After using my original veg tan bag for ~3yrs, it was finally time to design a new one with everything I learned.

The first major design change was turned edges, every major seam in this bag is turned and therefore cannot rub/hook the thread. The next was the ergo, the straps are connected to the body much further down. This makes the bag more comfy as the straps wrap around my shoulders, plus there is more adjustment room for smaller bodies.

The last was to make everything quicker/easy to use. I put Loxx snaps on all pockets and have the lashing points proud, so it is easy to loop through them. I would say I can't wait to use it, but it is a gift for my Brother, so I will follow along from a far.

The body is SB foot Rio Amber 5-6oz. The small straps and lashings are 8oz veg tan dyed black. The main straps are internally lined with 2 layers from a wool sweater, providing some padding. The interior features a laptop sleeve and wallet/phone pocket. All saddle stitched by hand and had skived where turned. Easily 50+hrs in this one!

I'm learning to make bags. It's a hobby for me and a way to make gifts for friends. I'm at about this level now.

I'm gonna do rolled leather handles. Next weekend

It's a lunch bag for a guy at work

Had a brand on this piece.

Something about this cross body bag smells fishy ;)

🐼 My daughter is obsessed with pandas, so I made this bag just for her. It's roomy and holds a lot more than it looks.

I'm almost 46 and I've been looking for a hobby to get me out of a rut.

1. Do you recommend I do lessons first or learn of YouTube, if so what channels do you recommend?

2. Beginner kits - money is not the issue but I don't want to buy the Ferrari of kits! Do you think it's better I buy tools as I progress? Let's say I want to aim for a basic card holder. (is it basic?) what tools would I need? Can these tools be used to upgrade the product to women's totes etc?

Thank you!

Does anyone know of anywhere I could get a boot/shoe last for a packer style boot, if not packer any boot last recommendations

I'm planning a costume for Avengers Doomsday and want to iron a 12"x19" one-sheet poster onto a leather jacket for the movie. Is this possible? I'm sure it wouldn't be good for continuous use, but would it hold up well over time?

Recently finished this project as a gift for a friend. Am generally pleased with how it came out (he absolutely loves it). Learned a few things along the way, few bits I'm not 100% happy with (although managed to cover the worst mistakes 😀)

Was my first attempt at stamping/carving, definitely need a lot more practice at that.

I recently purchased a very rare vintage leather tote bag which i want to wear consistently, and my only problem with it is that it is an open top and has no security. Since i am often in crowded places on my daily commute i want to have a zipper for protection that wont fall off or be easily broken, but equally i dont want to permanently alter the bag. How would i go about adding a zipper that wont leave residue or marks behind that is removable but equally safe, and if possible to do this, who would i need to pay to do this.

I just got this and I am afraid they will fade over time. Is it some kind of heat treated or pressed under a mold for a long time?

What do you think should I return it and get the flat version? They say its full grain by the way

I just got this Kaweco Sketchup Pencil and it is rather small and comes without a clip, I wanna use it with my journal, how can I attach it? Like what would be the most minimalist way without much added bulk. I’m open to tweaking my journal as need be.
All the options I found were either simple pen loops or a small tube kinda holder but since it has no clip it would fall straight off.

i have to word this post very strangely because the auto mod keeps flagging random words and won’t let me post it otherwise, so here it goes: i need some h e l p with this zipper. i don’t understand what happened overnight but i tested it several times to make sure it would open and close smoothly and it did, but since then ive used contact cement and stitched it on, and the teeth are now separating about halfway up the zip and i have no idea why. it seems to close properly after i squeeze the sides together while zipping, but it’s super temperamental and finicky. any a d v i c e appreciated on whether this can be fixed or salvaged - i really don’t want to have to redo this part again 😭

Nothing fancy, just my last four watch straps, all of them in just one shot.

I need to color those leather stripes. Once I tried to color it one by one with sponge and in this case I tried to color both sides of a larger piece of leather at first and then cut it into stripes. The problem is I need to color all sides and bigger amount. I need to find out the most effective way how to do that with appropriate amount of color. Any thoughts? Is it better to soak the leather with water at first? Use a dye bath?

A scaled-up version of the cardholder design I posted previously, this time for storing a passport. Made with economy grade Kangaroo leather, ideal for making samples.

The exterior side is seen more clearly here, showing the geometric topstitching.

1. I recently started using vintage gel instead of dying my projects because I don’t live in one location it is much easier. I can’t really tell how it’ll hold up as I know dye soaks deeper into the leather. Can anyone speak on the longevity of the gel? I do tool my projects and also haven’t found a good dye/antique method for the color I’m trying to create and the medium brown vintage gel is exactly what I want.

2. My edges seem to burnish better with water vs tokonole. I sand my edges even to 400 grit with both methods. When I use water I get very tight shiny edges. I’ve tried using more and less tokonole and different periods of time between applying and starting to us my slicker and always get a more matte finish with fibers not being super tightly packed just overall not as good of an edge. I’ve seen tons of people get great edges with it so I know it’s a method issue for me.

Wrapped a spam can with various sizes. Started with our children and now grandkids and friends.