How engrave a leather knife sheath. Here, Stonestreet Leather breaks down everything it takes to setup the software, place the artwork in between stitches centered using the center engraving function on our laser engraver.
]]>Laser engraving leather products can be very tricky. Here, Stonestreet Leather shares some tips on how to get started and how to get a good result.
How engrave a leather knife sheath. Here, Stonestreet Leather breaks down everything it takes to setup the software, place the artwork in between stitches centered using the center engraving function on our laser engraver.
This project came from an order on our website for the Vintage Glazed Tan knife sheath. The customer wanted to engrave their brand onto the sheath between the two vertical stitches and so that's what we are doing today.
Normally, when you are engraving a square or rectangle object, you can just flush it up against the top right portion of the engraving platform, do some measurements and start engraving. However, with an oddly shaped item like a knife sheath, I have found that using the center engraving technique is best for placement of the design. In this video, we walk you through the hole process from start to finish so you can see how it is done first hand.
The art for the design came to us via email and took a quick trace in Illustrator to turn into vector for the engraving. This is not always necessary but the art we received was actually a photo of the brand as opposed to the digital copy. Part of the image had a glare and so it was necessary to do a trace to get it perfect. Once we had that lined up, we were able to get started. Now that the art has been fixed the next step is to do some quick measurements of the space we will be engraving onto. In this case the customer selected the small knife sheath which means we had roughly 1.5" between the stitches to work with. This is important because we have to shrink the art to fit in that space so that we don't accidentally burn the stitches and make the project a disaster. This is explained in detail in the video below.
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For more information please check out our site here.
]]>Here at Stonestreet Leather, we can engrave your leather goods & gifts with ease right here in our Springfield Missouri-based shop. Handmade wallets, belts, sunglass cases and bags, coaster sets, knife sheaths, leather mouse pads, valet trays, keychains, bracelets are just some of the items that we can personalize and custom engrave for you! Do you already have a gift that but want to add that personal touch? No problem, we do all kinds of engraving and embossing for people's cherished gifts on a weekly basis.
Want to know more about the leather engraving options available to you here in 417 land? Check out our in depth page on everything personalizing though engraving and stamping leather here.
Custom personalized leather engraving is our specialty. Contact us by phone today for a free consultation (417) 597-3504 or via email here support@stonestreetleather.com
Have you ever had a leather gift that you wanted to get engraved with initials, monogram or a laser engraved photo and didn't know where to go to get this engraving done? Choosing the best local leather engraving options can be difficult because engraving is a widely varied service with products that are metal, wood, acrylic and more. Just typing in 'Engraving in Springfield MO' to Google might bring up an overwhelming amount of options that are not very relevant to what you actually need: trophy and plaque engraving shops, drinkware engravers, jewelry, watches, tumblers, the list goes on and on. It's hard to locate a 417 based local shop that specializes in leather specific engraving. However, we have been here all along and we can engrave, stamp or emboss almost any kind of leather product right here in Springfield Missouri.
1. Laser Engraved: Create unique and personalized gifts by laser engraving leather, cutting boards, and more. Incorporate custom logos, monograms, and even photos to make gifts one-of-a-kind. With professional craftsmanship, your loved ones will cherish these timeless keepsakes. Below is an image of a custom laser engraved project we did for a customer. They wanted a personalized leather tab to attach to a blanket gift for newlyweds 😍. They picked the cursive font and we engraved it and installed it onto the blanket with rivets.
2. Stamped and Embossed: Stamping a logo, monogram or initials into leather is referred to as 'embossing' and 'stamping'. This is when you use brass dies or lettertype to press into the leather, leaving a permanent personalized gift even better. When we only use a stamp and no foil, this is called a blind deboss, often called blind emboss instead. Feeling fancy? Try our gold or silver embossing option for a shiny statement piece. Below is an image of a custom stamped sunglass case we created for a customer. They wanted a personalized message on their new case and we made it happen! 😍 The results are stunning as you can see below. For the yellow sunglass case we made a short video of just how this works so you can see the stamping process from beginning to end.
Crocodile-embossed leather, also known as ‘mock croc,’ is a type of leather designed to emanate the natural beauty of genuine crocodile leather. Embossing involves applying heat and a stamp which is then pressed until an impression is created to give it a feel of the typical look of genuine animal leather, or in this case, natural crocodile skin.
The manufacturing process sometimes involves the use of synthetic materials. Some companies, however, use genuine leather, such as buffalo leather, cowhide leather, and other leather products. Cowhide, in particular, is the most commonly used skin.
Several variants of croc-embossed products exist, with popular types including turquoise embossed crocodile on cowhide leather and rosa embossed crocodile on cowhide leather.
Telling apart the mock croc leather from genuine crocodile leather can be pretty tricky. This is because the alligator scales printed on it look imperfect like natural crocodile skin and quite luxurious.
White embossed crocodile on cowhide leather or other types of leather creations have several observable characteristics:
To distinguish genuine crocodile leather from embossed alligator skins can be a challenge. However, there are simple features you can take into account to ensure you are getting the leather of your choice.
Take considerable time examining the leather and the distribution of scales to see if the material is made of genuine crocodile or alligator skin. Here is what you should look for:
Unlike real reptile skins, stamped/embossed leather is considerably harder, rigid, and compact, and it nearly feels like plastic. On the other hand, natural crocodile leather goods are usually smooth, supple, and sensitive to the touch. Pay attention to the feel of the tiles, grains, and scales.
Checking the papers is crucial when it comes to crocodile-embossed leather, especially if you are purchasing leather products from designer shops that deal with genuine leather hides. Buy from the official stores and websites of the design houses, and make sure you choose a reputable supplier.
You'll probably get paperwork stating that you purchased genuine crocodile leather items. Your supplier should gladly answer any questions or concerns that you may have.
If the seller refuses to respond to your questions or queries, you should be concerned and consider changing your mind about purchasing these products. This is because the products might be made from stamped leather or other imitations while being priced like genuine crocodile leather.
Check the tag to see if the handbag is made of crocodile leather. However, it is not enough for the label to say "genuine leather." At times, what is said to be a reptile’s natural skin might turn out to be printed cowhide.
So instead, look for a tag stating that the handbag is made of crocodile leather. The tag may even say "full-grain leather," indicating that the hide's grain has not been broken up. Tags aren’t 100% reliable, so you have to take this with a grain of salt and consider the other tips as well.
The shape of the scales of genuine reptile leather progress from large, square shapes on their bellies to smaller, more rounded shapes on their sides, i.e., a less geometrically uniform pattern. If the transition is abrupt and occurs more than twice in a single panel, or if there is no transition, the bag is probably made of croc-embossed leather.
Genuine crocodile skin is costly. Therefore, as a buyer, you should expect to buy it at a relatively high price.
For example, a Hermès Birkin crocodile fabric bag can cost upwards of $50,000. Less prestigious brands sell crocodile skin handbags for a minimum of $2,000-$4,000, depending on the size and style. Exotic leather is expensive no matter what, even if you are only interested in purchasing the material for your own leatherwork.
Therefore whenever someone is trying to sell you a genuine reptile leather handbag for less than a few thousand dollars, it is almost certainly a fake. At Stonestreet Leather, we value our customers and provide them with leatherwork & leathercraft supplies they can count on.
If you are interested in crocodile embossed leather, or any other leather material, do not hesitate to take a look at our website or contact us directly at (417) 888-3020 and learn more!
There are several pros and cons when it comes to crocodile leather and embossed skin. Here is what you need to consider:
As you can see, even though genuine crocodile leather is extremely durable, it is also costly to maintain. But how do crocodile-embossed leather products fare? Here is what you need to know:
Although having a crocodile product made out of genuine skin is rather prestigious, crocodile-embossed leather is quickly gaining momentum due to the rise of high-quality croc-embossed leather.
Moreover, the benefits that come with purchasing an embossed product outmatch those of genuine leather for those who value low-cost, minimal-maintenance options.
If you are looking for a trustworthy embossed leather supplier, you can result on Stonestreet Leather to exceed your expectations.
There are fourteen vibrant colors to choose from among our embossed crocodile on cowhide products, including cranberry, pink cotton candy, purple, royal blue, mint chocolate chip, and many more! Browse our selection now and see the quality first-hand. If you have any questions about our selection of products, our friendly customer service team is here to help.]]>Vegetable-tanned leather is a type of leather that is dyed using only natural dyes and is not treated with potentially harmful chemicals.
