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Hello, As an experiment im making an archery back quiver, and anticipating a problem. The pictures hopefully will make it more clear. I plan to attach these 3 5oz decorative panels to this 8oz quiver, the quiver will then fold in half and be stitched on the long side into a quiver shape. The anticipated problem will be that after stitching the panels on while the quiver is flat, the panels wont allow the quiver to then fold into the taco and stitch into final shape. Any suggestions here on how best to attach the panels, or if a product like shoe stretch leather could help (after attaching, maybe leaving a section unstitched to stick a dauber into the back of the panels and work it into the flesh side? Any suggestions appreciated, big, small, or project breaking Thanks! David

I need help. Some time ago I made myself a pair of leather suspenders. Over time they have stretch a good couple of inches or more all the way around. Recently though, a friend of mine saw them and asked me to make him a pair, which I sold him. He has had his for only a couple months and has now asked me to rework them to make them shorter because they have stretched out also. Why has this happened? I can’t charge for my work if the things I make change sizes after a month or two! I’ll explain, when I made mine originally I used pre-cut straps I bought from Tandy leather. They were 4-5 ounce 1 inch straps. I’m not as surprised that they stretched over the amount of time that I have worn them. But the suspenders I made for my friend I cut from a side of 8-9 ounce veg tanned leather. With both pairs that I made I dyed the pieces with Fiebing’s pro dye and finished them with Aussie wax, and that’s all. Why has the leather stretched out so much? Is it something I have done, or something I have neglected to do? Is there something in the crafting process I need to do to make sure this doesn’t happen. I’m very disappointed 1) with my work now that it is sort of ruined and 2) that I charged someone for something that needs re-worked. Other people I know have expressed interest in these suspenders and I want to begin making belts, but I have to make sure they don’t stretch out! Or, is the leather stretching out so much just inevitable and I need to anticipate that when making measurements? I think my work is of decent quality but I don’t have the experience over time to know how things end up after they’re broken in.

I have acquired a mule skin surveyors hat from what I believe to be from the early 1900's. The problem is the customer would like this dried hat stretched into a soft wearable hat. How do I stretch the hat in a way that the hat won't be damaged?

I run a site that mostly discusses leather jackets, but there are plenty of other topics. I am looking for the science behind leather shrinking, and what a realistic possibility of stretching leather back into shape would be. I do not want information that is copied and pasted from Google where someone says it can be done, but was hoping to get real life examples from the expert leather workers on this site. I have personally worked with leather jackets for a number of years and have successfully shrunk leather jackets as much as a full size by soaking the leather, then applying heat. My findings are that the majority of the shrinkage occurs near the end of the drying process when the jacket goes from damp to really dry. I have seen little change occur in the "soaking wet" to "damp" stage. I believe that leather shrinkage is due to the shrinkage of the leather fibers on a cellular level which occurs when the leather is dehydrated to such a degree that the fibers physically shrink. At this point, I believe they are 'set' and cannot be lengthened again without damage to the fibers. Maybe it is more accurate to say that I have not experienced any successful stretching techniques that have been permanent. I also believe that there is some distortion to the leather as stretching leather after it has been shrunk or dried out, actually breaks some of the leather fibers allowing the leather to appear to have stretched. I have seen jackets develop pulls and thin areas from overzealous stretching. Again, this topic pertains only to leather jackets, as we have members of our site who have shrunk their jackets accidentally and are looking to stretch them out again. People have put heavy items on the sleeve ends or loaded the arms up with soup cans to try to stretch the sleeves. The results were slight and temporary as the leather wants to revert back to the shrunken size. I also believe that in the case of leather jackets, too many people confuse softening with stretching. A stiff jacket feels tight, and as it softens, it feels looser, so the assumption is that it stretched. Thoughts and opinions are very welcomed. I believe a jacket cannot be stretched back into shape and for the sake of some site members, I would like to be proven wrong.