LeatherNuebie

Thanks Dwight! This is very helpful. The only thing I had on hand is a seam ripper, a rotary cutter, box cutting blades and some large sewing needles. To start, I just purchased a stitching wheel, poly thread and the book "Art of Leather Stitching" (in case I have to make wallets LOL) I did spend this AM deconstructing the jacket. Pics to follow. This is going to be a fun project.

Thanks Dwight. I thought about that ...hell, I might as well buy the damn jacket and skip this nonsense altogether however, I wouldn't learn one thing about working with leather. I don't expect what I make from this to be perfect and things aren't usually perfect in the first pass but it would be a start. I'm not afraid to make mistakes or to try new things (nothing ventured nothing gained). Besides, what's the worse that can happen...I wind up with material for a dozen wallets? LOL.

Hello folks. I'm happy to say this is my first post here! This looks like a great place to learn all about leather working. So here goes... I've owned this plain black leather jacket for years, the sleeves are a little long on me so it spent most of it's life in the closet. Recently, I've gotten the itch to buy another leather jacket. I pulled the old jacket out and was thinking about selling it. I wouldn't get much for it. So, I got this crazy idea to modify this jacket into the jacket I want. The leather is in great condition, it is heavy weight and it is a plain design so taking in seams here or there won't be so hard. For measuring and reference, I have 2 other leather jackets I can lift measurements from. I'm sure I'll run into technical issues later on down the line but they won't be anything this forum can't help me solve. The problem is, I don't have money for a sewing machine, only basic hand tools at this point in time. Can what I want to attempt be done with hand tools? It doesn't matter to me if it takes me months to rebuild by hand as long as the stitching looks straight and professional. If it can be done with hand tools, what are the minimum tools I will need to pull this off? Thanks in advance for your help. EDIT: It would be helpful to let you all know what I plan on doing. 1. Shorten the length of the jacket 2. Add zippers to the wrist areas 3. Tighten up the sleeves so they hug my arms more 4. Shorten the sleeves 5. Tighten up the body of the jacket, making it more form fitting