Leather Bag Construction shown in 6 quick steps. Easy to follow step-by-step guide to success.   1. Sketch out your design and measurements. Don’t forget to include your centre lines and other details.                 2. Make a card model. This is the least expensive way to make mistakes!                 3. Draw up your pattern. Double (or treble) check your measurements                 4. Select the leather. We used 2.2 – 2.5mm veg tanned shoulder     &nbs ..read more

Problems with butt stitch can be overcome, resulting in beautiful leather items Welcome to the third part of the series, ‘Butt and Box Stitch’. If you’ve been following this series you may have already been practising ‘Butt Stitch’ as outlined in ‘Part 2 – Understanding Butt Stitch’. If so, you may also have come across one or two problems. Below, I have outlined the common problems with butt stitch and how to overcome them with further practise. “I keep running out of thread before I reach the end of my row of stitches and I have measured it as I usually do for Saddle Stitch”.  Try al ..read more

‘Waxing the Thread’ the ins and outs of leatherwork A UK magazine for leatherworkers… at last! Published here at GDH in West Wales, ‘Waxing the Thread’ is a 36 page A4 print magazine for hobbyists and all who are interested in traditional leatherwork. With a limited range of books available for the traditional leatherworker – and no UK leatherwork magazine that we know of – we set to and created a magazine for leatherwork hobbyists. Modern yet traditional, ‘Waxing the Thread’ aims to assist hobbyists and introduce newcomers into the craft. Issue 1 starts as you might expect, at the beginn ..read more

The Leather Museum in Walsall Leatherwork and Inspiration What is inspiration exactly? It’s something that can fire you up to get started on a new design or technique. It is often related to creativity and without it, you might find yourself tiring of creating the same thing over again. So where does inspiration come from? It isn’t something you can nip out and pick up from the corner shop… or is it? Well, not exactly but there are plenty of places where inspiration for leatherworkers is in abundance. Museums: An afternoon spent at your local museum can be very inspirational. It’s not necess ..read more

Guide to setting a harness awl blade Harness awl and leatherwork stitching tools Here’s what you’ll need: Harness awl blade Harness awl haft (handle) 2 x coins Hammer or mallet Vice           Harness awl blade locked in vice ready for fitting to haft. harness awl handle being tapped onto blade Directions: 1a. Place the harness awl blade into the jaws of the vice with the darker end pointing upwards. 1b. At the same time, sandwich the blade between two coins and tighten the vice securely. 2. Place the haft onto the top of the blade and tap gently with a hammer ..read more

Leather Bag Construction shown in 6 quick steps. Easy to follow step-by-step guide to success.   1. Sketch out your design and measurements. Don’t forget to include your centre lines and other details.                 2. Make a card model. This is the least expensive way to make mistakes!                 3. Draw up your pattern. Double (or treble) check your measurements                 4. Select the leather. We used 2.2 – 2.5mm veg tanned shoulder     &nbs ..read more

Shaping a leather billet tip: Shaping a leather billet tip isn’t as difficult as you might think. Just take some stiff card, a ruler or square and a compass, then follow these instructions… Step 1 – After drawing the first curve, reposition the compass point to the opposite side Using a ruler and fine tipped pencil, draw a rectangle the width of the required billet onto a piece of stiff card. Make the rectangle longer than you want the billet as it will be trimmed later. Draw a centre line lengthways. Use a square to make sure that both long edges are exactly the same length. Set the comp ..read more

Cylindrical keepsake pots which have been both butt and box stitched This post follows on from the previous blog post ‘Butt and Box Stitch – Part 4. Preparing for Box Stitch’, and assumes that you have prepared your leather, ready to start practising Box Stitch. Firstly, prepare a thread which is at least five times the length of the area to be stitched, with an additional 8 or 9 cm. Having levelled off the thread, work back one stitch With your newly stitched leather tube neatly encasing the cylindrical core, drop the pre-pierced circular leather base into it’s position, grain side facing ..read more

stitching right angles On first sight Box Stitch can look a bit daunting, but it’s really not much different to Butt Stitch. If you’ve gained confidence in angling the harness awl to exit exactly where you want it for Butt Stitch, you’re just a small step away from mastering Box Stitch. Make a small cylindrical pot or container ‘Preparing for Box Stitch’ is Part 4 of the ‘Butt and Box Stitch’ series, so to really benefit from this blog post you might want to read the three proceeding posts first – Part 4 assumes you have been following the series.  You will need exactly the same tools a ..read more

Problems with butt stitch can be overcome, resulting in beautiful leather items Welcome to the third part of the series, ‘Butt and Box Stitch’. If you’ve been following this series you may have already been practising ‘Butt Stitch’ as outlined in ‘Part 2 – Understanding Butt Stitch’. If so, you may also have come across one or two problems. Below, I have outlined the common problems with butt stitch and how to overcome them with further practise. “I keep running out of thread before I reach the end of my row of stitches and I have measured it as I usually do for Saddle Stitch”.  Try al ..read more