Threading your needles for hand-sewing leather is a simple technique that shows how paying attention to the details pays off. Properly set needles make it easier to sew and help you speed through your leathercraft project. Learn about threading your needles in this short video ..read more

I learned traditional pattern-making methods and combined them with more modern (digital) techniques. I often make the cross-over with curves. I can fiddle with point handles for an hour and still change my mind once I’ve printed the template. I initially made this shape in Illustrator but cut it out using more traditional pattern-making methods ..read more

A customer found an old Paul Frank watch and wanted the band remade. The watch still worked; however, the band was ragged and worn out. He envisioned a new band reminiscent of the old band with superior looks and quality. This was a fun exploratory project where I could replace and refine the old strap. The old Paul Frank watch strap. I first looked at the old strap to gather measurements and see how the watch fit. The band looks like fake leather by the way it is worn out. It could also be reconstituted leather, bits of leather dust glued together. You can see the thin top layer flaking away ..read more

A customer came in to have belts made for her three sons. One of them was getting married. She had a specific buckle that she wanted to use for the belts and a style that she had on her own belt. The buckle had been handed down from her mother, and she had the same buckles made for her kids to pass on the tradition. I posted the belt blanks, and a reader said, “My guess is these are for ranger belts.” I replied that I didn’t know where the buckle came from but would find out. When the customer came back to pick up the belts, I mentioned that these might be buckles for a ranger belt. I showed ..read more

Preface: I wrote this newsletter article ten years ago(!) and have revisited the same question a few times since. Why do leatherworking? Are you after a particular style of wallet or bag? You could feasibly buy one in a store, but you don’t. Something inside compels you to strike out and make the thing yourself. When you first start, you’re excited about the craft and the possibilities. You might have a dream project that you want to make. Ten years after writing this post I still occasionally hit a wall in my creativity, in my craft, or in my desire to continue. You may not have seen this pos ..read more

Prepping the zippered gusset for stitching during the handbag course. Scenes From the Studio is a post series of photos and videos from our studio. I’ll include works-in-progress, snapshots from our classes, and of course, leatherworking ..read more

Last week, I wrote about “Which Leather Awl Do You Need” and went over diamond blade awls. Today, I will cover the other primary type, round awls. The humble round awl is often an afterthought even though it does the important job of marking your pattern on the leather. Having a good round awl is like having a good pen. You can get by with any old pen, but a well-made writing instrument is a joy to use. And just like pens, sometimes the small differences matter; just compare a 0.25mm line width vs. a 0.5mm. While 0.1mm seems small, you can easily see the difference between the line widths. (s ..read more

I’m trying a new type of post this week. On Wednesdays, I’ll post photos and videos from our studio. I’ll include works-in-progress, snapshots from our classes, and of course, leatherworking. This week is a photo of two backstitch awls I recently made. One is in ash, and the other in Claro walnut ..read more

You can never have too many awls. In my studio, I have around a dozen awls of various types. Some of them I have because of the design and the way they look, and others do specialized jobs. Which leather sewing awl you choose depends on what you are making, and I will cover some common uses and scenarios. A few of the awls in my studio. What is a Leather Awl To simplify, I’ll divide awls into two broad categories: round and diamond. The latter has a number of different variations, from proper diamond shapes, to smooth-shaped blades, to thin, almost flat blades, but they all serve the same purp ..read more

When I was making Finishing the End of a Stitch a few weeks ago, I wrote a whole section on hiding your backstitch. I also made and shot an example, but it didn’t fit into the post. I learned the hidden backstitch technique from French saddlemaker Pedro Pedrini when he lived in California. Here are the steps, along with a video to demonstrate. Sometimes, you need to hide your backstitch. Like when you’re forced to end the stitch in the middle of a seam. Ending in the middle of a seam can be necessary if the required thread length is too long to manage, if you break your thread, or if it’s unfe ..read more