Good for you. Me, I'm 77 and just starting to dabble in leather work. My grandfather did great leather work back in the 50's making wallets, purses, belts, and then saddles and tack for the local cowboys. I wish I had his tools today. So, keep up the good work and follow your dreams. Your leathercraft is very nice.
There is definitely a romantic idea about being able to make a living doing this craft. But I’m learning every day that it’s a whole lot of work to make it happen.
I have been a software developer for 27 years. I recently started to learn about leather craft and my first try on a creditcard holder is still with me. I seriousely think about starting fulltime. But want to see if there can be a market for it. I love the handmade items and I love to put love in them when Im making them - right now just testing some procedures.
I was interested in leather work and 2 years ago I bought a hobby lobby kit and I took off from there. Unfortunately I can’t draw so stamps are my best friend. After a year my wife and daughter got into it and now we’re a small family business call Rhodes Leather. My daughter is a hell of an artist and my wife loves run the sewing machine, so in part it’s like we have our own little departments. Leather has taught me slot and I’ve been fortunate enough to bless people with our work. I look forward to the day when I make this my full time gig. Marketing isn’t our strong suit, we do have all social media and we are getting to making business cards, stickers and even sponsoring a few cowboys and cowgirls along the way. So if you have any ideas or tips anything would help.
This video makes me inspired today… I started a couple of weeks ago and my stitching is getting better yesterday I made a new cuff for my apple watch and I’m happy with it. I have two buyers who want my art
Perhaps one day you can do a video on what is needed in setting up a small workspace to begin leather crafting and give us a tour of how you set up your shop.
I started leather craft as a hobby,after my other business hours till late night,gave me a huge relaxation from business stress. I was really fed up with cheap quality genuine leather anf faux leather. I needed a good wallet for myself, so bought some leather scraps from Amazon, to know whether leathercraft will fit in my hands...But lately it became a passion, gave me a high level of satisfaction over each completed projects... Now it turned as a side business, for last 3 years... Still learning a lot from craftiers worldwide... My family and friends supported me seeing my enthusiasm towards the craft and leather
I did this many years ago with custom painting and airbrush work. Great to hear you stepped up to be a stay at home dad too!! Congratulations on the family and the desire to pursue a dream. I'm kind of in the same boat with my regular job for other reasons but I will fall back into my art and implement other things as well.
Good looking work. Love the video you seem humble and are a great speaker. I love leather craft it’s awesome man !!!! And it will force you to be patient. Or at least it does me 😁
Very Inspiring Girty! I am a few months into leathercraft now and I have made three pistol holsters and a few lever wraps on my own lever rifles. Just found your channel and am very excited to learn the tooling craft. Hope all is well with you and yours brother, thanks for your content!
Love your videos. Congratulations on the twins. I really enjoy leather work and it is nice having people like yourself sharing your tips. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for this! I always felt curious about leather and create some accessories with it. Now I’m about to start a college project with leather, I’ve never worked with it and I’m actually kinda scared to try and fail, and it took me a while (it still triggers me at times) to accept mistakes are part of the learning process and that there’s always something new to learn. Thank you so much for your vids!!! They’re really helpful and encouraging
Great video, Thanks, it’s very motivating. I do it as a hobby, I attempt new bigger projects to learn and grow. I haven’t sold anything yet. I gave it away for now. I’ve repaired leather items for friends.
I’ve been doing leather work off and on for about 3-4 years and have done strictly custom work for family and friends. I mainly do stamping but have dabbled in carving. Your work is really nice. I struggle to keep my stamps straight sometimes. Especially basket weave stamps. That might be a video idea for you. Anyway, keep up the good work, man.
Can't wait to watch your next videos and follow your journey! I'm pretty much at the same point in life as you, doing leather work for two years, but still struggling to get orders though, customers in europe have not the same appeal for this style of leather work, but hopefully it will come! Keep the great work and good luck for the future! See you around
Your work looks really good! I've been dabbling with leather as bit lately, and none of my stuff looks nearly as good. I looking forward to seeing where you go with your craft.
Just found your channel. Watched you make duffel bag . Look like you been doing leather work for a long time. I started about the same time and feel the same way you do . Keep tooling and making videos.
