Crafting With Leather

Before you begin any leatherworking project, you'll need to know a little about the types of leather available.

Tips & Warnings

Avoid using oil-tanned leather when stretch or flexibility in the leather might be undesirable. For example, you will not want a dog collar that an animal would be able to stretch enough to allow its escape from the collar.

Whereas vegetable-tanned leather can be tooled or stamped, leather that has been treated with oil or chemicals will not take impressions..

Leather dye is a wonderful alternative to paint, especially if you need to color large surface areas.

Tips & Warnings

Apply a leather deglazer to remove waxy or oily residues from the surface of the leather. Follow the directions on the product label.

Keep the leather damp. If water drops are spilled on one portion of the leather, dampen the leather until the surface is uniformly damp. This will help prevent water spots on the leather.

Check the instructions on the leather dye for recommended time between coats.

Mix a leather dye solvent with the leather dye to thin the dye and create a lighter shade. Use according to the directions on the product's label.

Use oil-based dyes for a richer color and use water-based dyes for a more even application.

Basic leather craft projects don't require a lot of tools. Here are some of the items you'll need to work just about any project, from simple to complex.

Tips & Warnings

Keep a plastic spray bottle of water and a sponge in your work area. Use these to dampen the leather while you work it.

Use acrylic paints instead of leather paints. Make sure, however, that the paint you use is safe for leather.

Run a piece of beeswax along the length of any unwaxed thread before stitching.

Affix leather pieces to one another without stitching by using leather glue.

Make sure that you have a flat, stable surface on which to work. A rubber mat placed under your work will prevent the surface from being scarred and will also protect the blades of your cutting tools.

Measure out lines and curves onto leather with items such as a sturdy ruler and a French curve. Choose metal measuring tools, as these can also be used as straightedges against which leather can be cut. Mark lines along the leather's surface with pencils and felt-tip pens.

Use items like leather bleach and leather deglazer to clean dirt, oil and residue from the surface of the leather before any work is begun.

Color your leather with leather dyes and paints. These items can be found at any leather-craft store, as can paint and dye applicators such as wool daubers and paintbrushes.

Cut out leather pieces with a razor knife and use paring tools such as edge bevelers and skives to remove thin layers from a piece of leather. Leather shears can be used to cut thinner pieces of leather.

Tool a piece of leather with a swivel knife, wood or rawhide mallet, and a variety of leather stamps. Decorative cuts are made with a swivel knife and then the mallet and stamps are used to create textures and depressed surfaces around those cuts. Stamps come in a variety of patterns.

Make perforations in your leather with an awl, a stitching awl (for holes that will be stitched through) and/or leather hole punches of various sizes. Use a rotary hole punch for easy, even hole placement.

Sew leather with leather-craft sewing needles, waxed linen thread and artificial sinew. Use the waxed linen thread on softer, thinner pieces of leather and use the artificial sinew on harder pieces. The artificial sinew does not stretch and may cut into the stitching holes in soft pieces of leather.

Choose a leather dye appropriate to your piece of leather. Vegetable-tanned leather takes dye very well, and many leather dyes can be used only with it.

Choose a leather dye based on the dyed leather samples provided at the place of purchase. As with many dyes, the applied dye color can look radically different than it does when in the bottle.

Clean the surface of the leather. Mix a solution of 1 oz. leather bleach to 1 pint water and apply the cleanser with a soft-bristle brush or wool dauber.

Dampen the leather with a spray bottle of water or a sponge. Spray or sponge evenly across the surface.

Apply the leather dye in long, even strokes across the surface of the leather. Make sure that the color remains even. Apply coats of dye until you achieve the desired shade.

Let the first coat of dye dry until the leather's surface no longer has a wet look to it. The average drying time between coats is 1 to 2 hours. The exact time will depend on the leather.

Flex the leather several times during the drying process. This will keep the leather's fibers loose and will help keep the leather from becoming too stiff.

Allow the leather to dry thoroughly, and then buff it with a clean, soft cloth to remove any excess dye and to give the leather a polished look.

Apply a coat of leather finish to the leather's surface. Finishes come in both spray cans and bottles. Spray evenly over the entire surface of leather or apply it from the bottle with a wool dauber.

Purchase leather by the square foot. The measurements of a piece of leather are commonly written on its underside.

Choose vegetable-tanned leather for projects requiring the surface to be stamped or tooled. This leather is a natural tan color, and its rigid structure makes it perfect for projects such as belts and book covers.

Choose oil-tanned leather for projects that require durability and flexibility. Saddles and tack are often made from an oil-tanned leather called latigo. Oil-tanned leather can be distinguished from other leathers by its waxy surface.

Choose chrome-tanned leather for relatively inexpensive leather that comes in a variety of colors. This type of leather is tanned with chemicals and does not breathe very well. It is frequently white on one side and can be any color on the other.

Use suede for projects that require soft, pliable leather. Suede is wonderful for garments of any kind and comes in a wide range of colors.

Choose garment leather for projects requiring a soft, supple leather. Garment leather has a smooth rather than sueded finish and comes in rich colors.