skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I have been hobbying with leather for about 10 years now. I don't make too much, don't really have the time or the money for a sewing machine that would make it go so much faster. I have made 4 bags in the last month, quite a record for me. I had made a bunch of AA maglite belt holsters, about 10 which I gave away. 2 of the recent bags were for 2 of my sons. 1 was a rather large experiment that turned out nicely, and the other I fancy as perfect for holding a dreidel I made it out of boredom with no real intention. I will try to get pics of all of them, past and present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 A valentines present for my oldest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 My large experiment. Which coincidentally fit a bag of jabo classics I had perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 My "dreidel" bag. So called because as I finished it inside out I realized it would fit one perfectly. Apparently bison leather is kosher, but it is currently holding my mini binder clips which are invaluable when sewing leather and needed a place to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Handsome bags! Very nice. Pretty cool how they stand up, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 The fourth is I don't have pics of yet and my 2nd sleeps with it next to him so I will have to take pictures tomorrow. I will also try to take pics of some of the other bags I have made. I might do a build/how to thread but that probably won't be for a while. It's really quite simple, more repititous than anything. I have found bison leather is a good bit cheaper than cow, is usually thicker, and is quite soft. Once you have the right tools and develop a process you can go rather quickly even though it's hand work. The toughest to make bag was from a rabbit fur. With the fur on one side getting the hole positions correct was a pain, and it being so soft it was almost impossible to keep the edges prolerly aligned. Also rabbit hyde is kind of fragile and can tear easily. But the inch long fur made great padding for some special marbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Browsing late night anonymously eh? Lolz. Yes, I prefer the stand up style though I do try to keep them interesting and different. It's pretty tough not to vary the styles when you get leather in small amounts, not quite enough to make duplicates. I am going to make a matching large panel bag, I already have 7 more panels cut. Originally it was going to be bigger, 8 or 9 panels, I got carried away and cut 14 so I decided to make two. It probably took me 4 or 5 hours and my pinky had a slice from the thread by the time I was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Thank you for the compliment. Really though it's just practice until I feel confident enough to use this one super awesome piece of leather I have. It is what I feel to be the quintessential material for the world's best marble bag. It is 9/10oz leather but it is as soft and pliable as 5oz. It has a perfect grain with no imperfections and is just the right color brown. It will hold my most special marbles when I am done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 LOL. Yes, late night browsing. It's not anonymous on purpose. I can't seem to turn anonymous off. Interesting details you're giving. I did a little bit of leatherwork when I was young. I don't understand the technicalities of what you're saying, but I almost feel as if I get it. You're making it sound doable for any of us. Goodnight! Signing off now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 10oz is the weight for a given square footage. The higher the oz the thicker and heavier the leather. The grain is the "top" of the leather where the fur was. Now mind you it is possible to split a hyde(which is a full skin) and end up with two pieces the same square footage but thinner. That is suede, and is the reason suede is fuzzy on both sides. Generally the top grain leather is more valuable. Marketing is very good however and many people will go "ooh it's made of suede!". The other thing they like to do is to imprint a grain on a piece of suede, usually to make it look like crocodile or snakeskin or some other exotic animal. The bison leather I bought is cheaper because it is split and doesn't have the top grain. Splitting is obviously difficult to do and the pieces I got don't all have a uniform thickness. When you're cutting small pieces like for marble bags it is easy to work around the thin spots. It is also kind of nice because sometimes you need a thin/thick piece that matches the others. The other important aspect which most people don't realize is that after tanning leather usually isn't its final color. It comes out a very light tan or a bluish tinge depending on how it is tanned. Any color is added with dyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Very nice, I especially like the multi-panel one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Thanks ric. Here's the one my 2 year old has. He was playing outside today with them. As you may notice the bag is stitched with 1/8" twisted nylon for strength. The leather is also about an 1/8" thick, this bag is made to be durable. If the top looks like it's difficult to get marbles out that's because it is, Don't want them getting dumped all over carelessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 The opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Apparently a chromed brass 2" p-trap escutcheon is good fun with marbles. We were shooting them in a divot here, well I was shooting, he is at the pinching stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoronesa Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Putting them down the slide or that 2" pipe is amusing as well. Usually he has a basket of golf balls for the pipe. One day I was out there and I thought I saw something scurry, I blocked the bottom of the pipe and put a golf ball down the top. The ball came to a quiet stop in the tube and When I moved the brick a really ticked chipmunk exploded out!! lolz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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