Get after it young man. You work looks great. I'm trying to make a the transition from "the upholstery guy to "the leather guy"..lol We definitely have the same interest in art work of the trade. Keep grinding and sharing & I'll keep watching & learning. 👍🏽👍🏽
great video. we are a lot a like. i am not a very handy person and i am not very patient, but i couldnt tell you the amount of videos i have watched trying to learn this craft. i really appreciate the videos that you and other put out. they have been a lot of help and little by little i am learning more and more with the goal to also go full time with leatherworking. keep up the great videos and amazing tooling. and congrats on the little ones. they are a lot of fun. i have 3 but they are all in their 20s now. lol
I have a 3/8” barrel and 1/4” straight thin blade. I feel like that’s a good size blade for most work but it can depend on what designs you’re carving and the size of your designs too!
I do leatherwork part time as a side hustle. Lookin to retire from my local Fire Dept in 4yrs and make leatherwork my full time career. Like yours, my wife is a RN. 1 kid with 1 more on the way. Id like to make my same FD salary with leather work before retiring to feel comfortable. Ill be moving to Wyoming when i retire. Cost of living is up out there. So, what $$ income number would u say u were comfortable with to help support ur family?
@@Girtyleatherco it is. Hardest part for me is designing templates. Each head is a different size. And with veggie tan leather everything has to line up perfectly. No exceptions 😂
I just found your channel and look forward to following you; I subscribed. I wish you the best and congratulations on the family. Do you follow Don Gonzalez' channel?
Good for you. Me, I'm 77 and just starting to dabble in leather work. My grandfather did great leather work back in the 50's making wallets, purses, belts, and then saddles and tack for the local cowboys. I wish I had his tools today. So, keep up the good work and follow your dreams. Your leathercraft is very nice.
Been doing leather work for a few years and I still watch TH-cam videos and learn! I would love to quit my job and do leather full time
There is definitely a romantic idea about being able to make a living doing this craft. But I’m learning every day that it’s a whole lot of work to make it happen.
I have been a software developer for 27 years. I recently started to learn about leather craft and my first try on a creditcard holder is still with me. I seriousely think about starting fulltime. But want to see if there can be a market for it. I love the handmade items and I love to put love in them when Im making them - right now just testing some procedures.
I was interested in leather work and 2 years ago I bought a hobby lobby kit and I took off from there. Unfortunately I can’t draw so stamps are my best friend. After a year my wife and daughter got into it and now we’re a small family business call Rhodes Leather. My daughter is a hell of an artist and my wife loves run the sewing machine, so in part it’s like we have our own little departments. Leather has taught me slot and I’ve been fortunate enough to bless people with our work. I look forward to the day when I make this my full time gig. Marketing isn’t our strong suit, we do have all social media and we are getting to making business cards, stickers and even sponsoring a few cowboys and cowgirls along the way. So if you have any ideas or tips anything would help.
This video makes me inspired today… I started a couple of weeks ago and my stitching is getting better yesterday I made a new cuff for my apple watch and I’m happy with it. I have two buyers who want my art
Perhaps one day you can do a video on what is needed in setting up a small workspace to begin leather crafting and give us a tour of how you set up your shop.
Great idea… please 🙏
I started leather craft as a hobby,after my other business hours till late night,gave me a huge relaxation from business stress. I was really fed up with cheap quality genuine leather anf faux leather. I needed a good wallet for myself, so bought some leather scraps from Amazon, to know whether leathercraft will fit in my hands...But lately it became a passion, gave me a high level of satisfaction over each completed projects... Now it turned as a side business, for last 3 years... Still learning a lot from craftiers worldwide... My family and friends supported me seeing my enthusiasm towards the craft and leather
I did this many years ago with custom painting and airbrush work. Great to hear you stepped up to be a stay at home dad too!! Congratulations on the family and the desire to pursue a dream.
I'm kind of in the same boat with my regular job for other reasons but I will fall back into my art and implement other things as well.
Thank you! It’s never easy, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be if we want to get better!
Good looking work. Love the video you seem humble and are a great speaker. I love leather craft it’s awesome man !!!! And it will force you to be patient. Or at least it does me 😁
Thank you! My speaking could definitely use some work but I really appreciate the compliment. Leatherwork will definitely challenge your patience haha
Very Inspiring Girty! I am a few months into leathercraft now and I have made three pistol holsters and a few lever wraps on my own lever rifles. Just found your channel and am very excited to learn the tooling craft. Hope all is well with you and yours brother, thanks for your content!
Love your videos. Congratulations on the twins. I really enjoy leather work and it is nice having people like yourself sharing your tips. Keep up the great work!
Thank you, that means a lot! I appreciate you following along
I started doing leather work 1 month ago. I'm not patient but I can work on leather for hours I love it. I hope one day to make a business out of it.
Best of luck to you! It can be very addictive for sure
@Girtyleatherco that is forsure!