This type of leather is known for its distinct look. Vegetable tanning is a method of tanning animal skins and hides that has been used for thousands of years.
For centuries, it was the only way to process hide, and the main reason for its popularity was because it produced leather that was both beautiful and durable. To understand how vegetable-tanned leather is made, we must first understand the process of tanning in general.
Tanning leather is a unique process involving a series of subsequent procedures where chemicals are used to help transform animal hides into leather. There are various tanning methods: chromium tanning and vegetable tanning.
Vegetable-tanned leather is made from vegetable-based oils and waxes applied to rawhide, or other animal hides for the purpose of making a soft, supple finish. The hide is first soaked in water or saltwater called "pickle." This removes all of the hair from the surface of the hide and makes it supple.
The vegetable tanning process is quite complex. Once an animal has been slaughtered, the fresh hide is separated from the animal almost immediately. Fresh animal hide is taken to a beam house, a section of tannery where the animal hide is prepared for tanning. Beam house processes include soaking, liming, fleshing, and deliming, where leather production begins.
Pre-tanning involves quickly salting the skin to prevent the growth of bacteria. Soaking removes excess salt, blood, and dung from the hides. Liming is then done to enhance hair removal and weaken collagen for proper tannage. The artisanal nature of vegetable-tanned leather makes it a unique product.
What is unique about it? Let's dig deep into the vegetable tanning process to find out.
Vegetable leather tanning involves using natural tannins such as organic materials and tree bark. The most common natural tanning agents are obtained from chestnut wood, oak, etc.
Different tree barks give a different look to the animal hide in the tanning process, depending on the concentration of the tree bark solution. The hides are immersed in the tanning solution. The process is intended to suck moisture out of the leather. This tanning process will make it more resistant to water and bacteria.
The process causes the leathers to soften and become more flexible. The veg tan process takes up to 54 to 70 days to complete. The resultant vegetable-tanned leather goods come out of great quality without any hair and fat residues. The amount of time used in vegan leather formation led to the invention of chrome tanned leather. Below, we'll explore the difference between chrome leather and vegetable leather.
Vegetable-tanned leather is one of the most favored types of leather created with traditional craftsmanship using vegetable tannins and is thick and robust. Veg-tanned leather produces some of the highest quality leather products, such as sturdy bags and belts.
To view an example of this, you can check out Stonestreet's caramel brown vegetable-tanned leather, which has excellent quality and color.
This artistic piece produces higher quality and durable leather. Due to its robust nature and durability, it can serve your or your customer's family from generation to generation.
The production process is environmentally friendly due to the minimal levels of pollution it creates. On the other hand, chrome leather uses toxic substances in the tanning process.
Unlike chrome leather, veg-tanned leather possesses a naturally rich color of the tanning liquor. Over time, the leather gets darker in color, becomes supple, and develops a rich patina (soft sheen).
Veg tanning gives this material a sweet woody fragrance, unlike chrome tanning, which gives it a chromium smell.
Due to the popularity of vegetable tanning, counterfeits are all too common. If the artistry of quality leather is appealing to you, then veg-tan leather is a fantastic choice. Be sure to purchase your leather from a reputable supplier.
When searching for a trustworthy vegetable-tanned leather supplier, look no further than Stonestreet Leather. We have you covered with a wide selection of leather materials.
Check out our website to see the exquisite variety in our collection, including many different colors and looks to meet your needs, such as our green vegetable-tanned leather strip from the Monet line or our green vegetable-tanned leather coaster shapes.
Keeping your vegetable-tanned leather clean is an excellent way to extend its lifespan. However, you may be uncertain about the process of cleaning your leather product because veg-tanned is water-resistant.
Let's start with a simple method of general cleaning. Here are some key tips to keep in mind:
With these steps, you can restore the original shine and the beautiful patina of the veg-tan leather.
One of the oldest methods of achieving rich color is tanning through sun exposure. Veg tan leather naturally develops a rich patina when exposed to the sun. However, you may choose to dye it yourself. There are a variety of dyes in the market that aim to create a perfect colored vegetable-tanned leather.
First off, you will need some dye, a piece of cloth, a clean working surface, a pair of gloves, and some neatsfoot oil.
Quickly coat your veg tan with neats oil before you start to avoid drying your leathers. The oil will keep it bate.
Mix your selected dye with alcohol(50-50) and start applying using a piece of cloth in a circular motion. Leave it to dry for a few minutes, and then apply oil to bring back moisture and restore the levels of oil needed in the leathers.
Here is everything you need to know about vegetable-tanned leather, from how to identify it to the perfect way to keep it looking good and fashionable.
How do you tell whether the leather is vegetable tan?
How do you take care of your veg-tanned leather?
Vegetable-tanned leather takes much time to produce and is expensive to acquire, so it needs a lot of love and care.
Here are a few tips you can practice:
Vegetable-tanned leather is known for its thick, robust nature. It is meant to soften as time goes by.
How do you achieve a soft feel to your leather goods? The key is to apply natural olive and neatsfoot oil from seam to seam and dry.
If you appreciate the natural beauty of high-quality leather goods, browse the selection offered by Stonestreet Leather to get vegetable leather products made with passion and craftsmanship. Let's create a world where beauty and function meet halfway!
]]>How to sew or repair stitches in leather at home is a common question for those without access to an industrial sewing machine. Here, Stonestreet Leather breaks down everything it takes to sew leather, from the tools you’ll need to the sewing process itself.
Sewing leather by hand is a bit of an art form. It's not as easy as sewing fabric, but it's not impossible. With the right tools and a little bit of practice, you can hand sew leather like a pro.
If you’re always eyeing leather goods- pants, skirts, jackets, bags, just about anything leather- and wondering, “Hey, could I make that leather belt myself?” We have good news for you. Believe it or not, sewing with leather is not as difficult as it looks, and beginners to both leatherworking and sewing can do it.
So, if you’re looking for a challenge and want to create something unique and long-lasting, read on to find out how you can sew leather successfully by hand.
Knowing how to sew leather by hand is an important skill to learn in leatherwork, and while it can seem daunting, it’s relatively easy to master. Leather hand sewing differs from fabric sewing in that leather hand sewing requires you to sew through pre-punched holes, which will ensure that your stitches are evenly spaced.
This means that sewing leather by hand requires slightly less precision and concentration than doing so with fabric. Additionally, leather needles are often blunt and large, making them less likely to poke you and easier to keep your eye on.
You can create just about anything with leather, but a popular choice is a leather bag. Sewing leather bags can be a perfect leather sewing projectsince most require an awl and a hand sewing needle or a leather needle for your sewing machine if you’ve got one.
To sew a leather bag, you can purchase either a half or full skin of leather. A half skin should be sufficient to create a smaller bag.
Also, remember that skins are often irregularly shaped, so you will have to work around this when making your bag. You can cut a piece of paper that can be used as a template. Place the template on the leather and cut around it. If you’d prefer to avoid this, you can purchase leather pre-cuts.
To begin, you must accumulate your tools into a simple leather sewing kit. If you’re considering learning how to sew leather, you may feel overwhelmed by all the tools you need, but it’s likely that you already have most of these items in your home.
For a basic leather sewing kit, you will need the following items:
Two needles
Waxed thread
A sewing awl
Small clamps or binder clips
A fork
As for your leather, any type will do, but vegetable-tanned leather (like our vegetable-tanned single shoulder) is the most common type of leather to work with. While this material is likely much thicker than many of the materials you are used to working with, it offers great stitching practice for methods that can be applied elsewhere.
Different applications of sewing require specific styles and sizes of needles. Unlike other materials, leather is most commonly measured by the ounce, with the thickness gauged by the ounce measurement.
For example, a 4 oz. piece of leather will be 1/16” thick, and an 8 oz. piece is ⅛” thick. We recommend the R point Groz-Beckert stitching needle for leather under 4 oz, as the R point is on the sharper side, allowing it to punch holes through all types of materials easily.
However, a cutting point needle is most recommended for thicker leather pieces. We recommend a tri-point needle, which has a distinctive point and shape designed to penetrate and slick thick leather material easily.
Waxing thread is essential to leatherworking. It makes regular thread stiffer, less stretchy, and more resistant to water and mildew. If you are learning how to sew leather, it’s useful to know how to wax your thread.
