Nintendo Holster

A large pouch fit to the Nintendo Switch Lite and 3DS XL with a Kirby theme.  I have a 3DS and a Switch but not those versions so the fitting was a little tricky.  Commonly provided dimensions don't always include the joysticks.  Fortunately I happened to have a perfectly pink lambskin in stock that made the perfect lining.  And a running half stitch was both structurally sound and matched the aesthetic Nintendo uses for a lot of it's products. 

This is such a good idea I'm going develop my own next year and if that works well it might wind up on the shop.

Annual Pouch

As luck has it there's a client who keeps coming back to buy a pouch every year.  They spend a lot of time backpacking and taking photos so all these pouches probably wind up carrying cameras and other equipment.  This year's pouch was a bit larger than normal so we doubled up on the snaps.

Range Card Holster and Belt

Another Range Card Holster for a motorcycle instructor in the states.  The client opted not to add any personalization but they did throw in a nice little belt to hold the holster over their clothes.

I got a glowing message back once they received their order:
Good Morning Fallon,

I opened my range card holster and belt last night and they are PERFECT!!!

My husband is impressed that my range cards no longer fall out of the holster as the pouch is a little deeper and sturdier than my flimsy holster. I will not miss the teaching days when I would bend over to pick up cones on the range only to re-bend to pick up my cards 3 dozen times in a day. :-) And Fallon, I LOVE the quality, plain leather...you definitely provided the classy look that I was seeking.

With regard to the belt, I was a little off on my measurements (strictly my fault) so I am using the smallest hole setting and have a large "tail" but the range card holster clips over the "tail" nicely, keeping everything in place, so I think it will be fine for now. If the leather stretches, I might order another belt in a smaller size but obviously, I would rather have the belt too big than too small. Again, absolutely LOVE the belt buckle and the medium weight of the belt.

Fallon, I can't emphasize how happy I am with your work and even more impressed that you were able to capture my desire at a distance. It has been a tremendous pleasure to work with you! I am looking forward to teaching in a few weeks and displaying my new items.

Thank you again for everything!

She even ordered another, shorter belt right after sending that. 😁

Holster, Motorcycle Range Card

I'm a bit proud to be the apparent Range Card Holster manufacturer for motorcycle instructors across the US.  This one was being purchased as a gift and added a couple of pencil sleeves to the basic design.

Busy, busy, busy

I've been lucky to have lots of work to do this summer.  A lot of it is routine stuff I don't regularly post but I figured I'd make an exception this month and lump them all into one post.  In addition to other posts this month I've also made five dice cups and:

A shoulder strap color matched to an antique satchel

A custom belt pouch (fit to the client's camera)

A padded shoulder pad color-matched to the client's messenger bag

Range Card Holster with Pencil Sleeves

These holsters are fit to carry the Range Cards (basically pads of report cards) for US-based Motorcycle Instructors.  So the market's relatively small that hasn't stopped them from being a semi routine item.  I think my favorite thing about these holsters is every instructor puts their own style on them.  This client wanted the logo and a pair of pencil sleeves.  I hadn't done pencil sleeves in awhile but some careful engineering and some deerskin made for a great result.

Brown Snap Pouch

Making these pouches is routine enough that I don't usually write a blurb for them anymore.  However this one was the first product made with a new brand of oiled leather.  It's a couple ounces heavier than the old brand and has a nice pebble texture and good hand.  I think it's going to work pretty darn well.

Rider Pouch with Red Walls

This order started as a default Rider pouch but when I noticed the client was a cosplayer I asked if they'd wanted any customization.  I've yet to meet the cosplayer that doesn't have something particular in mind for a commission.  Sure enough they were interested in using a red leather for the walls.  After reviewing my stock we went with a reddish/burgundy sheepskin and I think it's worked out pretty well.

Large Camera Case

The client wanted a case that could be hung from a strap and was large enough to fit a couple cameras and a lens or two (essentially 4 x 5 x 10.25").  My first impulse was to create what was essentially a padded box with a shoulder strap but that turned out to be too expensive.  So after some rounds of drafting we came up with a box entirely made out of stone oiled leather but stitched in such a way that its own structure would keep it from deforming.

I knew the seams could grant some structure but the result was a good deal better than I'd expected.  Even when I put about 4 lbs inside the final case there was barely any bowing.  The case is solid but without any lining I strongly suspect it could be rolled up and it would pop right back up (though I didn't get the chance to test that).

In fact, the case came out so well that I'm pretty sure I'll add it as a stock item in the shop.  Probably a smaller version of it though...

Off to a good start

I've had a handful of orders to process this week but that hasn't stopped me from starting to update the shop's listings.  I've been paying particular attention to the shoulderstrap listings but about half the listings have gotten some sort of tweaking by now.  Previously, I had four separate listings for shoulder straps (based on 1" or 1.5" width and nickel or brass hardware).  Now I have three listings: Thin, Medium, & Wide which correspond to 1", 1.5", and 1.75" widths.  Making use of Etsy's "Variant" feature I've added some dropdowns to the listings so that the client can select from the basic colors and hardware finishes.  And of course, that means the listing gets a handy photo guide to those options:

I've been making use of the variant feature all over the place and I reckon it'll make things a lot easier for clients who just want to submit a quick order.  Much as I like chatting with clients to figure out just what they want, most of the time they wind up going with the same 3 or 4 options.

I've also managed to finally open the listing for the Shoulder Pads.  It's been on my To Do list since last Fall but I didn't have all the pieces together to really get the job done until recently.  I might create a listing to order Shoulder Pads together with Shoulder Straps but there's so many options there I'm still working out how to merge the two.

I received a pretty big order of new hardware yesterday and I'm really pleased with it.  I was already happy that per unit this supplier is vastly less expensive than Tandy.  In addition that the product is noticeably higher quality.  Even if the buckles weren't labeled as "solid brass" you can tell from the nice heft.  I'll need to pay more attention to inventory management to make sure I don't run out of stock but I'm really enjoying pecking a bit higher on the supply ladder.

As I mentioned earlier, I've had a full docket of orders this week.  Four straps and a pair of pouches.  One of the straps is still WIP while I procure a special order buckle for it but the other three and the pouches are already in the mail.  One of these was a twin to the LEGENDARY strap I made last year (the client acquired another card crate and wanted a matching strap for it) so that was pretty satisfying to work on.

Still more to come but I figured I'd better post a blurb before it got too far along.

Weekly Batch

I'm almost halfway through the week and this is about typical of my usual output.  Since Sunday I've been working on two shoulderstraps and a pouch and now they're all ready to head out.  The pouch is a standard spaceman but the shoulderstraps are a little neat.  One of them has a monogram which I honestly haven't figured out for myself.  The other is destined to carry a fellow's custom case of Marvel Legendary cards.  I'm sure ya'll can guess which is which. =)

I've got another shoulderstrap or two to crank out this week and I'm chatting with clients about a couple of interesting projects.  In the meantime, the Missus and I have picked up our tickets to PAX South 2016 and now we just have to figure out what we want to cosplay as...

MSF Range Card Holster

This is my third Range Card Holster and was meant to be a Christmas present for one of the MSF's instructors.  We used the same basic pattern I'd initially developed and added a placard of the MSF's logo.  I'd used paper to transfer the design onto the leather but, as sometimes happens with paper, it warped a bit during the transfer so some of the lettering wound up a bit of a slant.  I didn't even notice until I was staining the thing but it's probably another reason to be 3D printing tapoffs rather than relying on paper transfers.