newshoes Report post Posted November 6, 2020 Hi, I was sure this probably has been asked before, but I haven't found anything in my searches through the forum just yet. Are there any books that you experienced leather workers would especially recommend for a beginner? Primarily my interests are towards shoes and dog collars, but some good information on general leatherwork would probably help me with both. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hardrada Report post Posted November 6, 2020 The first three listed here are ESSENTIAL: https://www.ianatkinson.net/leather/toolset.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zuludog Report post Posted November 6, 2020 As in the link posted by Hardrada I can recommend 'The Leatherworking Handbook' by Valerie MIchael and 'The Art of Hand Sewing Leather' by Al Stohlman Nigel Armitage is a widely recognised expert on leatherwork, and his book is due out soon, I've already ordered it - 'Leathercraft: Traditional Handcrafted Leatherwork Skills and Projects' There is a lot of information on YouTube. J H Leather has videos on making dog collars, and other things. These YT channels are also good - Nigel Armitage, Ian Atkinson, Geordie Leather. Just Search for 'beginners leatherwork'; 'making shoes', and so on Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshoes Report post Posted November 7, 2020 Thank you both! I'll check those all out! I've seen some JH Leather videos, but not the others. It's pretty amazing what you can learn on Youtube these days, my problem with the videos is I tend to watch too many and then can't always remember where I saw what. So I definitely need to get a couple of books too. I also appreciate the tool info. Tasha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilDimashq Report post Posted November 27, 2020 (edited) @newshoes Hi there. I'm also a beginner (started in May) and the advice already given here is great. I found Valerie MIchael's book to be a good general introduction with information on a wide range of topics. She starts with the leather itself - types tanning, the names of cuts of leather, leather weights and what they're best for. etc etc. Then she goes onto the tools, other materials, hardware etc before getting into various techniques for leather work. There's also a few projects included for different levels of ability with patterns/instructions etc. A very good introduction. Al Stohlman's book on hand stitching is invaluable. Once I got my copy it changed how I sew, helped me notice and start to fix my mistakes. It's great for tips on what to do in situations that are tricky for beginners: things like running out of thread during a line of stitching or piercing your thread. As a beginner, I have found both the videos by Nigel Armitage and Ian Aktinson to be a huge help. They are superb at their craft and really good at explaining things. Both have very good videos on stitching which would be a good place to start. Other youtube sources that I have found really useful are Terrick from Chartermade, Yun from Leathertoolz and Chuck from Weaverleather. There are many, many more, but each of these has been (and continues to be) a particular help to me. A tip on youtube which I didn't know when I started leathercrafting. You can create your own personal playlists and then save videos that you like into them. So now I have different playlists set up for videos on different topics such as stitching, tools, tutorials, techniques and so on. Very handy, like having your own video library. Best of luck, Phil Edited November 27, 2020 by PhilDimashq Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshoes Report post Posted December 3, 2020 Thanks Phil! I've ordered The Leatherworking Handbook and The Art of Hand Sewing Leather, and have been exploring some of the videos on youtube as well. I've fallen into a bit of a wormhole watching tooling videos, lol. It wasn't something that I had previously had any interest in, but I can't stop watching them. That's a great tip about making playlists. I didn't know I could do that. Tasha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted December 3, 2020 (edited) tandy website has a library of leather working books by Stohlman most are free. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/ Edited December 3, 2020 by chuck123wapati Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike02130 Report post Posted December 3, 2020 Harry Rogers on YouTube has been doing a shoe project. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshoes Report post Posted December 6, 2020 On 12/3/2020 at 9:25 AM, chuck123wapati said: tandy website has a library of leather working books by Stohlman most are free. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/ Thanks! I had no idea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonesys Report post Posted December 7, 2020 For shoe making, Sveta Kletina has a very good series on youtube, including lasts, tools and pattern drafting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