If your thread is not already waxed, we suggest waxing it with candle wax or beeswax, which is done by holding the thread between your thumb and pulling it a few times. This creates friction that will allow the thread to take the wax easily and will help prolong the thread’s lifespan.
An awl is a sharp, pointed tool that is used to make holes in materials so that they can be sewn. It is an essential tool for anyone learning how to sew leather.
There are many types of awls, but the ideal one for sewing leather is a stitching awl. A stitching awl typically has two needles that are joined at the top by a metal shaft.
The advantages of using a stitching awl are that it can make two holes at once and that the holes will be perfectly spaced apart, which is crucial for even stitching.
If you are learning how to sew leather, learning how to prepare your leather for stitching is just as important as knowing the stitches themselves. Leather is a unique material, and inconsistencies are to be expected, but many believe that its flaws are what give it its artisan value.
When cutting out leather, it’s important always to use care, especially if there are marks you don’t want on your final product. Before cutting your leather, you should carefully lay out your pieces to ensure your pattern pieces fit in a way that maximizes the leather piece.
Check out our full selection of leather at Stonestreet Leather to find the best pieces for your project.
When compared with thick leather, thin leather is ideal for sewing by hand, but both can be done with careful preparation. An industrial sewing machine is not needed for leather sewing as long as you use thin, soft skins such as lambskin leather.
One of the most difficult parts of sewing leather by hand is keeping the two pieces from slipping and keeping the stitching straight. This is where the binder clips come in. Keeping the smooth sides out and the rough sides together, hold them together with the binder clips to ensure that the stitching holes align well.
You will next want to give yourself even spacing to work from, which is where the fork comes in. You aim to create a guide by making spacing impressions on the leather. Making only three new marks each time, overlap the last impression to ensure even spacing.
Next, use your sewing awl to create holes. Pierce a hole through the leather, following the pattern made with the fork. You may need to puncture the hole from each side, depending on how thick your leather piece is.
However, punching the holes from the other side can create small irregular bumps that can cause a slightly variable stitch. Also, beginners often tend to make mistakes and not punch stitch holes in a straight stitch line.
Next, you will need to stitch your leather using the holes you just created. Before you begin stitching, take note of the various types of leather stitching to figure out what’s best for your project.
When learning how to sew leather, it’s important to know the various types of leather stitching to ensure that you achieve the desired look and durability.
The most common stitch for hand sewing leather is the saddle stitching process. Contrasting a straight stitch, which shows only every other stitch, the saddle stitches fill each stitch on both sides. This creates a single unbroken line that resembles a stitch made by a sewing machine.
Hand stitching leather with a saddle stitch is the most common for hand-sewing leather. This makes for a stronger stitch because the other thread will still hold if one thread breaks.
Other leather stitching methods include the single needle method and the double-needle method, but in this guide, we will only be discussing the saddle stitch method since it’s the most recommended.
Lacing is a leather sewing method that uses colorful lace for a decorative look. Frequently used with tooled leathers, leather edge lacing created a combination of styles that complement one another for a professional finish.
Best suited for lacing lightweight leather edges, the single loop stitch uses as little lace as required to cover the edge. This method is best for small, simple projects.
The double loop stitch covers a wider area, which is ideal for heavier projects. This method is best for projects where two leather thicknesses need to have more lacing to cover the edge.
If you desire a thicker accent on large projects with two or more thicknesses, consider using the triple loop stitch.
Once you have created your holes, it’s time to prepare the thread. If you use the saddle stitch method, you will want to measure and cut the thread 3.5 times the length you plan to sew.
First, start with a needle on each end of the thread and push the first one through the first hole. Then, even out the amount of thread on each side of the leather, ensuring that both needles are equally spaced out from the material.
Start sewing a few stitches in a figure-8 motion back and forth through the holes. Take the first needle through the second hole and go through the full piece of leather, then put the second needle through the same hole in opposing directions.
Continue doing this all the way down the holes, ensuring that you firmly pull the thread to stitch tight each time you pass it through.
Once you reach the last holes, you will sew through them twice in the same figure-8 pattern you’ve used with the other holes. This ‘locks’ the stitch, finalizing your saddle stitch. Complete the stitch by tightly pulling the thread and then trimming it.
You now have a functional and durable saddle stitch. Whether using the stitch to create an everyday item or for outdoor recreation, this simple stitch will always come in handy. Congratulations – you’ve learned how to sew leather!
Although mistakes and variations may be inevitable in the beginning, they shouldn’t be looked at harshly but as something that will make your leather sewing projects unique.
If you’re looking for your next project, check out our guide, which explains how leather is made.
While sewing leather by hand is doable, it’s easier with a sewing machine. One problem with leather crafting is that there’s no room for mistakes. One incorrect stitch is enough to ruin your material, creating a permanent hole in the product.
This is where the precision of a sewing machine can be helpful, but there are a few downsides. Whether you’d prefer to hand sew your leather or use a sewing machine relies on weighing these pros and cons.
One downside of using a machine when sewing leather is that leather tends to stick to the presser foot of the throat plate on many standard sewing machines. To counter this, you can place a piece of tape over the bottom of the foot, but most machines won’t accept the material’s thickness.
If you insist on using a sewing machine for leather, opt for one with a longer stitch length option, which will offer a more secure seam.
When choosing your sewing machine for leather, please pay attention to motor power, stitch length, stitch speed, reliability, and its ability to tackle thickness. Since leather is such a tough material to work with, we recommend a sewing machine labeled as ‘heavy-duty.’
The Janome HD1000, Singer CG590, and Toyota FSG325 are contenders for the best sewing machines for heavy-duty materials like leather. While the Singer CG590 features better specifications, all three sewing machines offer enough features for most home leather projects.
Leatherworking is an art that takes time to master, and it’s always great to have a helping hand along the way. If you are looking for high-quality leather manufacturers for your leatherworking needs or have any questions about leather, don’t hesitate to contact the experts at Stonestreet Leather.
]]>Talented crafters from across the globe create amazing and unique leather tooling patterns. Here's our list of the top leather toolers in the world!
By: Benjamin Carver / Founder, Stonestreet Leather
Published: July 2, 2019
Leathercraft is one of the oldest forms of human expression. For over 33 centuries, humans have used leather as a medium to record important information and events and as a vehicle of expression. The products of leather tooling used to be a pursuit limited to the very wealthy and powerful, but over time this artform made its way to the rest of society.
What was once used to share vital information years ago has now been transformed into a creative outlet. Today, people worldwide are taking part in this ancient art and crafting some truly unique works.
We are consistently in awe of the craftsmen and women from all over the world that we see online displaying their latest content. It felt fitting to create a showcase of some of the most skilled crafters we could find.
Like any type of craft, there are unlimited possibilities, and we are pleased to highlight the wide variety of applications for leather tooling. From traditional and functional to colorful and whimsical, many highly talented leather crafters are plying their trade today.
We're pleased to see this ancient art is still going strong!
We have painstakingly researched those active in the leather tooling community and chronicled their work in this new, annual list of the masters of leather working tools. While the tools and methods vary greatly, the designers on display all show amazing imagination, technical sophistication, and attention to detail.
You'll find all sorts of leather tooling designs below, using various tools, including the swivel knife, a background tool, camouflage tool, special beveling tool, pear shaders, veiner, seeder, lasers, and mallets.
Tooling leather is a slow and deliberate process that can take anywhere from hours to days or even weeks to finish, depending on the size and complexity of the design.
The results and details, however, are always relevant and worth the wait.
Whether you're a seasoned leatherworker or just getting started, we hope you enjoy this list of the world's top leatherworkers.
If there are other talented leather craftsmen and women that we didn't mention but deserve to be showcased – we want to hear about it! Contact us and share your work. We would love to see it!
– The Stonestreet Leather Team
Antonio Pecina of 3P Custom Leather has some seriously cool engraved leather designs. His designs are influenced by the elements popular in Texas, including guns, horses, cattle, and cooking.
What we liked about Antonio's work was the rustic nature and simplicity. The item featured is an excellent example of his work, which shows a longhorn skull and cactus – not too much or too little. Keep up the great work, Antonio!
Ashley Radz is a leather artist with a fantastic collection of purses and other handcrafted items. Ashley's designs come from her inspiration and are deeply rooted in natural settings, particularly animals. Although there are several great pieces to choose from and download, we were inspired by the color scheme seen on this handbag.
