Progress! But Not Pictures

Still no pictures.  Still no belts on Etsy/ArtFire.  

A couple days ago I was on the Tandy/Leather Factory web site and our attention was grabbed by a sale on "Bright Upholstery Hides". Friday I went to the local store and got a nice dark green one. A little while ago I e-mailed AltKilt and asked if 45 square feet would be big enough to make a kilt for Ron, and what she'd charge for the job. I could do it myself, but I'm willing to pay an expert.

I also got a bright blue hide. Again, about 45 square feet. These are the biggest individual pieces of leather I've ever bought - usually I buy sides, which are about half the size.  I also bought several pieces of split that were on sale, so at well over 100 square feet of leather, it was one of the larger purchases in terms of square footage that I've ever made, too.  I have, however, spent a lot more money.  

I've got some nice red garment/upholstery leather already, and some nice heavier bright yellow, so I ignored the other colors.  

Going back to the split that I purchased, it's what's left when you split a piece of leather down in thickness. It has very little strength (most of the strength in leather is in the grain, or "nice" surface), but it's useful for adding heft/stiffness to something like a cow's worth of blue upholstery leather.  The "soft" pouches I make, for the most part, actually need something stiffer than upholstery leather.  And I've got a lot of blue to play with now . . .

Yesterday I was feeling seriously anti-social and was having a rather bad attitude, so I stayed home instead of going to the MuseCon wrapup meeting/party.  Ron had heard all my input already anyhow.

I did get the steampunk cargo carrier pocket flaps ready to lace, sew on, and the latches set.  I still have to decide exactly how the whole thing is going to go on a belt, add loops/dees, and assemble everything - although I'm going to go ahead and start sewing/lacing the pockets.

Today I attacked the dining room mess. I emptied out some wire bins that were part of a couple shelving units many years ago, and the bins themselves are now at the curb. One big Rubbermaid bin has been slated to be banished to the basement, and another is holding the rolls of wierd/old leather I got really cheap last year. I've thrown out a large shopping bag of stuff. There's not much more floor visible right now than when I started, but I've seen the floor and can easily re-locate it. Getting the garbage and bin to go to the basement out of here will help too.

Time to go work on dinner: mexican chicken pot pie.