What is Leather Craft?

Many of you reading this already know what leather craft entails.  But I wanted to give a brief overview in case anyone didn't know or wasn't sure how many things you can do with leather.

I could sit here all day and list everything that could be made out of leather.  You could go on for a long time and never actually name everything you can make.  It sounds cliche but your imagination is really your only limit.  (Except a carburetor, I don't believe you can make a carburetor out of leather. . . I haven't tried it though.)

Let's start with the basics.  In leather craft you take some type of animal hide, usually cow but other animal skin is used as well, and you make something out of it.  You cut the hide in the shape you need, if you are using vegetable tanned leather then you can emboss a print of some kind on the surface.  After that you will dye, stain, or "seal" the leather then, if necessary depending on the complexity of the project, you will stitch the pieces together to make an item.  Two of the most common projects are billfold wallets and checkbooks.  You can also make key fobs, belts, purses, notebook covers, journal covers, you name it.

There are somethings that you can make out of leather that we probably won't cover here, unless I get my own private workshop and unlimited time to work in it.  Those are things like leather seats for cars and motorcycles, leather jackets, those sorts of things.  I do plan on making some motorcycle accessories.  I'm excited about all of these upcoming projects.

I mentioned above that you can use animal hides other than cow hides to make your projects.  Tandy has a whole array of different animal hides you can choose from.  I recommend starting with basic vegetable tanned leather and then you can work up to other types of hides.  Having worked with leather for over 15 years I have just started to branch out into other animal skins.  You may notice that my first project is one that comes as a ready made kit.  I may do one or two more of those before I start making projects from basic patterns and cutting the leather myself.  That is a good place to get to as it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Well that is all I have for today.  As always send any questions or comments you have to theslackjaw@gmail.com

Thanks Again and Happy Crafting!