Mario Prz of 8Tres Leatherworks is a Madrid-based leathercrafter. Inspired by his love of motorcycles, many of his pieces are influenced by the biker aesthetic or made for motorcyclists, like this dramatic eagle bike seat cover.
We love seeing leather crafters from all over the world showcase their designs. We would love to hear about where he draws his inspiration from.
His love of old motorcycles inspires Adam Croft's incredible leather goods. In fact, his leatherworking business, Adam Croft Leather, goes hand in hand with his other business, restoring motorcycles at Vintage American Cycles. Check out the incredible detail on this hand-tooled seat cover.
Alden's School of Leather Trades, founded by Tim Alden, is located in Burns, Oregon, and is dedicated to creating the next generation of leather artisans. We're sure Tim has a wide variety of stunning engravings, but we wanted to showcase one of their most recent, this amazing custom saddle. If you are interested in upping your skills in the leather game – this is the place to do it!
Oregon-based American Made Upgrades offers a variety of leather goods, from patches to guitar pickguards to sheaths. Their shop can do custom pieces, geometric carvings, beautiful floral designs, and everything you can search in between, but it was this Chewbacca wallet in progress that caught our eye.
Archetype Leather is a handcrafted leather maker out of Chicago, Illinois. Archetype has an excellent collection of bags, belts, and more. Many of his works cater to the motorcycle crowd and are awesome!
It's no secret that we love intricate, audacious designs, and the one we've highlighted certainly fits the bill. The design has a lot of elements going on with birds, flowers, and more – altogether, it looks like it will be a fantastic piece for a happy customer. We'd love to see the final product!
Caleb Hilton specializes in making custom leather products. Caleb caught our eye on two fronts: his designs' intricacy and the vivid colors he's added to make the designs super unique and exciting. Check out these amazing shoe designs like his take on the Converse All-Star – a classic with a new twist!
Proving that amazing leather engraving can come from across the world, Chami's Leather Works in Japan has an excellent collection of wallets, badges, straps, and more. Chami's uses a mix of regular and color finishes across their collection of item handmade leather items. What caught our eye was the vintage styling used for the various military-themed items.
CHÄRÅTÊ Designs utilize a variety of leatherworking methods in the creation of their unique, handmade crafts. We love the colors and intricate design of this piece!
The dramatic colors of Dibazar leather's work jumped out at us immediately! In addition to leather engraving, most of their pieces are vibrantly dyed with one or more colors. How about this beautiful multicolored mandala purse?
Dracolite Medieval Store is the "largest and most complete brick and mortar medieval store anywhere," and with all the cool stuff they sell, we can believe it! Among their varied product offerings are cool medieval-inspired leather goods like this custom scabbard, leather masks, and much more.
Endless Designs creates excellent custom gifts for any occasion, working with wood and leather. Check out their customized products engraved with family names if you're looking for a wedding present, or take a look at their cute home accessories for a great gift for any occasion. This leather coffee cup sleeve made us laugh – they get it!
Patrick of Fitzgerald Leather specializes in clean, functional designs that employ leather dying, hand-stitching, and leather carving. The design here is going to become a charm for a purse. We love the fine detail on the lines and the unexpected blue sewing. It's a lovely contrast and will make someone a very happy customer!
Nora, the brains and hands behind Foxes and Ravens, creates beautiful leather goods with a medieval or Viking influence. Check out the detail on this custom tooled corset, and don't miss the rest of her shop with items like her signature soft leather booties and custom ax sheaths.
Kelly Freedom of Freedom Warrior Designs hopes to inspire a sense of freedom and creativity with her handmade leather goods. Viewing her designs which draw inspiration from nature, we feel freer already! These boho, hippie-chic earrings are some of our favorites.
Ashly Howard of Frontier Girl Leathercraft has a fantastic story along with her incredible art. After being diagnosed with lupus, she took up leatherwork as a hobby to help her adjust to a new way of living. She often works with the natural shape of the leather, as seen in this key valet/coin dish. Keep up the great work, and best of luck in your fight!
Grand Engrave, based in Australia, delivers an eye-catching collection of custom engraved products across various mediums, including leather, wood, and more. What caught our eye here (besides all the awesome dog pics!) was the variety of applications that they are using engraving for. We picked out our favorite leather engraving piece, which showcases a family of elephants. It's subtle, well-worked and certainly made an elephant-lover quite happy!
The work of Bailey Dickenson, a leather artist out of Church Hill, Tennessee, stands out due to the fun pops of color on many of the pieces. These vintage logo wallets are some of our favorites – and be sure to check out Holston Leather Supply's Instagram for cute ads of shop dog Mattie!
Bill Hutt of Hutt Armouries is an excellent crafter who is all about stunningly displaying weaponry. We keyed in on one of his amazing revolver holsters with a rich-colored finish. It looks like Hutt is getting into some of his first-ever real armor designs for cosplay, which is exciting. Keep up the great work, Bill!
Ismail Fahmi's creations for Ismail Am Leather are influenced by various elements, from traditional art in his native Indonesia to the band Iron Maiden. The special thing about his Instagram is that he shows a lot of work-in-progress pieces, so you get an authentic behind-the-scenes look at the leather engraving. Check out the progression of this embossed wallet.
Jacob's Engraving offers a wide variety of leather goods. They work mainly with laser engraving on leather, wood, and silver, specializing in designs that include text. One of their unique offerings is the ability to laser engrave a photograph onto leather, as seen in this cool leather keychain.
As their profile explains, the Houston, Texas-based Laser Cut Co. folks create custom goods for small businesses, special events, and creatives. Their team of makers can work with you to figure out how to make your event special or make your branded goods pop. Check out this awesome leather apron they designed for a local Western store.
Louise Churchhouse creates elegant handmade leather crafts as a side gig from her home in the U.K. We love this well-detailed image of a winding tree and think it will be a stunning piece. Don't forget to check out her sleek, sophisticated notebooks and travel journals that stand out from the crowd.
In Eleana Antonopoulou's Leather Crafts By Eleana, the artist uses a variety of mediums, including pyrography, to decorate leather before sewing it into purses, wallets, journal covers, and more.
We especially like her anime and comic-inspired pieces, but the map-centric design made the cut! Take a look at the fine detail on the compass. All the elements work nicely here and make it an excellent piece.
Cason at Lee EElmer'smakes clean, beautiful handmade custom leather goods. YYou'llsee his work influenced by different elements in Texas and beyond, including some college-specific designs. We enjoyed the Boy Scouts-themed knife sheath, a retro design brought back to life by Lee Elmer.
Lofty Leather Co. out of Sheffield, Alabama, is a Christian leathercrafter. Many of their designs feature Bible verses or other uplifting messages. Among Lofty LeatheLeather'svariety of items, this leather guitar pickguard with a floral design stood out. The way the leather tone matches the wood of the guitar is adorable.
Shin, the Japanese leather crafter behind LuLu Leatherworks, is another artist whose intricate detail blows us away. Check out the incredible linework on this work-in-progress leather carving, and head over to her Instagram page to see the step-by-step progression of this piece.
Lunar Leather, a leather and wood crafting operation out of Florida, caught our eye with their trendy leather bracelets and phone cases, engraved with Instagram-ready mantras like "be ki"d" and "good "ibes."We"chose these cool pieces because they reflect the brand'brand's Lunar Leather. The stars incorporated with the other elements make these simple pieces stand out. Check them out for great gifts for your gal pals!
Freddie Sheppard of Misfit Skinny Kustoms is not only an expert leathercrafter, but also he's ehe'sience with metal engraving, painting, and custom motorcycle work. He draws on these skills in his leatherwork and often takes on custom projects that combine his interests. We were blown away by this custom bench seat Freddie hand-tooled for a vintage car.
Mitra Ebrahimi of Mitra Leather Engraving is known for her intricately detailed floral designs. Carrying purses, sheaths, watch straps, and custom projects, this leathercrafter can do it all. The leather bag seen here is incredible- the carving is multi-dimensional, with different layers of flowers exploding from the center.
Nikolai Dimitrov creates a wide variety of handmade leather goods, from jewelry to sheaths to motorcycle accessories. Check out the delicate pair of leather feather earrings featuring pearl and turquoise beads. It'It'se of our favorites we'we'veen. For the item featured, we love the simplicity and deep lines.
