I think I bought the wrong type of leather to practice on? Or....

[TestTube]

Alright. Thanks, man.

And please, by all means, ramble on if you have anything else to add. You're being very helpful. =)

I will wait before I make any purchases, but what do you think yourself:

If I were to buy some 3-4oz leather to make my covers, pen holders/cases with, do you think that this thickness will be adequate for other things that I listed? Like, the cover for my kindle ebook reader? The laptop case? etc.

Edited April 6, 2020 by TestTube

[toxo]

On 4/5/2020 at 3:08 AM, TestTube said:

SO...What should I do here?

Did I buy the wrong type of leather? Are my tools garbage? Is my technique terrible (well I'm sure it is), a mixture of the 3? Something else?

I need some help here because I really want to get into this, I have ideas for a ton of different projects I want to do but I really don't want to break the bank just practicing, or wasting my time and money and then end up giving up.

Thanks in advance for any responses. =)

There's always a way. I made this from just the same leather. My leather shop has a bin full of sheep/calf/goat sized leathers, mainly garment/upholstery grade And I really enjoyed designing and making this huge tote.

I backed it with cheap pigskin lining and it lovely and soft. If the backing is a different colour just leave an allowance to fold the outer edges so the lining doesn't show. I even made a bag for a young lady and reversed the same leather as lining so it had a kind of suede on the inside.

Edited April 6, 2020 by toxo

[zuludog]

OK, here are my comments on leather thicknesses for your work -

2 - 3oz = approx 1mm for pen slips, card holders, wallets

3 - 4oz = approx 1,5mm for pen slips, card holders, wallets and smaller electronic gizmos like mobile phones and Kindle

5 - 6oz = approx 2mm for journal covers and laptop & kindle covers

I suggest you make a few things with the bag of mixed leather you already have, and see how you go on. Then buy some 2mm leather to make the journal cover, as that seems to be the thing you would most like to do at the moment; and 1,5mm leather for the pen slips 

But before you buy anything, ask the suppliers. Making covers for laptops, journals, & Kindles is very popular and they must have sold hundreds of pieces of leather for that, so tell them what you want, and they should sort you out. I only know of Tandy and Rocky Mountain Leather Supply in the USA, but others will come along and make their own recommendations

A single shoulder of each would probably be the cheapest option to start with, but the supplier might have offers or other suggestions.

Personally, I would buy ready dyed veg tan as that saves buying dyes and messing around. the disadvantage is that you have only the one colour, so it would probably be some sort of mid brown or tan, unless you have something else in mind; the websites will show the range of colours available. But as you will see on videos you could choose natural veg tan and dye it yourself, the choice is up to you

While you're waiting, get watching those videos!

Edited April 6, 2020 by zuludog

[Frodo]

Go to this site and buy this item.   it will give you an idea of  the different size leather 

 

https://www.springfieldleather.com/2lbs-Lightweight-Veg-Tan-Scrap

[TonySFLDLTHR]

52 minutes ago, Frodo said:

Go to this site and buy this item.   it will give you an idea of  the different size leather 

 

https://www.springfieldleather.com/2lbs-Lightweight-Veg-Tan-Scrap

Exactly what I would have suggested to practice and learn with.

If you would like some veg color options
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Assorted-Color-Veg-tan-Remnant-5LBS

Then this is some bundles we put together for just this type of thing.
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Journal-Makers-Oil-Tan-Bundle
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Special-Journal-Makers-Bundle

[zuludog]

The journal bundles look pretty good to me. I'd buy one of each

Oh, and it looks like I've found another US supplier

[TestTube]

2 hours ago, Frodo said:

Go to this site and buy this item.   it will give you an idea of  the different size leather 

 

https://www.springfieldleather.com/2lbs-Lightweight-Veg-Tan-Scrap

 

1 hour ago, TonySFLDLTHR said:

Exactly what I would have suggested to practice and learn with.

If you would like some veg color options
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Assorted-Color-Veg-tan-Remnant-5LBS

Then this is some bundles we put together for just this type of thing.
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Journal-Makers-Oil-Tan-Bundle
https://www.springfieldleather.com/Special-Journal-Makers-Bundle

Oh my, I'm so glad I signed up for this forum and asked for some help haha..

I'm definitely going to order some of one of those suggestions sometime today.

I have this image in my head of me being someone that only buys natural vegetable-tanned leather (uncolored) and just a bunch of different dyes lying around instead of buying stuff pre-dyed.

^Is there anything wrong with that like it not being cost-effective, or something else?

[LatigoAmigo]

32 minutes ago, TestTube said:

^Is there anything wrong with that like it not being cost-effective, or something else?

Some of the rich colors seen in vat-dyed leathers cannot be duplicated with a bottle of dye. 

[zuludog]

3 hours ago, TestTube said:

I have this image in my head of me being someone that only buys natural vegetable-tanned leather (uncolored) and just a bunch of different dyes lying around instead of buying stuff pre-dyed.

^Is there anything wrong with that like it not being cost-effective, or something else?

Yes, so much to learn, to do, and to try, all at once - welcome to the fun!

The two journal bundles look as though they have a good range of the usual sorts of leather colours - shades of brown, tan, possibly black and grey. I'd say start with those and see how you go on - they have, after all, been professionally dyed

If, after that, you want different colours or fancy dyeing your own you could get the bundle of natural veg tan scrap, or a larger piece for a particular job, perhaps when you've gained some experience

Incidentally, natural veg tan can look attractive if it is left undyed and just greased. It mellows to a sort of dull yellow/mustard colour

[TestTube]

I actually, just for now purchased only the 2lbs of light veg tanned leather scraps to mess around with. I was put off by some of the reviews for the journaling leather they had for 50 bucks. Lets see what comes in the mail and also I ordered almost 250$ worth of tools so far that I need to wait on as well so, let me see what comes in and let me see what I can do with it all and I will go from there.  I'm just going to return that original set I purchased considering I replaced just about every part in higher quality, and then some.

In the meantime, I've been watching a TON of videos (like, way more than I normally could, considering we're all locked away in our homes at the moment, at least in the USA)

Thank you guys so much for all the help, I'm already in love with this forum and I'm here to stay. If anyone else wants to chime in with an opinion or suggestion or whatever, feel free by all means, in the meantime I'm gonna do some more research and brainstorm some more project ideas. =)

Edited April 6, 2020 by TestTube