Printable Templates

[Wordnerd47]

Hi y'all. I'm new to leather working, but very excited. I'm an art teacher from Texas. I'm looking for a website with free project templates and good instructions. 

Any and all help is welcome. 

Thanks y'all. 

[bikermutt07]

JLS leather had some free ones on his site. If you do a search, there are lots of patterns in this site.

What are you wanting to make?

Welcome aboard

[LatigoAmigo]

There are many pattern templates out there, but free and with good instructions? Here is a site of inexpensive templates with a wide selection of patterns. Not sure about the quality of the instructions, but the site displays a photo of the finished product.

http://www.lzpattern.com/

[Webicons]

@LatigoAmigo Have you used this site?  I've run across it but had always been hesitant about making a purchase.  Can you tell me a little about your experience?

[LatigoAmigo]

I used it to order two patterns. Download was easy, and the files contained all of the parts as promised. Seams, stitching holes, and fold lines were all indicated. A few dollars well spent.

[Instinctive]

Also http://makesupply-leather.com/

They have a section of very good free patterns in PDF format plus an expanded section of low cost PDF patterns.

Most patterns have a very detailed video work-along tutorial.

 

[Wordnerd47]

@bikermutt07 I'm not sure. I'll know it when I see it. But I'd like to teach a lesson on leather working. Hence the need for good instructions. Thanks everyone for your help. 

[bikermutt07]

8 minutes ago, Wordnerd47 said:

@bikermutt07 I'm not sure. I'll know it when I see it. But I'd like to teach a lesson on leather working. Hence the need for good instructions. Thanks everyone for your help. 

Teaching a lesson could escalate expense really fast. What age kids are you teaching?

Just thought about this....

Visit Springfield Leather's website. They have a videos page. Watch the one called how to be a hero. Heck, watch them all Kevin and Rusty are a hoot.

[mikesc]

As someone who has taught art and design and associated subjects at university level..and also at secondary and even 'lil' kids level..( and who has made their professional living as an artist , sculptor, designer for the last four and half decades, the teaching was parallel with that a few times , with some short breaks to do other things*, a couple of times )...I'm disappointed reading this thread.. Don't teach what you don't know yourself expertly..you'll risk ( certainly ) doing it badly ( you won't have the experience to know what you are talking about ) and thus maybe putting someone off the subject, maybe for life.

You wouldn't teach piano if you could only play guitar..I hope :)

Teaching what one is not expert in is hardly ethical and IMO , not honest, an other example would be teaching sword fighting, when you have only experience as a boxer..so many people have been put off art by teachers who were not themselves really any good at "art" and had no experience in many of the "artistic disciplines" that they were supposed to be teaching..Even young kids need their teacher to be an expert at what they are supposedly teaching, other wise the ones who need help are faced with someone who does not know the answers, and the ones who are good and have talent will feel / know that the teacher is a fake, and the risk then is that they think that the subject ( art or leatherwork ) is not important ( in the eyes of those who are "teaching" it , if someone who cannot do it is allowed to teach it.

Funny ( as in "funny tragic" ) how this happens so much in art teaching..and IT teaching, the "unqualified / inexperienced in the subject " "teachers", teaching specialised aspects of the subject, and thinking it is OK to be a page or an instruction sheet ahead of the ones that they are teaching.

Teaching is supposed to be about teaching ( anyone, kids or adults ) what you know about very well and have lots of experience in doing..not what you downloaded some instructions from the web about something that you do not know how to do and do not have a lot of experience in.

*including, but not limited to, military service, twice...some of us are older than the others, and have done many things besides / along side our main professions, often just for "why not" ..read Heinlein to understand why.."A human being should be able to..."

Edited January 17, 2018 by mikesc

[YinTx]

Not sure if this is the type of template you had in mind, but 

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com

has a lot of stuff for free... and for sale.

YinTx

[bikermutt07]

3 hours ago, mikesc said:

As someone who has taught art and design and associated subjects at university level..and also at secondary and even 'lil' kids level..( and who has made their professional living as an artist , sculptor, designer for the last four and half decades, the teaching was parallel with that a few times , with some short breaks to do other things*, a couple of times )...I'm disappointed reading this thread.. Don't teach what you don't know yourself expertly..you'll risk ( certainly ) doing it badly ( you won't have the experience to know what you are talking about ) and thus maybe putting someone off the subject, maybe for life.

You wouldn't teach piano if you could only play guitar..I hope

Teaching what one is not expert in is hardly ethical and IMO , not honest, an other example would be teaching sword fighting, when you have only experience as a boxer..so many people have been put off art by teachers who were not themselves really any good at "art" and had no experience in many of the "artistic disciplines" that they were supposed to be teaching..Even young kids need their teacher to be an expert at what they are supposedly teaching, other wise the ones who need help are faced with someone who does not know the answers, and the ones who are good and have talent will feel / know that the teacher is a fake, and the risk then is that they think that the subject ( art or leatherwork ) is not important ( in the eyes of those who are "teaching" it , if someone who cannot do it is allowed to teach it.

Funny ( as in "funny tragic" ) how this happens so much in art teaching..and IT teaching, the "unqualified / inexperienced in the subject " "teachers", teaching specialised aspects of the subject, and thinking it is OK to be a page or an instruction sheet ahead of the ones that they are teaching.

