Do you have beloved sandals, slippers, or shoes that have seen better days? Don't throw them out just yet! Here's a quick, easy-to-follow guide to breathing new life into your favorite footwear using a Jerk Needle Awl and other essential tools and supplies. Let's revive those shoes together! More ..read more

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Streamline your belt production with Craftplus® Machines today! Watch this short video to see them in action, and shop here for all tools and machines ..read more

So your belt is tooled, stamped and dyed. Before you jump into adding Antique to your belt, make sure any dye you applied before hand is throughly dry. On a dry day, your belt could dry within 3~4 hours depends on the humidity in your region. On a humid day, it may take up to 10~12 hours or overnight before the belt is completely dry.  What's an Antique? Leather Antique is a gel-like paste that sinks into cuts, impressions and background texture to highlight and shadow the depth of the tooling and stamping details. It makes the design pop and looking naturally aged. It also darkens the ov ..read more

There are lots of reasons why you might want to join pieces of leather together using leather adhesive. You can glue leather for a permanent bond in place of sewing or temporarily tack pieces together while fastening hardware or sewing. They are effective, work quickly, and can be key to a successful project. Because leather is such a delicate material to work with, making sure you use the best adhesive (and applicators) for the job is important to achieve the best results.                  Liquid cement and leather tape are the ..read more

Leather lacing is a way to join very thick leather by hand. Since leather comes in a variety thicknesses, sometimes projects like saddlery, holster, bags or sheaths require a leather that is too thick for sewing machines, or too heavy to pierce with a standard leather needle.  4 Basic Lacing Steps 1. Making holes: Lacing chisel or leather punch are used to create holes in leather. Depends on the width of the lace you're working with, you want to make the holes or slits wide enough that the lace can pass through but not wider than what is necessary. 2. Threading the needle: The ..read more

Any time when you are working with stiff veg-tanned or bridle leather, edge bevelers are used to remove that hard leather corners so you can finish edge with slicker or other finishes and get professional looking results. In this tech tip we'll go over two beveler designs we offer, what they are used for and how to sharpen them to maintain that razor sharp edge for every beveling job. Each edge beveler corresponds with different weight of leather. We number our bevelers for easy identification. The larger the tool number indicates a wider cutting width of th ..read more

Manufacturers use zippers in specific lengths for products they make and often in huge quantities. For crafters, zippers may only come in a limited size range and there may not be a zipper available in the exact same size as what you need. Knowing how to install and shorten zippers are important construction skills to acquire not to mention it will borden your design capabilities. We offer several great-looking metal zipper options for used on garments, bags, purses, backpacks and upholstery. When it comes to choosing your metal zippers, you should always buy a zipper longer than you ..read more

So your belt is tooled, stamped and dyed. Before you jump into adding Antique to your belt, make sure any dye you applied before hand is throughly dry. On a dry day, your belt could dry within 3~4 hours depends on the humidity in your region. On a humid day, it may take up to 10~12 hours or overnight before the belt is completely dry.  What's an Antique? Leather Antique is a gel-like paste that sinks into cuts, impressions and background texture to highlight and shadow the depth of the tooling and stamping details. It makes the design pop and looking naturally aged. It also darkens the ov ..read more

Using stamping to belt blanks and strips is a fun and easy way to add pattern to a finished leather belt or bag strap. It’s also a great way to create custom designs without investing in expensive dies. With just a handful of materials and tools, you’ll have DIY leather belts in no time! Let’s get started with this quick project. Because there are so many stamp combination you can make (especially if you own many stamps), you have lots of freedom with your designs. If you have our 6 Piece Basic Stamp Tool Set, you've got a great starting point. The backgroun ..read more