Pocket Organizer (My first thing!)

[Deemer]

Motocouture, I end up using banana leaves for everything - backdrops, coasters, gift wrap, plate liners, aluminum foil substitute for baking - one man's daily grind is another's novelty

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement and I'm flattered it's something that some of you want to copy. Hopefully you'll share your versions. I'd love to see what changes you make, and what a more skilled set of hands can do with my base idea. Big thanks for all of the suggestions and pointers. Bikermutt07, I think I will try to make a screwdriver beveller. If I could make it work worth a damn, it would be a pretty awesome tool to have in my collection. If that doesn't work out (getting someone to part with any tool is a tall order here) I'll probably pull the iron out of the hand plane and give garypl's idea a shot, though I think it's limited to straight edges. 

Mistakes. The only reason I don't completely suck at any of the things that I don't completely suck at is because I've messed up those very things so many times I've just ran out of ways to screw them up. I am, however, always on the prowl for a new way to fail, or at least give a time tested method another go. It's nice to hear that my shortcomings aren't atypical and will likely be overcome with a steady hand and some invested time. Practice, practice, practice practice... I want to make a neck strap for my camera, and I have a request from a friend for the same, I think I'll add some aesthetic stitching to those just to work on thread tension and working with chisels. After reading more about stitching, I think I need to work up some sort of stitching horse, and maybe scour the island again for needles with eyes big enough for heavy thread, but not so large I need something to pull them through the stitch holes. I don't recall a single stitching article mentioning heavy reliance upon vice grips

 

[garypl]

5 hours ago, Deemer said:

After reading more about stitching, I think I need to work up some sort of stitching horse, and maybe scour the island again for needles with eyes big enough for heavy thread, but not so large I need something to pull them through the stitch holes. I don't recall a single stitching article mentioning heavy reliance upon vice grips

Deemer, if you size the holes to the needle and thread you are using you should rarely have to use pliers to pull the needles through the leather.  Sometimes with thicker leather you may need some help pulling the needles at the end when you are finishing stitching by doubling back through your stitch line.

Best to use your awl to make the stitching slots and give the awl a twist to open the slot a bit - makes more room to push the needles through.  Hammer the stitch line when you finish and the holes should close up around the thread.

All the best - Gary

[Killerwork]

Wow, this is a nice first piece! I just started my journey into leather work myself and just completed my first work. Your first is way more intricate than the corner bookmark I made for my wife. I will post pictures when I get home from work on my on thread. But I think like me, you see more flaws than anyone else! It gets better, I hope for my sake!

[Sporty1]

Great job for the first project. That's a neat "thinking out of the box" idea. Keep it up!