Wow... thanks all for kind words!
Yes. It was a LOT of stitching. Too much maybe. Couldn't ever make a living doing it but I'll admit I enjoyed it and would do it again.
Stitching got better as I did more of it. Learned how much tension is needed etc. The slots were meant for wire stiffeners (idea inspired by and taken from an excellent build-along that's made the rounds), but in the end I decided I didn't want the weight. Turned out that the double thickness leather was worthwhile anyway as it adds considerable stiffness by itself.
Cut a strip of shearling for mouth and decided against it. Most of the noise, I think, is fletching against fletching. For the bottom I did a sewn in lighter weight wet-formed piece of leather and then dropped in a friction-fit piece of shearling backed by heavy split leather. It seems to protect bottom just fine and the shearling keeps the points from thunking when you drop them in. Also tends to keep them from sliding around.
Next time around I'd like to try to use leather I harvested and processed myself