Rex G of Moaalii Leather is a leather crafter known for his use of bright colors and excellent craftsmanship. His Buffalo Bill leather post made us giggle, but his use of color earned him a spot on the list. Great work, Rex!
Nora Leather is a talented engraver and crafter. Her collection features several incredible bags and purse designs with flower-centric engraving. The item we loved was an engraved bag with red dye and sunflowers. All of NorNora'ssigns are vibrant and colorful, and we cancan'tit to see what she comes up with next!
Petrus Leather Garage is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and dishes up some righteous motorcycle-themed designs. It'It'setty amazing seeing some of these engravers from across the world making designs that you think came from around the corner in the U.S.
We chose the Virgin de Guadalupe to be highlighted because of the contrast of the dark leather and vibrant colors. It'It'sgreat piece that just works.
When it comes to Progress LeaLeathercraft'sods, the cut-outs and stunning leather to fabric contrasts are some of the first things that caught our eye! This Japanese artisan is also notable for their use of metal accents on their products, which makes sense because they also create some metal jewelry in addition to leather goods.
Psybabas BohBohemia'sather crafts have a boho hippie flare that stands out from the crowd. With various products from beautiful shoes and sandals to jewelry, bags, and even hats, they have something for everyone. The detail of this leather cowboy hat is just stunning.
The artist behind Punctured Artefact creates tattoo art as well as leathercrafts, and that influence comes through in their work. They blend geometric and organic elements for a super unique product. How about this stool seat cover featuring a type of beetle native to Sweden?
Rytis Rydo of Rydo is a leather artisan known primarily for his classic, handcrafted bags. His pieces are durable and incredibly beautiful, from briefcases to backpacks to handbags.
Shadywood Leather in Spokane, Washington, is a newer player on the engraving scene, but we think big things are headed their way! Shadywood has a variety of custom products, including keychains, belts, collars, and passport holders.
The items we'we'veghlighted showcase their custom work, taking pictures of several family birds and bringing them to life as keychains. A fantastic way to keep your winged friends with you at all times!
There are many great ways to put your style into leathercraft, and this family crest from Taylor Made Leather really stood out. Based in Arizona, Taylor Made appears to develop a lot of customs for their clients, bringing their ideas to life. YouYou'llnd binders, bible covers, and more on their website.
Danny Smash and The Odd Mob are behind Wasteland Oddities, who have some of the most exciting and fun leather items we'we'veen. It was the pocket sheaths that stood out among their collection of items. Check out some of the comic and horror genre-inspired sheaths; they are very spooky and cool!
Winchester Leather Co. has a message along with their beautiful leather goods- they work to educate their customers about the power of small businesses and local craftsmen in this day and age of bulk purchasing and one-click orders. We love that – and we love this pair of custom kicks!
Oksana Kruglova'snate leather carvings are so detailed that they look like drawings – color and all. In her shop, youyou'llnd not only incredibly lifelike representations of wild animals but also wallets and more embossed with your favorite Game of Thrones characters.
Craig Montgomery can fit a tremendous amount of detail into tight spaces, which we admire! Come to his account for the gorgeous floral key fobs and coasters, like the ones seen here, and stay for a little bit of education on fine cigars, bourbon, and craft beer.
Montana nativeWeyant'sant's designs for Pursuit of West draw their inspiration from the western United States and are made for life on the ranch. These hand-tooled spur straps with metal accents are something special!
Yes, leather tooling is a very delicate and difficult process. It involves cutting and stamping designs into vegetable-tanned leather, which can be very thick and tough. The process requires a lot of precision, patience, a steady hand, and a good eye for detail.
The thickness of the leather will depend on the project you are working on. For smaller projects, such as keychains or coasters, you can use thinner leather. For larger projects, such as belts or wallets, thick leather is better.
Yes, you can make your own leather stamps! You will need to purchase a carving set and some carving tools, such as a gouge, a chisel, and a mallet. You will also need to find a design that you want to carve into the stamp. Once you have all your supplies, you can sign up for a leather carving class or watch some online tutorials to learn how to carve your stamp.
The best leather for tooling is vegetable-tanned leather. This type of leather is made from cowhide and is treated with tannins, which give it a natural yellowish color. Vegetable-tanned leather is also the most durable type of leather, making it ideal for tooling projects.
There are many different types of leather tooling, including carving, stamping, pyrography, and inlay.
Carving is the process of cutting designs into leather with a knife or other sharp tool. Stampings are made by pressing a stamp into the leather to create a design. Pyrography is the process of burning designs into leather with a hot poker. Inlay is the process of inserting pieces of leather or other materials into carved-out sections of the leather.
Leather stamping can be an enjoyable task to create beautiful imprints on leather items and can be especially handy when learning how to make a leather belt. While it might sound complex, it's remarkably simple to stamp leather with the right leather stamp tools. All that is required are leather stamps, a hammer, and a sponge to produce custom-made stamped leather pieces.
The most important of the tools is the stamp itself. Leather stamps come in a wide variety of options, from geometric shapes to flowers, letters, and even smiley faces. However, more important than the shape is the reliability and durability of the stamp.
Many leathercraft enthusiasts may wonder where to buy leather stamping tools. When purchasing your leather stamp tools. Look to reliable brands such as Tandy Leather and Weaver Leathercraft.
However, a high-quality leather stamp must be used with high-quality leather for its beauty to shine. Using even professional leather stamping tools with low-quality leather won't provide you with leatherwork you would be proud of.
If you're looking for exceptional leather to use with your best leather stamping tools, look at the beautiful leather goods from Stonestreet Leather. We sell border stamps, individual stamps, and even stamping packs that have everything you need to start your leathercraft journey.
When buying leather stamps, you should pay attention to their composition and quality since there are many different options.
Leather stamps made of stainless steel are durable and can last for many years. In addition, they are not so hard to maintain. Although high carbon steel and brass make excellent impressions, they are harder to maintain.
Leather stamps can be mass-produced, and you can often find these types of leather stamp tools for sale in retail shops.
Leather stamps can also be made using CNC machines, laser engraved, or hand-made. When considering the qualities of a good leather stamping kit, don't forget custom stamping tools come with a unique design and a higher price.
In general, hobby leatherworkers will have the most success utilizing premade leather stamping kits because they are flexible and provide a wide range of stamping options. A leather stamping kit will contain various useful tools, making it easy for beginners to determine which types of leather stamp tools they particularly enjoy using.
When selecting a leather stamp pack for purchase, you might wish to search for sets that consist of the following tools:
Tools for 2D/3D printing
Carving/swivel knives
Background seals
Basketweave, beveler and border punches
Letter and number seals
Mulefoot shapes
Pear shaders
Geometric and figure shapes
It can be difficult to find a leather stamping kit that consists of all of these stamping tools, but there are brand-name and homemade sets available with both instruments and punches included. They can vary in cost, performance, seal variety, and ease of use.
In addition to your standard stamping tools, it's necessary to have the right type of leather on hand since not all leather is responsive to marking. Some leather has been treated and finished so that it will not hold impressions from your stamps.
The impression might show up in the beginning; however, when the leather is bent or handled, the impression will vanish.
The best option for marking leather is vegetable tan single-shoulder leather from Stonestreet Leather. This type of leather has been utilized to stamp and tool for generations, making it an excellent option for leather workers of all categories.
This durable leather can be tooled, cut, stamped, and dyed for nearly any project. Although any leather can be used for tooling, the vegetable tanning process makes the leather softer and easier to work with, so you can easily achieve astonishing results like the craftsmen and women on the masters of leather tooling annual list.
Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned by plant-based tannins and is frequently the base material for belts, pet collars, and wallets. This is the first type of leather you should purchase if you are a beginner at leatherworking, so you can easily experiment with the way leather works. Any leather stamp tools will work with this type of leather, making it highly versatile.
Unlike other leathers, vegetable-tanned leather will take on a beautiful patina as it ages. This means that the more you use it and expose it to the elements, the more attractive it will become.
If you want your leatherworking project to last a lifetime, vegetable-tanned leather is the way to go.
Kits with pre-designed seals and leather stamp tools are more flexible and simpler to use, particularly for beginners, although the stamping kits tend to be more costly than single stamping tools. That's why knowledgeable artisans who currently have their own purchased or handcrafted imprints may save money by purchasing only devices for imprints.
If you do not have any instruments or stamps for making leather products, you may want to consider purchasing a leather stamp kit. If you currently have seals, it may be preferable to invest in just a single instrument for stamping.
