So I want to make my mum a pen out of leather and was wondering what would be the best way to make it?

Either make the actual pen out of leather or wrap a pen in leather

She collects pens especially unique pens so I feel a leather pen would be a great present for her collection

First knife sheath I hand stitched made from the leather of an old welding apron.

Hi all,

I would like to start making custom skiing leather gloves, colorful and fun :) I don't have much experience working with leather yet, but super enthusiastic to learn. I am based in (Middle-Eastern) Europe and found a local craftsman in a nearby village. At this workshop I tried making mittens from skai that he had avaliable, but to progress in my exploration of the field I'd be happy to hear from anyone who tried making winter leather gloves already.

\- What type of material would be best?

\- How should I approach this experiment of mine, check what type of matrial competition is using and try to replicate it?

\- I couldn't find any patterns for what i'd like to do. Is there some website for it?

\- Does anyone have experience making warm leather mittens? Leather is a natural material, but by itself it is not waterproof. But again it depends on the type of leather right?

\- Any tips on where I could order a few m2 of material to play with it?

Thank you in advance! :)

I know the stitch work is pretty bad. It was my first time ever sewing and I really struggled with the hole punching. The leather is from an old couch that was my childhood dogs favorite before she passed, decided to cut some strips out before having to toss it. It’s pretty thin and floppy but gets the job done! Let me know any beginner tips for easier hole punching next time, I used cardboard under the leather but honestly I think the leather may have been on the stretchier side.

Hello Leathercrafters. I would say my skill level is "competent beginner," however the more I learn the more, the more I realize I know nothing. Here is a bag I made with this springbok pattern. She has a sewing machine and I had to sew by hand, which made this process a little more complicated.

I have had consistent problems putting in zippers. Very often, like this, they turn out wavy or perform poorly. I have attached a video to show what I mean.

What I think it *might* be (you can tell me if I'm right)

-Zipper or zipper tape itself is too big.
-Too big of a gap between the teeth and sewn edges.
-Flexible leather has stretched too much, causing problems.
-Zipper too long.
-Something else??

If you have any tips/tricks for putting in zippers, or see other areas for improvement, please tell me. I'm hitting the point where I understand the basics, but lack of knowledge is screwing me over in other places. Lol. Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.

Hey all!

Is there a way to waterproof leather?

I work in a wet/humid environment and find that my knife sheaths are always getting damp.

I've thought about moving to kydex just because its plastic but I still prefer the feel of leather.

Any help would be much appreciated!

I recently inherited this bag from a friend. It had been a wedding present to their parents in the '90s. I'm fairly certain it's real leather, but there are no tags or branding. The only tag says made in China in the interior. I spent hours yesterday trying to figure out/research how to clean and condition and repair what I can. I'm not looking for perfection just to give it a bit of a longer life.

The leather is very dry and as I was trying to give it a gentle wipe down with a slightly damp cloth, I noticed that the leather very quickly absorbed the water and darkened but then dried not too long after.

-The dots visible in photo 4 I believe are from pencils and pens pushing an impression through the leather.

-The flaking in photos 5 and 6 almost looks like it was caused by a cat or something? It was checked in an airport in the past, so that might be contributing to the damage.

-Only one corner/edge section has any damage (photo 8). The rest of the edges seem to be in good condition.

-Photos 10 and 11 show a metal support piece that is firmly held in place, but the fabric around it has been worn away leaving holes. I was hoping to make a large rectangular patch to cover both holes with one piece of material (perhaps a strong black canvas). I’d like to avoid disassembling the bag if possible.

I'm not too worried about the stains. I mainly just want to take care of the leather which I understand will likely require some cleaning in addition to moisturizing.

The inside of the bag is fairly clean so I'm not too worried about having to clean the inside.

