Langsuir Report post Posted March 20, 2015 Hi everyone! Just found this forum and it looks like an amazing resource with contributions from so many knowledgable people! So glad I found it! I am very interested in starting leather work. I have worked with leather around 6 years ago for a replica costume I made but it was very much a guided project with very in depth tutorials on how to make pieces, or with peices sold in kit form so I just had to dye and put things together. While it was fairly easy, due to this, (for even a beginner) I'm still very proud of what I 'made'. I unfortunately had a bad time with an ex partner and all my hard work and lots of money invested was for nothing ...he actually kept the costume when he threw me out and sold it to a friend (still very devestated about this!), I sold my few bits of tools I had and am now costume less! SO!!! I am determined to maybe get a bit of my costume back eventually but I would like to start with making some simple items to enjoy and learn and also get a few basic tools again for general leather work. Maybe some cuffs and simple items to begin with. If anyone could point me towards a good thread for a beginners 'kit' or and good basic items to start out with if really appreciate that, I did try and search but a thousand people seem to have asked the same questions I'm sure you are all sick of replying in person over and over to the same question lol! Anyway sorry for the hugemongous post and life story and hope to contribute here myself some day :D Becky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King's X Report post Posted March 23, 2015 Hello Becky and welcome to the forum! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OdinUK Report post Posted March 29, 2015 Hi and welcome from Herefordshire. If its tooling leather that youre interested in, I could send you some small scraps to practice on. Many on here seem to have started with the Tandy beginner kit. The tools arn't the best but they're ok to start with and you can gradually replace the tools with quality ones as you progress. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pip Report post Posted March 31, 2015 Hey there, welcome from Wirral. Glad you found your way here. Always bad, loosing something, don't let it eat you up. A wise friend once said to me "it is like drinking a poison and hoping the other person gets ill". They sold it to a friend, the lesson here is it was worth selling and more importantly buying! and the next one you make will be better, the one after that better still. Well met OdinUK! I have some spare awl shafts, made by a great man and leatherworker from the Wirral called Hugh, who gave them to me, I can spare a few they will need handles a stropping to a mirror finish. When you say costume are you larping, re-enactng, cosplay or fetish? I will have a look I am sure I have a few bits of scrap leather knocking around that might make nice bracers, not beautiful but good to practice with and maybe a cowboy cuff pattern somewhere that may help with shaping. PM and I will send. I started with a Stanley knife, (i now use a round/head knife), a ten piece tooling set from le prevo, some harness needles, thread and beeswax, an edge beveller (no 2 I think) a home made beetle, made from hornbeam or beech I forget which, a pair of dividers and an adjustable stitch groover and a home made awl, from a sharpened nail. I was lucky and have had three really generous people help me out with tools. It is a big outlay. Firstly, make yourself a strop, to keep you tools sharp it will save much frustration and cuts. Plenty of advice on here to help. Pip Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
