Interests, Projects and More!

- You Can Do This! -

- Leather - Crafting -

Leather, think about it. The Bible says that Adam and Eve's first clothes to cover their newly downgraded bodies was made of leather. The durability and other properties of leather are not easily replaced by synthetic materials and what plastic poser product ever smells like real leather? Think about the many products that rely on leather. Shoes, equine tack, jackets, gloves, footballs, chaps, watchstraps, belts, etc. In a way these leather goods serve as a reminder of the cattle and other animals that once fed us and now we are blessed again by the great utilitarian use of their hides. Leather, it is truly remarkable.

For anyone interested in starting in leather-crafting, although it may see daunting in the beginning, leather-craft is really made up of several fairly easy sub-skills. For example, making templates, accurately cutting the leather. Using tools like slickers and sharpening tools like edgers. Then moving on to dyeing, sewing stamping and finishes. YouTube and various leather groups on FaceBook are so helpful as real leather experts share there knowhow.Yes there is a lot to know but consider this. I made all of this and several more items that I gave away in less that 8 months of off and on work. Bare in mind that I started with NO former knowledge of leather-craft. If you have the enthusiasm, and of course some money, you CAN do this. 11/17/2021

(Click a photo for larger view)

Penny Snaps

Separate Page - Custom Penny Snaps

This page provides step by step directions of how to make these penny rivet snaps. People love getting a Leather project where a penny with their birth year is used.

Sewing Machine

Separate Page - China Leather Shoe Patcher

While surfing on YouTube, I ran into a video about the CLSP and it was love at first sight. I happen to really love old machinery that although crude, they can perform a valuable function. This page is how to motorize this normally hand cranked sewing machine.
Mag Holster
This was the very first thing I made out of leather. I saw how to do this on Adams LeatherWorks. Looking back, I should have not considered this a beginner project.
Mag Holsters
Then I made several and it seemed like I had to learn the hard way more than I would have liked. On the holster (furthest on the right) I noticed that with the holster on my belt, the clips dug into my small fat ring; so I came up with a little different design for the belt loop which seems to work better.
Mag Holster
This one was pretty nice. I used masking tape overnight to modify the leather then dabbed the leather on with a tightly rolled up rag. I like the finish but I ended up with some unwanted vertical lines where the tape edges overlapped. I might try shelf paper the next time to avoid the overlaps. (Update) I found that a piece of closed cell foam makes a good dobber and shelf paper worked pretty well to get the effect, without the lines.
Knife holster
Next, I made some different versions of Leatherman knife holders. Note that the one with the rounded bottom was a wet formed holster and that the definition of the stamping was pretty much wiped out by the stretch of the wet form process.
Knife Scabbard
I moved into making knife holsters for very inexpensive Harbor Freight survival knives. A pretty fun learning project and greatly received and appreciated gifts. For some of them I found some really great Indian head pennies to use for the rivets.
Knife Scabbards
I made several of these for my friends with some variations such as left vs right and different designs. I really enjoyed the hand stitching involved in making these.
Knife Scabbards
This was a custom sheath for my brother's knife.
45 ACP holsters
My first holster for a 45 ACP. I bought the leather as a kit from Hobby Lobby. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Penny purses

Penny Purses - These are a lot of fun to make and give as gifts. To make them special, I include the birth year of the person getting the purse along with their initials.

Incidentally, I made several of these at the same time before I had exacted my process. Sad to say, I made the same mistake on all of them which required a lot of extra work to at least make them share-worthy. I am after all, still a beginner.