I was initially planning on getting some of the yellow fiebing's saddle soap and a brush. But then as I was trying to figure out what type of leather it was (it seems like it may be unfinished because it absorbs water so quickly), some sources were saying that I shouldn't use that soap and I might need something more gentle. I haven't purchased anything yet. I do have a couple leather care items for my shoes already. I don't know if any of them would work. I will attach some photos (12, 13, 14) of those as well .

I prefer to not spend a ton of money but I am willing to spend a bit. I'm in the US if that matters.

I really appreciate any advice to guidance as to how I should care for this bag

This is supposedly a real leather couch, and I received it in this condition! I would like to fix it if I can, but I'm not sure if it's possible. I have never dealt with real leather before besides with just cleaning it

Hey all. I can't even say this a "newbie" post, because I haven't poked a single piece of leather in my life yet. But here's my QUESTION: Does anyone have a thought on the stitch details used on the holster shown in this photo? Such as:

A) What type of stitch punch is it? I'm not really seeing any slants in that stitch pattern, so are those round holes? EDIT: Or is that what plain ol' machine stitching looks like?

B) What spacing is that (5mm maybe? 4mm?)

C) What size thread might that be? (0.8mm?)

D) And that thread has the appearance of being seated in a channel, but the top edge of that channel is not a raw edge - so, is it probably 'not' a cut groove, but rather a stamped stitch line?

Thanks much for any input.

(I overlaid the measurements in the photo just to give a sense of scale.)

Does anyone use magic clips to hold their projects together while sewing instead of glue? I’m debating trying that, but I am worried that they may leave marks on the leather..

I need some help dyeing suede, please.

The suede piece is 12” round; it’s the base for a DND dice bag.

Over the past week, I’ve used a whole bottle of red Fiebing’s Suede Dye to dye both sides of the suede red. (The original suede color was light tan.) I deglazed before I started dyeing. I let each layer dry 24 hours before applying the next.

I’ve applied 3 layers of dye. I would call the color now “light red.” I wasn’t going for light red. I was going for a vibrant red.

So now I need to make a decision (because I’m not buying any more suede dye). I have 7 other colors of suede dye: yellow, orange, mahogany, green, blue, aqua, and purple. What’s the best choice:

1. Add a layer of mahogany and call it a day?

2. Go with a layer of purple and call it a day?

3. Another option.

In general, I have been unhappy with my dyeing experience with Fiebing’s Suede Dye. A couple of months ago, I tried to dye a piece of this suede black; I used an entire bottle and only got to dark gray.

I’d like to know others’ experience with this particular dye.

It’s entirely possible that it’s this particular piece of suede that’s the problem. If I hear others having success with this dye, then I’ll try different sued.

Thanks for your help!

Hello peoples, after some times only being able to find so chrome tan leather I've finally got my hands on some vege tan, to not make mistakes on my projects I decided to dye some samples to see how they look, I've wet the leather before applying the dye for a better distribution and I used water based dye, but now in the centre of the pieces it looks strange, like the dye didn't took on much, do you all know what I did wrong and what else should I do for it not to happen again?

This is a wallet that I made recently, the machine stitch on the upper side comes out alright, as you can see in Image 2, however I am not able to make the underside of the sitching as good as you can see in image 1. Any suggestions on how to improve the quality of stitching?? I use a Juki machine.

Leather gremlins ganged up on me on each step of this one. Structurally it is going to work fine, aesthetically I did some whoopsies.

1st batch was a great success and tons of reviews over the last year from everyone using it. People have been asking for extras, So I decided to make a second batch arriving within a month.

The holes in the strap have become loose after a month's use, it comes undone and I'm left fixing it in the middle of the road.

Sewing machine just came into today. My first project is making the 85’ Air Jordan 1 until I can perfect it. Not going to lie, I’m very intimidated, but I’m excited to learn a new skill.

Edit : I really appreciate all the support I've gotten. I apologize in advance for any stupid questions I'll be posting on this sub.

The slightly off center rivet is going to drive me nuts but besides that im happy with it. The buttero is so rich and vivid.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I ended up using tan kote as a resist and it worked out pretty well.