Today’s post tells the story of Soumana Saley, a respected leather craftsmen from Niamey, Niger. His life represents a unique mix of passion and hard work that I found really inspiring, and it served as a reminder about the opportunity that we all have as leatherworkers in an ever-growing field. At the age of 11, […]
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 […]
Customer Creations: A Collage of Colors
This week’s Customer Creations post includes an assortment of colorful pieces made by a number of truly talented artisans. Included are a gorgeous purse in mallard made from shrunken calf, a couple of high-end handbags, some lovely hard cases from an ex-Hermes craftsman and an awesome English bridle/shrunken calf dog-collar stitched with Lin Cable! Patrick […]
Connect with Other Leatherworkers to Expand Your Skill Set
When I first started Fine Leatherworking, one of my motivations was to connect more with other leatherworkers. I had a lot detailed knowledge about how to do hand-stitching with linen thread and make fine leather edges with the help of an electric creaser, but I also knew I could expand my knowledge by continually learning. […]
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 […]
Working Out Design Kinks By Prototyping Your Leather Project
In our last post, I talked a little bit about how creating a prototype for your next leatherworking project can save you time and lend more confidence to the final design. Having a vague notion of how you will build something before actually building it is an easy way to make time-consuming and expensive mistakes […]
Save Time By Prototyping Your Leather Project
I often get reader questions about getting stuck in the middle of project. Something like, ‘I created an edge by gluing these three layers together and now it looks too thick.’ Or ‘I’m almost done with my bag but I’m not sure how to install the feet.’ I also have gotten to this point many […]
What Makes a Good Apron for Leatherworking?
In one of our recent live courses, a participant asked me what apron I used for leatherworking. I use the same apron that I’ve had for years, which was a gift from my wood-carving teacher in Japan. It’s a simple kitchen apron and I really hadn’t given much thought to it. I work in a […]
Video: In Search of Original Craftsmanship
Today’s post is a video from MyVan’s new “Original Craftsmen” series, which follows one man’s travels around the world in search of true craftsmanship and the artisans behind it. This first episode in the series highlights leather craftsman Garvan De Bruir and his approach to a handmade messenger bag. While many readers will be familiar […]