Thank you so much for this! I always felt curious about leather and create some accessories with it. Now I’m about to start a college project with leather, I’ve never worked with it and I’m actually kinda scared to try and fail, and it took me a while (it still triggers me at times) to accept mistakes are part of the learning process and that there’s always something new to learn. Thank you so much for your vids!!! They’re really helpful and encouraging
Congratulations and good luck
I'm a leather worker from Bangladesh and it's tough to manage and hats off to you brother ❤
Thank you very much!
Great video, Thanks, it’s very motivating. I do it as a hobby, I attempt new bigger projects to learn and grow. I haven’t sold anything yet. I gave it away for now. I’ve repaired leather items for friends.
I’ve been doing leather work off and on for about 3-4 years and have done strictly custom work for family and friends. I mainly do stamping but have dabbled in carving. Your work is really nice. I struggle to keep my stamps straight sometimes. Especially basket weave stamps. That might be a video idea for you. Anyway, keep up the good work, man.
I will definitely keep that in mind, thank you for the recommendation! I appreciate it
Can't wait to watch your next videos and follow your journey! I'm pretty much at the same point in life as you, doing leather work for two years, but still struggling to get orders though, customers in europe have not the same appeal for this style of leather work, but hopefully it will come! Keep the great work and good luck for the future! See you around
Thank you very much! I wish you nothing but the best as well and look forward to hearing from you again! Feel free to reach out anytime!
Your work looks really good! I've been dabbling with leather as bit lately, and none of my stuff looks nearly as good. I looking forward to seeing where you go with your craft.
Thank you, I really appreciate it! It takes quite a bit of time to get the basics down, but a solid foundation is key!
Just found your channel. Watched you make duffel bag . Look like you been doing leather work for a long time. I started about the same time and feel the same way you do . Keep tooling and making videos.
Thank you! It can be challenging at first and there is always something to learn but it’s an awesome craft for sure
Get after it young man.
You work looks great.
I'm trying to make a the transition from "the upholstery guy to "the leather guy"..lol
We definitely have the same interest in art work of the trade. Keep grinding and sharing & I'll keep watching & learning. 👍🏽👍🏽
I really appreciate that! Thank you very much for the kind words.
Thanks for sharing.. I’m kind of where you were 2 yr ago
Enjoy the process! Whatever you are doing
Good for you and nice job
Thank you!
thank you thank you thank you man
great video. we are a lot a like. i am not a very handy person and i am not very patient, but i couldnt tell you the amount of videos i have watched trying to learn this craft. i really appreciate the videos that you and other put out. they have been a lot of help and little by little i am learning more and more with the goal to also go full time with leatherworking. keep up the great videos and amazing tooling. and congrats on the little ones. they are a lot of fun. i have 3 but they are all in their 20s now. lol
It goes by quick! I really appreciate you watching and I hope some of my videos help you along your journey!
Started 3 months ago and made more mistakes than I can count... but that's how we learn..
I'm curious about it and want to learn. What's the best way to learn leather work?
What Barry King Swivel knife and blade size do you recommend purchasing? I have the beginner one and am needing to upgrade.
I have a 3/8” barrel and 1/4” straight thin blade. I feel like that’s a good size blade for most work but it can depend on what designs you’re carving and the size of your designs too!
@@Girtyleatherco thank you for replying. 😊
I do leatherwork part time as a side hustle. Lookin to retire from my local Fire Dept in 4yrs and make leatherwork my full time career. Like yours, my wife is a RN. 1 kid with 1 more on the way. Id like to make my same FD salary with leather work before retiring to feel comfortable. Ill be moving to Wyoming when i retire. Cost of living is up out there. So, what $$ income number would u say u were comfortable with to help support ur family?
Great job! Know you are on back order. How can I find your email to check in ti see when you will take orders?
Thank you! My email address should be listed on my channel or on my website!
It's ok. Took me four years to make a business. Didn't help I picked the hardest project I had room for. Hats 😂
It’s definitely a constant grind!
@@Girtyleatherco it is. Hardest part for me is designing templates. Each head is a different size. And with veggie tan leather everything has to line up perfectly. No exceptions 😂
I just found your channel and look forward to following you; I subscribed. I wish you the best and congratulations on the family. Do you follow Don Gonzalez' channel?
I really appreciate the support! Thank you for the kind words. Yes, I have followed Don for quite awhile now and he is a big inspiration too!
This video sound was very ecoeing you might need a better microphone.
This was one of my very first videos, only my second time talking on camera as well. I’ve been slowly learning and progressing as I can.
and then you quit your leather business and start finding a new job 😁
Not yet 😅
@@Girtyleatherco good luck 👍