First few months of leather crafting

[Hydrangeaceae]

Here's most of my first projects.. I forgot to include  my first ever project, made with a knife, scratch awl and needles as only tools. Tools really make a difference. 

It's not a lot, but then I'm not including the mountain of practice pieces. Advice and critique is highly encouraged!

Right now I'm mostly having issues with glue lines, and that every attempt at skiving thinner leather makes it look like my leather's had a rat infestation. Really hoping go get that down soon so I can start to try on some more comprehensive projects.

[bikermutt07]

Glad you're moving along. It looks like you have the saddle stitch almost down. The wallet had some nice runs of it. Then trailed off. Take a little something and tap those stitches flat. It instantly make them look even better.

Keep having fun.

[Thor]

I'm sure there are tons of videos on how to hand stitch and you just need more practice. Just remember to make equal pulls all around and if your right side goes up, the other side will go down. I'm pretty sure George has a video on hand stitching on his youtube feed somewhere https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSI4IrhtSvYDKuDX6fYgiQ.

3 oz is a little heavy for a wallet's interior.

On your dog collar you want to ad a whip stitch next to the d-ring for extra strength. There's a lot of stress on those stitches. Depending on the dog I would consider adding rivets. 

Using the right glue goes a long way. For most products I'm using Renia glue. Since your in Denmark I'm thinking that this is the main brand for leather crafts there as well.

On an item like a collar where there's some wear and tear you want to make a stitch groove so your stitches are sitting down and don't wear off as easy.

[Hydrangeaceae]

@bikermutt07. Thank you, and yes the stitching is getting better, at least when it's with a chisel. Awl work is still very much a work in progress. I actually did tap down the stitches, but they sorta popped up again. Any idea why that is? 

 

@Thor. 3 oz is definitely thick, which is also why I'm hoping to figure out skiving. I think it would help. 

I'm actually almost ready to stitch up collar #3. I would have thought a whip stitch would be more vulnerable since it's all out in the open? Luckily my dog doesn't pull at all so in any case durability isn't that big an issue. 

Renia is a popular brand. I've tried klebfest and colle de cologne, and also some pattex and dana glue. They've all seemed really thick making thin layers hard, except for the dana glue (used on the wallet), but then that came undone after a day. Which glue do you use? 

And thank you for all the advice

[Thor]

That's the one I'm using the most:

For smaller stuff I'm using Kövulfix. It's really just important to let the glue get dry to touch before you put the two pieces together.

[bikermutt07]

I use this stuff.

[Tugadude]

Biggest thing that stands out to me is the nice burnishing.  Good job on that.  Skiving gives a lot of folks fits.  Some leather skives easier than others too, so there are variables to contend with.  Practice, practice, practice.

[Hydrangeaceae]

@Tugadude. Thank you so much ^^ I really enjoy burnishing which also means being very focused on how to improve. Not a bad thing but still nice to get a compliment.

I'll probably have to be more patient with skiving. I hadn't considered different leathers being easier/harder, but that makes sense. Grain tightness for one thing I could imagine having an effect. 

Today I started trying out making the heart pendant with leather filler, using same technique as when making a handle. Lots and lots of skiving practice there luckily.