I finally finished this project, great design from Phil, learnt a lots making it and now I feel much more comfortable working on handbag, still need more practice on the gussets and hand-stitching with an awl though.
Still I encountered some problems, perhaps @Leathercraft Masterclass could shed some light on the matter :
1, The lines on the flesh side when using bell skiver, it is clearly visible on the grain side after and I was unable to remove it even when I skived through that part again by the bell skiver or by a French edger ( it worked with stiff vegetable tanned leather, maybe 70-80% but that's enough for me ). From the bell skiver course I know it is unavoidable but do you have any tips to lessen the effect on chrome tanned leather?
2, It was much harder for me to install the gusset than watching you doing it haha. Maybe you'll have us a course on how to design gussets and calculate the proper measurement for it?
Great work! Lovely edge work and stitching work; I remember making this when I first join Phil's lesson, and it was not easy at all!
That's magnificent! Awesome color choices!
First of all, well done! I really like the orange edges with the dark brown leather.
With chrome tanned leather, it really depends on the firmness, the quality and how tight the grain is. Some leathers are a dream to skive and others a nightmare, even of the same tannage.
If the grain isn't particularly tight, i.e. a full grown cow hide vs calfskin, this can cause lines to appear.
So my solutions would be to work with chrome leathers from smaller animals such as goat or calf and try to get panels or large areas split from the centre of the skin vs the outer extremities (grain likely too loose).
I will assume your blade was freshly sharpened of course.
Philip
Yes , a course on how to design gussets and calculate the proper measurement for it. Maybe one gusset class a month. I know there are endless gussets. But we need to start somewhere.
looks beautiful!!! well done, i have been thinking to make this project for a long time, but still have not started a scratch yet.