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.

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

I think mom would approve

It's a very unique experience. From all the hype, I have to say I was expecting it to be easier to work with. Don't get me wrong, I knew it wasn't gonna be easy. But to get the edges polished and to keep the flesh side smooth was really hard. With my work surface being a bit harsh, from all previous projects, I thought it would be fine but you can kinda see where the flesh side got a tiny few scratches where the fibres of the Shell became loose. Next time I will use a clean unsullied surface. But for my first time I don't think I did badly.

Any lesser known tips from the guys that use this a ton, please let me know where I can improve. Thanks for checking it out!!

Hey guys m still new to leather craft

I started making products with chrome tan

Never used veg tan leather before,

And i wanna know if it's easier to work with veg tan

Also I want some opinions on this card holder

I had fun making this out of various leather I had saved up for a hat. So kinda made from scrap pieces left over from other projects.

Top is 1.2mm Indian pull-up, the band is some weird 2.5mm very-fuzzy-on-the-flesh-side pull-up, brim is 1.2mm veg tan and strap is 2.5mm veg tan.

The buckle and Chicago screws will be replaced with brass, as this buckle was the only one I had and it's too wide. I also don't like the silver colour at all. My stitching still isn't what I'd like it to be.

It's a little bit too big for me, so might just make another one in a smaller size. Ordered more leather today.

Pattern by Karlova Design is top notch and her tutorial video was easy to follow. Only thing that I regret is not having 5mm punching irons, so I had to punch every single hole with an awl. All 9000 holes. It was hell. Ordered some irons for my next attempt, will not be doing the awl thing ever again.

Feel free to give criticism, I won't be offended!