Teaching is supposed to be about teaching ( anyone, kids or adults ) what you know about very well and have lots of experience in doing..not what you downloaded some instructions from the web about something that you do not know how to do and do not have a lot of experience in.

*including, but not limited to, military service, twice...some of us are older than the others, and have done many things besides / along side our main professions, often just for "why not" ..read Heinlein to understand why.."A human being should be able to..."

You would absolutely adore my wife. She is an amazing middle School art teacher. And she has that real artistic passion. I'd be happy to share some of her stuff in a pm.

[mikesc]

Will pm you later in the day ( Thursday ) Mutt , after some sleep , thanks :) it is nearly 04.00 am here. :-)

[YinTx]

10 hours ago, Instinctive said:

Also http://makesupply-leather.com/

They have a section of very good free patterns in PDF format plus an expanded section of low cost PDF patterns.

Most patterns have a very detailed video work-along tutorial.

 

I just watched one of their work along tutorials, and was more than a bit surprised at the techniques being taught, such as marking stitches one at a time with a single point pricking iron, on a stack of leather on top of a marble slab with a giant dead-blow hammer.  How could any beginner hope to get consistently spaced and angled stitches and not wreck their iron with this technique?  Mike's comment about

 

3 hours ago, mikesc said:

maybe putting someone off the subject, maybe for life.

could ring true here.  Please, OP, get some reading in on this site and watch a large variety of videos from very skilled crafts people before you go teaching this one.  Unless, you just want to have some pre schoolers hammer some marks in round keychains.  That shouldn't be too difficult to teach and let em run with!  Just my .02, worth the price of admission.

YinTx

[Dun]

Yeah a lot of leather tools are sharp. What age group are we talking? Most kids won’t hurt themselves but it would be very hard to keep a large group from wrecking the tools.

looking for patterns for the kids to follow or for the instructors to pre cut and prep?

[MacB]

Some free templates, but this guy has a lot of vids and most of them very informative .. that's where I got a lot of tips and the gusto to work with leather. I doesn't harm to buy a template from him. Even though a lot of his projects are not exactly for beginners, he has quite a few beginner Vids (Which tools to use, which leather, how to dye, etc...)

http://ianatkinson.net/leather/videos.htm

all vids her

https://www.youtube.com/user/satansbarber/videos

cheers

[Wordnerd47]

To most of you thank you for your help. 

@mikesc speaking of not talking about what one does not know about, you sure talked a lot. Yet you know nothing about me.   

  I never once said I was going to teach anyone straight out of the gate without due diligence. I requested help so that I can properly learn a new skill, and then teach what I have learned. I clearly have been doing research, otherwise how would I have ended up at this site? Also, how is one to become an expert on any topic without asking questions? Which I what I am doing.

   I respect your years of learning and teaching, so please extend the same respect to me. Yes, you have been at it longer than I have. You're probably quite a bit older than I am, so you got a head start.

  I am a 3rd generation artist, I have a degree in art from a private college, some of my first memories are of creating art with my father, and helping him set up his art rooms in various public schools. I taught high school art for a short time, and only quit when my cancer returned a second time. I have been fighting stage 4 breast cancer for 8 long years. In addition to many prayers and long sessions of chemo, I credit art with keeping me alive. Please don't question a person's passion unless you have a firm grasp on their reasons for asking for help in expanding their knowledge.

  So you can be disappointed, say I'm unethical, and a fraud. I'm alright with that, as your opinions carries zero weight in my life. 

  But know this, I am many things but an unethical fraud isn't on the list. I'm the real deal, and I teach real life skills to middle schoolers. I have a will and a passion to teach art. I started my own business so that I can get treatment and keep teaching what I love. I make my living teaching art to kids who know that creating is my life's work and reason for being. 

  Don't assume. It just makes you look mean. And that's never a good look. 

This is a one time response. Please don't reply. It will be a waste of your time. Not mine though. I won't read anything more from you. Life is difficult enough without seeking out nasty messages from strangers who have nothing helpful to say. Goodnight.

 

To those you you who have something helpful to say. Please share, as I am trying to learn. Thanks y'all. 

[chrisash]

Well said, I hope you continue fighting the cancer and win the fight as well as to learn enough to teach leathercraft at the required level

I am myself a learner having just started and its obvious that there are all different levels of leathercraft from simple key rings and wallets to saddle craft and you don't have to be  a top expert to start teaching the beginners sections and practice seems the largest teacher

Wishing you all the best

Regards

Chris

[Rockoboy]

When I was about 12 years old, I had a teacher for one class (maybe 2 hours one day) that I never saw again. In that class we did some leather work.

In retrospect, I can now see he knew very little about leatherwork, but he was a very good inspirational teacher. That man instilled in me, a love of leatherwork that has lasted 42 years and counting. It has been fragmented by life and things getting in the way, but the basic wish to produce things in leather has stayed with me for all these years.

I say give it your best shot. If my assessment of a person (that's you) is correct, you are an amazing teacher who will leave a lot of students with a lifelong memory which they can build on if they wish.

Good luck with your fight.