First project

[Issy]

Hello everyone,

Looking for a new hobby I recently started working with leather.  I bought a piece of finished leather to play around with  and decided to make a small bag that centralises keys, pens, etc, all the small stuff that a girl continually looses in her huge handbag!  In retrospect it would probably have been better to start with veg tan (impossible to burnish this one, but I had no idea what I was buying, it just felt nice) but it's been a good learning curve nevertheless.  I'm happy with the cuts and pretty pleased with the stitching on the front which is quite straight, but the stitching on the back came out disappointingly crooked. I glued the edges together before stitching so I'm assuming I didn't do a good job at keeping the stitching fork straight (even though I paid particular attention to it, or so I thought).  Anybody have any other ideas what I did wrong?

I also made a matching cat key cover which is kinda cute  

 

Any feedback to improve my skills are welcome.  I am going to use kote to finish the edges (waiting for the delivery) and will probably shorten the straps and add a press stud.  

 

Thanks in advance!

[TonyRV2]

I think for a first project this came out quite well.  The only change I would have personally made would have been to use a snap on the strap.

 

[Tugadude]

Yes, the cat is cute!  When hand stitching pliable leather like that a couple things can happen.  One is that it is tricky to pull the threads with even tension without buckling the edges excessively.  The second is (and that might have happened here) is that you can get a wobble in the backside.  You said you paid attention to it, but it is a skill like anything else and you will get better over time.  Your cutting looks great and overall the stitching is decent, especially for a first project.  You might have slipped a couple times with your needle priority?  Look at the stitches towards the middle.  Hard to tell.

What chisel were you using?  If it is not sharp, that could do it too.  Also, what surface were you working on when you made the holes?  That could also make a difference.  Too much give isn't helpful.

[Issy]

Thanks Tugadude, I'm using a piece of soft wood with leather on top so I don't damage the chisel so i suppose that could very well have caused a wobblen (brand new seiwa, so I can't blame the chisel).  I'll pay attention to that in the future, and I suppose it's not impossible that I slipped up with the needle priority either!  

Thanks both for your feedback!

 

 

[bikermutt07]

Great effort. I'm sure you will improve greatly with practice.