r/Leathercraft

A wedding gift for my brother and sister in law. I included the original sketched pattern though I ended up tweaking it slightly. My brother is a mycologist so for his I tooled Chicken of the Woods; when I was teaching foraging I told kids that if you’re ever lost in the woods, to look out for it because it may save your life. Maybe it’s too niche, but I thought it would be suiting in a symbolic way. For his wife, I did an olive branch to represent prosperity, connection, and a peaceful marriage. The two love hiking so I wanted to make something to keep their rings safe when they go adventuring :)

My only complaints are my dye job on the mushrooms, they turned out too muddy and indistinct, and the carved initials/date. They're very tiny and the dye made it a little muddy as well. I should’ve done it on the front panel like the original sketch. Oh well! Live and learn.

I made a leather biker vest key holder for my motorcycle key

Made this little biker vest key holder by hand from leather.

I wanted something that would match the motorcycle instead of using a regular keychain, so I came up with this mini leather vest design. The key tucks inside, and I used brass hardware to give it a more vintage look.

Pretty happy with how it turned out. What do you guys think?

Two days of work of the last week.

More will come...

Did pretty well for not having a real pattern.

TATTOO MACHINE LEATHER CARVING?

Hello everyone. Please write down what needs to be corrected and what needs to be fixed and what shortcomings. Thank you very much.

Hello! Not sure if anyone's following along, but I've been on a journey to recreate this object: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGlU0QwZrv8 as a complete newbie! I had never worked with leather prior to starting part 1.

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/Leathercraft/comments/1umwjfm/my_first_leather_project/

Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/Leathercraft/comments/1vhlj0g/first_leather_project_v20/

I started out by making a couple iterations of the keychain that HahnAtelier makes at the end, after which I felt confident enough to make the main body!

Things I acquired:

• 85 piece leather tool kit - $50 https://a.co/d/0aC2bBnt
• Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement - $9
• Shkira 2,2 lbs Genuine Brown Leather Scraps  - $9 (my interpretation of what HahnAtelier calls"split leather")
• Eva foam - $7
• 1mm PVC foam - $13
• 1000 jump rings - $11
• uniters edge primer and paint - $21.30
• small japanese planer for leather - $17 (used this to jankily skive the leather, but I'd avoid this if possible)
• Tandy Veg-Tan Single Shoulder Dark Brown $67
• Rocky mountain Plonge Protected - Luxury Lambskin Chocolate - $75 (not very happy with these people but that's a different story)
• Not super necessary:
  • beeswax - $6.50 (not sure if this was necessary, but I think it might have helped)
  • paraffin wax - $7.50
  • bick4 - $11

Things I already had:

• 3D printer - printed out the hershey's stamp and also a variety of helpful tools to assist with shaping/pricking etc.
• calipers
• small circular neodymium magnets
• awl
• random-af wood to use as a vice
• a regular printer to print out some guides
• random af cloth to use as support (?) idk

Things I wish i'd had:

• a stitching pony
• 0.7 mm thick leather (instead of arduously planing my Tandy leather)
• a boxcutter or something a little stronger than the exacto-knife to cut the leather
• a sharpening block
• bontex? support material with adhesive
• a better edge beveler (I think the one that came with the amazon kit isn't great)
• european-style pricking irons instead of the diamond chisels that came with the kit
• a sharper awl? some kind of better mechanism for making the holes go all the way through. I think I needed some kind of cork/ or pound-o-pad?
• a piece of granite to to skive on

50+9+9+11+7+6.50+7.50+13+11+21.30+17+67+75 = $304

The whole project including all parts probably only took $15 of the lambskin (I used it pretty inefficiently) and about $30 of the veg tan single shoulder

I spent a little under 2 months doing this (in my free time). Officially started June 25, 2026, maybe did a bit of studying and planning for 2 weeks prior. It did take part of my life force directly.

If people are interested I could potentially publish a more comprehensive study, but honestly I probably did many things wrong, so it's best to refer back to HahnAtelier's original youtube video, even thought it's not actually a tutorial.

But yeah, the janky amazon toolkit can get you pretty far!!!

ETA: https://limewire.com/d/cyGGY#03sA6CCxxo - link to hershey's bar stamp!

Hello, I have never worked with leather before, but I wanted to give it a shot. Please be kind.

It’s a belt for olympic weightlifting with Bulgarian style buckle placement (to the side, for a bar path closer to the body). The outer layer is form red sude to match my lifting shoes.

Except for punch holes and sanding, I found the process quite enjoyable.

Edit:

Here is the template I made, it also includes forms for the belt loops. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mA8M4OcjBiNpkEpRsnnauaDaR8kvk2xL?usp=sharing

I applied dark brown antique to raw veg tan for maybe 10 seconds, then wiped and wiped and wiped with various materials, even tried saddle soap now, and it won't come out. Bummed to learn this lesson after hours of crafting, so it goes...

What can I do now? And what can I do next time so the antique doesn't bleed onto the rest of the piece?

Edit: My hunch -- it was not fully dry after tooling 15 minutes prior... could I dye it now or tomorrow (I only have red) to save the appearance?

Thanks!