Experienced artisans might provide truly distinct homemade punches, particularly for leather items, like belts, wallets, straps, and tags.
Such kits are valuable since they are unique, but they might be great not for all kinds of rawhide, or the application process can be tough. Branded kits and leather stamping instruments are more common, and they are generally universal concerning working with different kinds of animal skin.
Most leather stamp tools producers do not provide all-in-one sets, so some tools and punches are much better to purchase individually. As with any other crafting items, it's preferable to adhere to a quality and cost ratio.
Let Stonestreet Leather be your go-to leather provider if you're looking for affordable, high-quality leather to use with your leather stamp tools.
Our economy vegetable tan leather is budget-friendly without sacrificing quality, so you can create beautiful leather imprints whenever creative inspiration strikes.
When stamping leather, make sure to use a quick, consistent motion.
Apply even pressure when stamping to achieve the best results.
Practice on a scrap piece of leather before starting your project to get a feel for the process.
Experiment with different stamps and techniques to find what works best for you.
Oiling your leather before and after stamping will help to preserve the design.
If you make a mistake while stamping, don't worry! Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove the ink.
Pack your stamps away in a box or pouch when you're finished to prevent them from getting lost.
If you're looking to create more intricate patterns on your leather, you may want to look into embossing as a similar alternative to stamping. Embossing is a simple method to embellish leather with duplicated patterns utilizing a heavy steel plate or rolling wheel.
There are two primary kinds of embossing: blind printing and color printing.
In blind printing, the steel plates are pushed into the leather with nothing extra done to the leather, leading to a pattern that is the same color as the leather itself.
For color printing, a thin layer of film usually made from some plastic is put in between the leather and the plate, which means that areas of the film will be cut out before being imprinted into the material by the weight of the plate. The type of leather embossing tools you will need for your project will depend on your embossing method.
While the designs of embossed leather can wear out over time, this can mostly be avoided by using a layer of oil to the leather following the embossing procedure and re-oiling throughout the years.
While there may be some issues with embossing leather on a commercial scale, such as at a factory, it's completely sensible to do so on a smaller-sized scale with smaller-sized plates.
Lots of embossing plates are available for purchase premade online. However, those who are more serious in their efforts might wish to make the plates themselves. As long as you have tough plates and sufficient force to press them into a piece of leather, you will likely have no issue embossing from your home.
If you're not so keen on buying premade stamps, you might be interested in making a custom leather stamp instead. A custom leather stamp can be created using various methods, but beginners will have the most luck making a leather stamp from a block of wood.
For beginners, wood carving will be the easiest way to make a custom leather stamp. This method is fairly straightforward but does require basic woodworking skills.
To create a custom leather stamp, start with a small rectangular piece of wood. Following basic wood carving principles, outline the shape you have in mind onto the wood and begin carving edges until the shape is raised by about half an inch. It's that simple!
While these custom wood stamps won't have the durability of a metal stamp, you can still create beautiful designs that work surprisingly well on all of Stonestreet Leather's leather products.
Now that you know which type of leather stamp tools to use to begin creating beautiful impressions on your leather, you may want to learn other leatherworking skills like how to cut leather or how to sew leather.
It takes time to master the art of leatherworking, but learning how to cut leather or sewing with leather is not as difficult as it looks.
No matter what your leatherworking needs are, Stonestreet Leather has you covered. If you are looking for high-quality leather manufacturers for your leatherworking needs or have any questions about leather, don't hesitate to contact the experts at Stonestreet Leather.
]]>If you’re a beginner at leather-working, you may be wondering how to make a leather belt. Belts are a common first project for people who are new to leather-craft. The experts at Stonestreet Leather have put together this handy guide to help you create homemade leather belts.
If you’re interested in making your own belt, leather is a great material option. This timeless material is incredibly durable, elegant, eco-friendly, and of course, smells great. Leather belts can be on the pricier side, but they are a cost-effective purchase that will last you for years to come, and if you choose to make your own leather belt, your savings will only multiply.
To make a leather belt, you need to have a number of supplies and materials handy to ensure that the job is done right.
If you want to make a leather belt, and you plan on dyeing, stamping, tooling or applying oil to your belt, you will need a strip of 8 to 9 oz. vegetable tanned leather. If you don’t want to buy a whole side of leather, you are in luck, because you can buy individual leather strips in any width and/or thickness. If you are planning on stamping, tooling, or dyeing your belt, then you will probably want a vegetable tanned leather strip. If you don't want to mess with the dying process and you don't want to tool or stamp your belt, then you have a variety of options. For example, if you want a softer, pre-dyed leather strip to make your belt, then our West Tan Buffalo will be a great solution. West Tan Buffalo strips come in four different colors, matte black, matte brown, matte peanut (light brown), and matte burgundy brown. If you are looking for leather strips that are a little stiffer, and that have a glossy, vintage finish, then you may like our Vintage Glazed collection of buffalo leather strips. Vintage glazed comes in four different colors/finishes: vintage glazed tan, vintage glazed chocolate brown, vintage glazed denim, and vintage glazed black. Last, and definitely not least, one of our most popular types of buffalo leather strips for belts is our Crazy Horse buffalo line. Crazy Horse buffalo leather is only offered in two colors/finishes: crazy horse brown, and crazy horse navy. Crazy Horse leather is amazing and gorgeous because the leather has so much character and personality. Also, over time it will show even more character as the belt is worn and used. As you can see from the picture below of our brown crazy horse leather strip.
In addition to the leather, you will need a few supplies on hand to make a belt. These include leather dye, rivets, oil, and a buckle. A few other supplies are optional but will enhance the quality and style of your belt, including thread for embellishments and edge paint.
If you are new to leather working, there are a number of tools that you will need to create high-quality leather products. You may have some of these on hand already, but others will have to be purchased from a craft or hardware store. These include:
These supplies can be purchased at most hardware and craft stores.
Once you have your supplies and materials ready, it’s time to make the belt. The specific steps needed to make a belt can vary based on the type or style of belt you are going for, but you can follow these steps for guidance.
One of the most important parts of belt making is ensuring that your belt will fit. Whether you’re making the belt for yourself or someone else, you will first need to take measurements to know where the leather should be cut. The simplest way to do this is to put on a belt that you already have, put it onto the most comfortably fitting belt hold, and measure the belt all the way around. Alternatively, you can put a tape measure around your hips at the spot where the belt would sit. Record your measurement.
Next, lay your leather our flat on a table and mark a straight, long line on one side. The line should be a bit larger than the size you measured – for example, for a 32-inch waist size, cut 45 inches of leather. Then, finish with a perpendicular cut so the strap cutter can seamlessly enter and exit the leather.
Now is the time to use your strap cutter. First, you should set the thickness knob and set the width to your preference. Next, press the straight edge side on the strap cutter. Slowly feed the length into the cutter. Once the leather comes out the other end, slowly take it with your free hand and pull it while pulling the cutter towards you.
Now that the leather’s length has been cut out, it’s time to focus on the details.
Mark the placement of the holes on the tail end. The easiest way to do this is to use an existing belt for reference. The fold occurs and the buckle rod sticks out where the longer hole is.
After punching out the holes, shape the tail end so it folds over itself and snaps together to hold the loop and buckle. Starting right above the top hole, skive off about half of the thickness slowly and with shallow cuts. Alternatively, you can use a sander to grind off the thickness to get an even skive.
For lasting durability, it’s best to rivet your belt loops together, but they can be hand-stitched.
After the belt has been cut out and shaped, it’s time to refine and dye the leather.
Once the belt is cut out, you can bevel the edges for a refined and gentle feel. To do this, you should first lightly dampen the leather and glide the beveler along the top edges at a 45-degree angle.
Now it’s time to dye the leather. If you use all-natural vegetable-based dyes, you won’t need gloves, but it’s best to use them for anything harsher.
After the dye has been applied, you will need the belt to be completely dry before you can continue to the next steps. A hair dryer can be used to speed up the drying process.
You can also add additional decorative details to the belt at this point if you’d like. The dyeing and decorating step is an opportunity to add your own personal style to the belt.
As you learn how to make a leather belt and become more experienced with belt-making, you can try more advanced types of embellishment like embroidery or multiple dyes.
Finally, it’s time to bring life back to the leather.
