I wanted to make a valet tray, refine the details, and make it my own. I’ve seen others do them stitched together or use snaps so that they can lay flat. While I like the utility, I don’t see myself having stacks of trays that I want to store away when I’m not using them. […]
Not All Leathercraft Projects Are Flat
Not all leatherworking projects are flat. Most are not. I consider flat projects to be mats, journal covers, card cases, wallets, and belts. Yes, they have components requiring true three-dimensional consideration, but they are relatively simple or involve only one project detail. For example, how does the middle of a wallet fold so that you […]
Giving Space for Your Creativity
Giving yourself adequate time is important when exploring your leathercraft style and design. People regularly practice sketching and forming roughs in other arts like drawing and sculpting. In leatherworking, we often try to make a finished product without giving ourselves time to improve our craft and explore our style. As a busy person, I fight […]
The Case For A Simple Leather Case
When people ask me what leatherworking course to take from us, I always recommend the Simple Leather Case Course. Even if they are an experienced leathercrafter, the case course will help them. In old-school French cooking, the omelet is considered the true test of a chef’s skill. There’s a scene in the movie ‘The Hundred-Foot […]
Videos: A Glimpse Into the Leather Tanning Process
Today’s post highlights the leather tanning process and sheds some light on how leather is made. In watching these videos, I really started to think more about the craftsmanship that goes not only into a finished leather piece, but also the artistry behind turning raw materials into beautiful leather hides. In the first video, you […]
Instagram Highlights: The Many Ways to Make a Card Wallet
I love Instagram. When I’m feeling stuck or uninspired in the middle of a project, scrolling through the feeds of some of the best leatherworkers in the world gives me a lot of motivation to keep going. Some people use Instagram like any other social media account, but for me, a curated feed of high-end […]
Videos: Design with Yourself in Mind
Today’s post is a pair of videos that inspired me to think more about how important it is to bring our own individual tastes, talents and gifts to our leatherworking projects. For those of us who own our own leatherworking businesses, we’ve all heard things like: “It’s important to keep the customer in mind at […]
Make Unique Leather Goods One Detail at a Time
It can seem difficult to develop your own style when you are creating your own leather goods. You look at iconic product designs both large and small and think, “I’ll never be able to come up with something that creative.” Great designs can seem like they came out of thin air, fully formed and completely […]
Video: A History of Tools for the Trade
Today’s post is an educational video sent to us by one of our community members that highlights a little piece of leatherworking history. Specifically, it goes into some detail about the tools and techniques that have traditionally been used in making a dog collar. Many of these techniques will be familiar to you. Many of […]
Videos: Sights and Sounds of Leatherworking
Today’s post is a collection of two videos that really put us ‘in the mood’ to get in the workshop and plan out a new project. There’s something hypnotic about these videos that really captures the flow of what it feels like to work on the various components of a leather-working piece. Watching the blade […]