I made an archery arm guard for my son. It was a spur of the moment thing a couple nights ago and I carved it up. I didn't think through how to attach it to the arm. Ive looked at others online and I am thinking the best bet may be just 4 grommets on both sides, some 1/8th shock cord and a barrel lock to tighten it up. Any other options I should consider?

I was selfish, bear with me.

I was up late the other night unable to turn my brain off. When that happens, I usually just accept the situation and head to my shop to trick my brain into feeling productive. Simply being in the shop doing busy work wasn’t enough, I needed to make something.

I whipped up a quick flower tracing, designed a frame for it, and got to work. I start how I usually do: spray some water on the leather, do a quick transfer, and while I’m waiting for it to case, I’m getting my rigging in position to start recording. I recorded the first cut and thought, “hold on a minute. Why am I recording this?”

Did I come to my shop at 1am to work, or to tell my brain to rest? I decided I needed this one for my sanity. I moved the rigging out of the way and simply tooled the project like nobody was watching. Sometimes I forget how fast I can move when I'm not worried about making the process visible. I don’t plan on posting anything more than these pictures for this project. This one was for me.

Many aspiring leather artists appreciate my “non-traditional” work, but the foundations of sculpture can so readily be found in nature- flowers, especially. There are some decisions that need to be made to find the balance between how much realism you want to maintain or how much depth you want to pull from the material.

Sometimes it feels like realism and depth are on the same slider. Adding more to one removes from the other. Don’t be afraid to stray from what’s “real”, especially if that means adding flavor to your project.

I felt a lot better after finishing this project.

Finished these up awhile ago, they are my handmade rendition of the 1940's era US Navy service shoe (class A uniform) done on the original last for the shoe.

Upper leather: Shinki shell cordovan
Lining leather: Japanese calfskin
Insole: Shonan shoulder
Outsole: Gerberei Martin oak bark tannage
Misc veg tans of various weights and temper used for all other parts of the shoe.
Vibram half sole set and Lulu Au Lion toe steels

Fully hand sewn welted, hand sewn sole stitch @ 8spi, full leather shank and round waist, full leather filler.

I started with 2 pieces of shell at 14dm each, used one and half of them comfortably on the shoes. I ended up with enough leftover shell to make a billfold (someday) which was convenient, because the second shell wasn't split so evenly and one half was the right thickness for shoes and the other half is the right thickness for a wallet or small goods.

Hi all, I made this little setup for myself because I’m constantly scanning through doors at work. The keeper goes on my belt, the ID holder attaches to it, and I added magnets on the back so it stays put instead of dangling around.

A colleague saw mine and asked me to make one for him. I made it and ended up giving it to him as a gift. He showed his wife, she’s a manager at her workplace and now she wants to order ten sets.

I don’t know about you all, but these take me a while to make 😆. Out of curiosity, what would you charge for a set? TIA

My wife bought me a sewing machine and I wanted to show off my first few. They are rough, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out. The first is a zippered dopp bag and the second is a small saddle bag.

I enjoy making small card holders with side gussets. However, I've always constructed them with a three-piece gusset because, naturally, leather doesn't like being bent that way.

The three piece gusset is rather time consuming, and I haven't had the courage to try a single piece gusset because I frankly didn't think it would look clean (or even be possible) if I simply brute-forced the leather into place. But then I had the idea that I could simply wet mold it.

It also solves another problem I had - I don't just want to work with squares and incorporate slight curves into my designs. This would complicate the calculations for a three piece gusset, with all the odd angles and lengths. Wet molding allows me to do this without any extra effort.

I mold it using a larger set of bodies that can apply pressure evenly. I then cut the gusset to its correct size using a smaller, single piece body.

This is just a prototype, but I thought I'd share!

Hey everyone

I've been doing leatherworking for some time and plan to eventually make it a side hustle. What do you think about it ?

Hats for my friend and I, bag for my mom!

Used various leathers for these hats. Super waxy Indian pull up for top and sides, matte brown pull up for the bands, 1.8mm veg tan for the visors on the hats and 2.5mm veg tan for the straps.

Bag is made from the same material as the bands on the hats and the clasp thing is the same 1.8mm veg tan as the visors. Going to change the chrome Chicago screws for brass ones once my order comes in. The bag strap is something mom had and wanted to reuse, might still make her a leather strap for the bag once I get more.

Hey everyone, thought I’d share a bifold I just wrapped up featuring a warm brown exterior paired with a rich navy blue interior.

It’s crafted entirely from lovely Italian veg-tanned leather (Walpier Buttero) for both the exterior and interior. Spent a good amount of time dialing in the details,specifically the skiving. Precision skiving brought the inner pockets down to keep the profile super slim without it feeling flimsy.

The whole lot is hand-stitched with a proper saddle stitch, so it's definitely built to last. I went through the grits on the edges and burnished them with beeswax until I got that mirror shine I was after.

Honestly, I'm loving the hand-feel on this full Buttero setup,the understated navy inside gives a nice subtle pop every time you open it up, and I reckon it'll age brilliantly.

Would love to hear your take on the stitching and edges!

More of my work here:
https://www.instagram.com/tripley_leathercraft/