Oil can be applied to reduce the dryness and stiffness caused by working with the leather. Apply an even coat of extra virgin olive oil across the belt, but don’t add a ton all at once. Instead, slowly apply thin coats of oil to the top side. Keep in mind that extra virgin olive oil darkens the leather, so this may affect the color that you are going for.
Now, all you need to do is add your belt loop, then your buckle, and snap it all together. Your beautiful new belt will be ready to wear with pride. Congratulations, you’ve finished the Stonestreet Leather tutorial on how to make a leather belt!
]]>Knowing how to cut leather is an essential part of leatherworking. Read on for Stonestreet Leather’s guide to cutting leather like a pro.
Learning how to cut leather isn’t especially challenging, yet doing it right is. Cuts should be perfect since they significantly affect the result of your leather project. The most minor slip of your ruler can mess with your burnishing process and make your stitching lines no longer as straight as they should be. Little blunders like that are intensified with each step you take to complete your leatherworking project.
While learning how to cut leather correctly can be a challenge, with a little bit of patience, both experienced leather workers and amateurs alike can master the art of cutting leather. Here, Stonestreet Leather explains everything you need to know in order to cut leather like a pro.
Tools for leather cutting play a major role in the process of leather crafting. They not only contribute to the pleasure and ease of the process but also to the finished product’s quality. To start, determine what tools for cutting are needed.
There are a few essential leather cutting tools: a utility knife, a rotary cutter, and a hobby or craft knife.
However, there are a few other common types of tools used for leather cutting, including heavy-duty scissors, head knives, swivel knives, hole punches, skiving knives, and V-gouge knives. It also helps to have a self-healing cutting mat handy in addition to a heavy ruler. Finally, you may want to keep a first aid kit handy – just in case!
Above all, your leather cutting knife should be effectively sharp. A dull cutting knife will not cut your leather as cleanly as you would ideally like it to, leaving unsightly and uneven jagged edges. If your leather cutting knife gets dull, it’s important to sharpen it as frequently as possible for the best possible cut.
Of course, you can’t learn how to cut leather without the leather itself. For most leatherworking projects, we suggest a versatile material like economy vegetable tan leather.
Regardless of what you are crafting with your leather, it always helps to lay out and mark your leather before you begin to cut it.
If you are creating a wallet with multiple pieces, you will want to scope out the leather’s grain side to find a clean, smooth area without any significant imperfections. Once you’ve found this area, flip the leather over and copy the pattern on the flesh side with a pen. This will be the area that you will cut from.
However, if you’d prefer not to mark up the leather using a pen, you can instead cut the pattern out of thin cardboard or plastic and use those edges to guide you while cutting. But be aware that this approach can be challenging, since the pattern may shift during cutting.
If your pattern includes curves, planning out your cut is even more important.
It’s best to cut thin leather of a thickness of 1mm or less with a rotary cutter. Using a hobby knife can pull and crease the leather and make it harder to get a straight line since it’s so fragile and more prone to moving. A rotary cutter allows for even pressure to be applied to a larger area. As mentioned above, it’s vital to ensure that your blade is nice and sharp when learning how to cut leather. This will give you a crisp, smooth line with few mistakes.
To cut the leather, lay it down with the grain side facing up, then place your ruler on top. If you haven’t already planned your cut with a pen or a piece of material, you can use the edge of the ruler to guide your cut. For the best results, keep the rotary cutter as close to the edge of the ruler as you can get.
It’s much easier to cut thick leather than thin leather. For thicker material, all you need is a sharp hobby knife to get a clean, straight cut, in addition to a sturdy ruler.
Thin leathers are notorious for pulling as you cut them. So if you want to cut them straight, you may want to avoid cutting them with scissors.
To cut thick leather straight, lay the leather down with the grain side up. Place the ruler on top and use the edge as a guide for cutting. Slowly and gently drag the hobby knife along the cut line. Patience is important here, but it will all be worth it for a straight cut into your leather.
If the leather is especially thick, you will want to make a lot of small passes. Usually, however, thick leather will normally take between 2-4 passes to cut through completely. Make sure to keep your ruler still in the same location at all times and keep the edge of the knife against the ruler.
If you aren’t so keen on cutting leather, you can also use pre-cut blanks like economy-grade vegetable tan belt blanks. While leather cutting is a rewarding venture, there’s never any shame in taking a shortcut.
Whether you want to make a leather belt from scratch or your belt turned out to be too long, cutting leather belt is easy with the right leather cutting tools and instructions.
Also, if your belt starts to wear out, the buckle may become loose and cause the belt to slip. Instead of throwing it away, you can easily turn that leather belt into a new one. But, if you wait too long, the leather may become too damaged.
When you decide how long your new belt should be, use a measuring tape or a ruler to mark where you want to cut. To cut a straight line, make sure your tools are sharp. Although you can use scissors, that may not be an ideal tool. But a rotary cutter with a sharp blade can be a good tool for cutting leather strips and belts.
Cutting leather belts can be achieved without damaging the leather. But, if you’re not confident that you can pull cutting straight lines off, you can always take your leather belt to a leatherworker or tailor.
While leather cutting is generally straightforward once you follow the basic steps outlined above, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that your leather cutting project runs smoothly.
Here are a few important tips for learning how to cut leather:
Keep your blade perpendicular to the leather. If you don’t do this, your cuts will appear to be straight but you will find out that they’re not completely straight once you get to the process of burnishing. To ensure that your edges line up perfectly and to limit the amount of sanding needed while burnishing, always keep your blade perpendicular. If you have trouble doing this, try not to overextend your arm while cutting because this will cause your hand to start rolling.
Keep your knives sharp. Sharp knives create clean, smooth cuts, causing much fewer mistakes. Before or after each time you work with leather, whether you’re just learning how to cut leather or are a seasoned leatherworker, make it a habit to sharpen your knives.
If you’d like to cut smooth curves in your leather, you can use a coin or washer as a guide. Line your coin up into the corner of your leather, following along the edge with your knife.
Guide with your body, not your wrist. You may have a natural tendency to guide the blade with your wrist, but your wrist has a limited range of motion. Instead, keep your elbow in close to your body and pull the cutting motion with your shoulder. This will keep you on track and ensure that the blade remains straight.
How is leather made? Many people, even designers who work with leather regularly, don’t know the process of leather production. At Stonestreet, we are passionate about leather manufacturing and are happy to help educate others.
From aspiring fashion designers to hunters, many people wonder about leather production. The modern leather-making process is a collection of as many as six phases, which we will outline below.
Leather making starts with raw animal hides, which are typically obtained from a supplier in commercial leather-making enterprises. These hides are often packed in rock salt for preservation and kept like this for up to 30 days. This piece of the leather process has remained almost the same since the earliest humans began making leather.
Later, salt is removed by from the hides by tumbling and hammering the hides. Hides may also be placed in soaking drums for a couple of days to rehydrate the material and remove any remaining salt and grime. Hides are treated to remove any hair or remaining animal flesh, and also to soften and increase the hide.
At the end of the preparation step, the hides are sliced into two layers by a splitting machine. The bottom portion (termed the reticular segment or split) is utilized for cheap, inferior leathers. The top portion (termed the papillary segment or dermis) is employed for high-quality, full-grain leathers.
The principal tanning step converts hides into leather by halting and preserving this hide’s decomposition. Hides are put into a drum along with either chromium salts or vegetable tanning agents and rotated for around eight hours. The salts and vegetable tanning agents preserve the leather as well as soften it during the leather manufacturing process.
After tanning and fat liquoring, hides are placed in a machine for sammying. Sammying is the removal of moisture through pressure. Following this, the hides may be sorted by quality and shaved down to uniform thicknesses.
The next step in how leather is made is re-tanning. This is step is done in order to alter the features of the leather to suit its use. Leather is tanned with a combination of vegetable matter and chromium salts, providing texture. Hides are set in a machine for a second time to remove moisture.
Then, the hides are sorted and stored once again. Hides may be air-dried, vacuum-dried, or oven-dried. After drying, hides are made supple and soft via mechanical softening done by a machine.
Dyeing leather is a long process. Hides are put into dye drums and following eight hours, they are tested to assure that the hides have been saturated by 100 percent of the dye. Hides are air or vacuum dried again at this point. Vegetable tanned leather possesses its own specific color dye but chrome tanned leather would need to have an appealing color dye to let you enjoy your leather clothing.
