*BRAND* new from Arkansas

[swark77]

Hey guys, I am a brand new leather worker from Arkansas. I have made three projects so far: a wallet for myself, a belt for my father, and a clutch for my girlfriend. I have made a plethora of mistakes so far and have learned a LOT. Very uncharacteristic of myself as I am a vigorous researcher on anything and everything that I do, I just jumped right in and bought a kit and 5 or so square feet of leather (in the wrong weight) and just went at it. I cut everything at different angles, did many steps out of order, cut things crooked, made the stitch groove far too close to the edge and just overall botched the WHOLE thing, but dang it its a functional wallet. Not only is it a functional wallet, but it feels good in my hand, its real leather not like the crap you buy in store and its wearing so very well in my pocket. Now, it is rough.. and ill put a picture at the end but its almost prehistoric looking. not as much anymore after wearing in my pocket, but it was rough. Learned a lot through making my dad's belt as well, mainly that the rivets were not long enough. Anyways, I have been looking on here for a few days and have already gotten some good insight and am looking forward to more. No website yet or anything of the sort because I want to improve my quality first, but that may be to come soon.  

[swark77]

[Rockoboy]

Looks better than some items in my 'finished but not good' box. You will improve with practice.

As suggested by @bikermutt07 and others, start out with a small item, like a key tag, bracelet, drink coaster, book mark etc. Make 10 or 20 of the same item. Do all the cutting, that will give you heaps of practice, as you do all the edge finishing, dye-ing etc of all those pieces, you will learn things about each process. Save all the pieces, including those that 'don't come out so well', they can be used to try out a dye colour or a stamp pattern. After making that many of one item, you can transfer what you have learnt in each process, to your next project.

Above all else, always have fun.

[Tugadude]

Off to a good start.  Now it is onward and upward as your skills grow.  Rockoboy gives good advice.  Repetition is key.  Have fun and the more you learn the more you will realize how much more there is to learn.

[bikermutt07]

That doesn't look any worse than my first few projects. Welcome aboard. What part of Arkansas are you in? I'm down in the Shreveport, LA. area.

[swark77]

On 4/26/2019 at 10:42 AM, bikermutt07 said:

That doesn't look any worse than my first few projects. Welcome aboard. What part of Arkansas are you in? I'm down in the Shreveport, LA. area.

Not far off. From Texarkana, living in Arkadelphia at the moment. 

Thanks everyone for the advice. Working on new stuff at the moment waiting on a few more packages to get some other materials in.