Beginner Projects

[Aonir]

I am trying to get started with leatherworking, and i got my hands on a bag of scrap leather, but i'm lacking ideas to make things.

among this leather there are pieces i think would be large enough for a pair of shoes and pieces that would hardly make a couple of strings.

My toolkit is very small:

a leather needle (half circle)

a pair of pincers

a knife that easily cuts through leather (and fingers most likely)

i already have suitable thread and some buttons too.

i dont have much money so please don't make me need any expensive tools.

[JAZZMAN]

I hear you Aonir, i too am just starting out with leatherworking on an almost non existing budget, my advice would most definately have to be to start with a keyfob with your limited funds and tools or maybe even a bookmark, sadly and i know you said you did not want to hear it but the reality is that if you really do want to get into more advanced projects it will mean buying more tools and some leather, the good news is though there is loads of advice and help available for free on here and on you tube. The best thing to do is decide what you are going to make and then start asking questions on here about how to go about it. I am no expert as i said but i think a pair of shoes might be a bit ambitious for a starter project with hardly any tools, but hey as i said i am no expert. Good luck with it though at least you have come to the right place for help, i am sure the more experienced people on here will have more advice for you. Take care.

[Aonir]

the shoes was more for people to estimate the size, i know that making shoes would be far too hard.

the problem is mostly that if i searnch on leatherworking almost everything i find is about games like World of Warcraft.

also the leather is about 3 mm thick, top layer. From what i know they are leftovers from cushions that are now on the boat of a millionaire. my dad works at a company that makes cushions and stuff for boats so i can get leftovers quite easlily

[JAZZMAN]

That is great, but if you want to tool or carve the leather i have learned that you will need veg tanned leather, try typing into you tube, Ian Atkinson leather or Nigel Armitage leather, they both have some fantastic tutorials on leatherworking. Hope that helps a bit, these were recommended to me by other forum members and i have found them to be great.Peace.

[MonicaJacobson]

Aonir, I know what you mean about tools. It's a little overwhelming, and the best thing to do is try a few things (maybe some simple flat pouches), see if you enjoy leatherwork, and start accumulating tools a little at a time. You can get tools on ebay pretty cheaply.

[bikermutt07]

Business card holders are a good starting point. It doesn't take a lot of tools or materials and it will give you some good stitching practice.

[zuludog]

I have made my own strop from odds 'n' ends I had lying around, based on the illustration & dimensions in Tandy's catalogue. There is also a pinned thread under 'How do I do that? on this forum

I used some 2mm? leather from an old chair, and for the polishing compound I used Autosol car chrome polishing paste; don't know if it's available in USA, but there must be something similar

It looks homemade, but it does the job, got my craft knife and home - made skiving knife razor sharp

Gradually building up your experience and collection of tools is one of the interesting and satisfying parts of leatherwork. Have a look at as many threads & posts here that you can manage. there are lots of tips, suggestions & ideas

It would help if you put a some more information on your profile, like your main interests, both in leatherwork and other things; and at least which country you live in!

[snubbyfan]

When I first started out, I had a scratch awl, craft needles, some blind cord, a snap set, a sturdy pair of scissors and a bag of veg. tan scraps. One of the first things I made was this thumb break holster.

After that I was addicted.

Now I've got 3 boxes of stuff that I accumulated a little at a time and a few double shoulders of leather of different weights.

[Grey Drakkon]

Monica's idea for pouches is a good one. A soft finished leather like what you have is good for things like that, it will give you practice with stitching and you can use all sorts of scraps to make them different sizes and shapes. Since that leather can't be tooled you're limited with what you can do with it but you could find workarounds. For instance, by itself the leather would be too floppy for drink coasters, but what if you cut them out nicely and glued them to disks of wood?