Finishing is an optional step in the leather-making process. It ensures softness and malleability and provides the required level of gloss, when applicable. The role of finishing is to minimize the look of grain surface or blemishes in the hide and to supply a pattern if desired.
One part of this is the grinding process, where hides are in climate-controlled drums, to soften the leather. Hides are stretched onto frames for four to eight hours to tighten the fiber structure. Some leathers receive a minimal application of pigment or surface finish.
Finally, a variety of tests are done on the leather to guarantee high quality. These tests include dimensional stability, abrasion, fading, and color. Hides that meet the quality specifications are stamped and labeled with the area in square feet or square yards. The hides are rolled into tubes or draped on a horse to protect against any wrinkles or folds when sent.
Now you know the process of leather production because Stonestreet Leather taught you in this step-by-step guide.
How to make leather has changed throughout the years. The livestock and agriculture industries have expanded alongside technology; together this has made way for the growth of modern leather tanning processes. Most modern tanneries are safe and clean with large quantities of light. Automation has enabled quality control in leather making and has made the process, as outlined in the previous section, much faster than it used to be.
It is still possible to make leather by hand, though, and the fundamentals of the process match the automated processes many leather manufacturers use today. If you are a hunter, artist, or DIY-er, here are the basics of how to make leather by hand. Be warned, the process takes an extremely long time!
First, set up a work area either outdoors or in a ventilated, easily-cleaned indoor space. You’ll require a work surface at least as big as the skin you’re working on. Soak the hide in water overnight to make it pliable. Lay it out flat, then carefully scrape the flesh off the skin with a sharp convex drawknife or blade.
Next, the hide must be de-haired. Mix up a solution of 2 cups lime into 1 gallon of water (make enough to completely cover the skin). Soak the hide in it and then scrub/scrape off any remaining hair.
Although the hide now looks clean, there is still more scraping to do because there is a tough membrane that remains. Let it dry, then scrape with sharp blades. You can use sandpaper on any tough spots.
Finally, the skin is prepared to be tanned. Collect oak or hemlock bark from fallen trees (this may damage or destroy living trees). Add the bark to a huge container of water such as an empty trash can, and soak the hide in this bark “tea” for up to nine months. During this time, the tannic acid (where “tanning” gets its name) in the bark will seep through every pore in the skin. You may want to add new bark and change the water every so often, maybe once every three months.
Once it’s done tanning, take it out and clean it well, scraping at it with a blade and scrubbing. The final portion of the procedure, currying, is turning the preserved but coarse skin into a final product. Poke a series of holes along the border of the hide using a leather awl. Thread ropes through the holes and stretch the skin taut on a frame where you will leave it to semi-dry.
Scrape both sides with a blade or rub a rod or kayak paddle over the surface. This procedure called sleaking rapidly stretches the leather which makes it smooth permanently soft, and supple. You may want a second person to help with this step, as the skin MUST be aggressively and constantly sleaked until tender. The longer the leather is sleaked now, the better the final product will be.
To finish off making leather by hand, you can smoke the leather over a flame for additional waterproofing. Or you can move on to the final step, which is a bit more sleaking while you rub the hide with oil.
Congratulations, you’ve made artisanal leather! This can be used for some really beautiful handmade leather goods.
There are three major categories of leather, top grain, split, and bonded. The process of how leather is made varies slightly for each category.
Top-grain leather contains the outer layer of the hide, known as the grain, which features finer, more densely packed fibers, resulting in strength and endurance. Depending on thickness, it might contain some of the fibrous underlayer, known as the corium.
Full-grain leather, which includes the grain layer. It is considered the highest-grade leather. Footwear and furniture are usually created from full-grain leather.
Corrected grain leather, where the surface is subjected to treatments that create a more uniform look. This involves sanding away flaws from the grain or buffing, then dyeing and embossing the surface.
Nubuck is top-grain leather that has been sanded or buffed to give a nap of protein fibers, making a velvet-like surface.
Split leather is created from the corium after the top grain has been separated from the hide, known as the drop split. In hides that were thicker, the drop split can be split a second time.
Suede, which is produced to create a soft, napped finish. It’s often made from younger animal skins, as the skins of adults often result in a rough nap.
Bicast leather is split leather that has a vinyl or polyurethane layer placed on the surface and embossed to give it the look of a grain. It’s a bit stiffer than leather but includes a texture that is consistent.
Patent leather is leather that has been extended to a high-gloss finish by the addition of a coating. After inventor Seth Boyden developed the first procedure for large-scale production of patent leather, employing a lacquer, in 1818. This is when it became very popular, however, patent leather has been around since the 1700s.
Bonded leather, also called reconstituted leather, is a material that uses leather scraps that are shredded and bonded together with latex or polyurethane onto a fiber net. The quantity of leather fibers in the mix varies from 10% to 90%, so this type of leather varies a lot from piece to piece.
It’s understandable to wonder what is leather made from since it can be made from the hide of just about any animal. On the other hand, the hide most commonly used is that of a cow. Studies have revealed that 65 percent of leather comes from cattle while 15% comes from sheep, 11% from pigs, and 9% from goats. Less than 0.2% of leather comes from another sort of creature.
Exotic leathers, such as snake, alligator, and crocodile skins, are considered most unethical because in these situations you are not using the rest of the animal, as you do with cattle, and in certain cases, the animals are endangered. However, this varies throughout the world. For instance, ostrich is a popular substance used by some designer labels due to its texture and is imported from Africa, where meat and eggs are also utilized.
Most leather we use today is a by-product of the dairy and meat industries. Instead of wasting the skin, by making leather, the creature’s hide is turned into a beautiful and useful material that will last for decades.
Tests performed on ancient leather samples have revealed that a wide variety of creatures were used for leather in the past, such as alpacas and squirrels, rabbits, beavers, goats, deer, and camels. In these instances, people would want to utilize every bit of the creature for tools food, and shelter, which can be when they began using animals.
At Stonestreet Leather, our story is inspired by the rich history of leather-making in the Americas.
In the news, we often hear about the environmental impact of making leather. This is fair since there are some things to be worried about in the leather-making process. For instance, people may criticize industrial farming practices used in raising cows, or they may criticize the substances and processes used at some tanneries.
However, leather products stand the test of time. Leather goods generally last twice as long (or even more) when compared to a synthetic alternative, so that halves the environmental impact.
When it comes to tannery practices, Timberland and other leather retailers have partnered to form the Leather Working Group. This coalition works to raise awareness and has crafted a rating system for tanneries according to their environmental impact.
Though it doesn’t use animal products, pleather or vegan leather does have some negative environmental impacts too. Think hard and long before choosing these products if you are eco-conscious.
Most fake leathers are made of some kind of plastic product or even petroleum. Some artificial leathers are even made of polyvinyl chloride (better called PVC), something that includes, one of the not-so-nice compounds, phthalates. Plus, these faux leather goods often do not last as long as real leather, so they add to the waste in landfills around the world.
How leather is made varies somewhat around the world, and different areas specialize in different pieces of the leather process. At the moment, the six countries producing the most leather are China, Brazil, India, Italy, Korea, and Russia.
Hides are often acquired from animals in these countries and are then shipped to be processed. A high-end designer in France might buy leather from China, ship it to Italy where they are famed for their tanning methods, then re-import the finished leather back to France to be made into handbags or shoes.
There are many steps to the leather process and many ways of making leather. Curing is an integral step regardless of what else you do, and finishing the leather is an interesting piece since it is an area where you can play with the material for unique results.
You cure leather at the very start part of the tanning process. This is key because raw hides and skins have to be stopped from deteriorating or rotting before the leather-making process begins. Methods of preservation include salting, chilling, freezing, and using biocides.
Curing prevents bacterial growth on the hide. It also considerably reduces the moisture content of the hide. One popular how-to-cure leather approach is wet-salting, in which the hide is heavily salted and then stored tightly packed for up to 30 days. Leather may also be cured by soaking in salt water.
Although not all leathers are finished, it is interesting to look at how to finish leather since you can create some beautiful and unique effects in this part of the process.
For instance, the mother of the pearl could be inserted to give it a unique, pearlescent finish. Or, embossing, textural changes, or a grain pattern might be performed.
Most full-grain leathers bypass the finishing stage and move straight to ironing. Ironing is another process that uses heat and pressure to achieve varying levels of sheen on the leather.
If you have questions about how leather is made or are looking for a specific style or finish on your leather, contact Stonestreet Leather today.
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