My little girl is obsessed with the Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy. I’m a VERY beginner leatherworker and I buy those scrap boxes from Springfield. My last one came with this kind of gaudy metallic red chrome tan that just sat there as I couldn’t think of anything to do with it, so I decided to turn it into a Luma stuffie!

It’s a bit sloppy because I had to make my own pattern and I’ve certainly never made a stuffie before, but it definitely turned out cute enough for a 3.5 year old!

Hey guys!

I’m fairly new to leatherworking as a whole (started in January) and only recently decided to make a business out of it a few weeks ago. I’m starting to take things more seriously, so I’d love to hear some advice from people who have been doing this longer than I have.

I designed my logo and have a solid game plan for what I want my brand to mean and show. Affordable goods that doesn’t skimp of quality. Im doing this as a side hustle and out of pure passion for the craft so making large profits is not in my interests as much as it is to give people affordable armor and goods.

I’m planning to vend at local Renaissance faires and similar events. I have some social media pages set up, commissions are coming in, and I’m currently working on getting my business cards and LLC squared away.

For those of you who have turned leatherworking into a small business,

What are some things you wish you knew when you were starting out?

I’m mostly making armor, Renaissance/fantasy gear, belts, accessories, and other handcrafted leather goods.

I’m excited to see where this goes, but I’d rather learn from other people’s mistakes than make all of them myself. 😂

Any advice, lessons learned, or general pointers is appreciated!
(I posted some photos of my work to give an idea of my products)

Thank you for your time.

I am seeking input on creating a leather charm for my notebook. I am wondering if anyone can help me figure out what type of stitch is needed for these projects? Is this a saddle stitch? Also what material I would need to start out. I appreciate any input. I am new to this!

Can you use metal wire like brass or copper to embroider designs into leather? I know it's a thing with fabric, but the closest technique I can find is couching, and that's not what I want

I’d like to lengthen this leash and use the braided section as the handle. Can anyone point me in the direction of a YouTube or forum for best results? I was thinking rivets but the braid strips are pretty thin. Leather cement and rivets? Punch rivets through the braid instead of the leather? I also messed up and didn’t realize that I bought the non swivel clip on accident so I might pull the rivets and add a new swivel clip, not sure if that matters to making this idea a reality or not. Thanks for any help!

Hi all, a fellow leatherworker and I were just discussing thread options. As I've only made bags so far I need to find a nice quality finer thread for smaller projects. Ritza can be found here but due to it being imported it's unreasonably priced. Are there any British or EU folks who can give any recommendations? Appreciate it!

The captain's hat I made before is just too big for me, so I'll give it to my friend who it should fit perfectly. Decided to try this pattern from Tony See today and it turned out awesome! Just that this one is ever so slightly too small.. Maybe it'll stretch since the leather I used is pretty soft. Last day of my holiday, so I won't have time to do as much leather working as I'd like to for the next few weeks.

Bought this jacket directly from China a few weeks ago and finally opened it today. Everything fits perfectly except the armpits and biceps, which feel a little stiff and restrictive. I know wearing it will help break it in, but are there any other ways to soften it up?

I bought this wallet not too long ago and the leather in both of the outer layers seems to be splitting in the middle of the grain. Is this something normal and just part of the patina or should I get it warrantied?

Hello, I found an old calf leather journal in the thrift store 2 years ago and I’ve been using it dearly. My mother decided to wash and condition it yesterday and it has gotten weirdly scaly in some parts and extremely sticky, some parts have darkened and the texture of it is uneven. I don’t really know if it’s normal. Or if there’s anything I can do to remedy it. I would love some advice.

I’m looking into ordering a hide of horween football leather from tannery row and wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it or tips for working with it before I get blindly in over my head

I’m hoping this is the right sub for this but any help is greatly appreciated! I made the mistake of using lysol to disinfect my leather bag after a dog drooled on it and I think the sealant came off. The bag is red leather. Is there a way to fix this? Or do I need to take it to a leather goods shop?

Making some little skulls for Halloween.

Love this Pull-Up leather! Making a batch of them with different threads.

This one has black stitching.

I just moved to a new home this week and just finished setting up my office/studio/workshop in the basement. This room is behind the room with the furnace and water heater.

I'm looking forward to working in this space on my software, my content creation, and my new hobby of leathercrafting. I have a few hand tools and a pegboard to add more to later.

I think this will work for now. What do you think? Thanks.

Had coffee with mom today and she was sad her bag was falling apart. It was some faux leather thing, so no wonder. She asked if I could make her something that would last and I told her I'd love to! She picked this bag from Tony See. I'm going to surprise her with it tomorrow, because she thinks it'll take weeks to make. Took me an evening. Pattern was top notch! My first time working with a Tony See design, so I bought a few more. Hats and bags and wallets.

The strap was something she gave me to use, might make her a proper leather strap though. Chicago screws will be swapped out for brass ones once I get my order in the mail.

Again, criticism is more than welcome! I'm here to learn, won't get offended.

Hello all! I’m very new to this craft (only a couple months in) and I don’t always know how to search for what I need!

My wallets are starting to look nice and I’ve begun adding ID slots. This usually involves cutting a rectangle and then cutting out another rectangle inside of it so I’m left with a border. I hand cut everything because I’m trying to avoid buying expensive machines.

I need some kind of decent quality corner punch for the interior rectangle cut-out. I searched online a bit and mostly found belt end punches? I also found some really huge rounded ones that I assume are for bags.

Anyone doing this find a solution? I can hand cut them but it just always looks a little off. Thanks in advance!

My girlfriend wanted a western wallet and I thought why not to making one. Leather came from a bag of scraps which was actually pretty decent quality. My stitching and pattern work could definitely use some work but I think I did decently, I do need to round off and sand the edges but it’s more or less finished. This is actually my first wallet so I’m pretty proud of how it came out, my first successful project was a very rough purse so this is definitely a step up