My first steps in leatherworking: the guide that taught me everything

When I got into leatherworking, I came across a beginner's guide that saved me from plenty of mistakes. The first thing to understand is the leather itself: depending on the part of the animal (neck, butt, flank) and the thickness, it works differently. For a wallet, a thin 1.2 mm leather is enough; for a sturdy belt, you go up to 3.5 or 4.5 mm.

Cutting calls for the right tool: special shears for thin leathers, a utility knife or a trapezoid-blade knife for thick ones, and even a rotary cutter for curves. Then come dyeing (I use Fiebing's dyes) and gluing, after roughing up the surface so the glue grips well.

The step that makes all the difference is the edges. You bevel them with an edge beveler, apply tokonole or gum tragacanth, then burnish with a wooden slicker until the edge is smooth and glossy. A well-finished edge is the calling card of any leather piece.

For hand stitching, you first punch the holes with pricking irons (diamond or French style), then sew a saddle stitch with blunt-tip needles and waxed thread. The most important thing is still to start with a small, simple project — and to accept that the first one won't be perfect.

Source: CraftPoint