuilt wallets, and I think I have most of the design worked out, but it sure is a process!

Danny, I'll try doing something small and simple, more to work on my skills than to make something for someone.