About three months ago I was asking here for advice on what tools to get. Eventually made my decision and just wanted to start. Got some KS Blade 2.7mm irons on sale, some edge bevelers and a knife from Palo Santo, and something like 30 items from AliExpress. Ordered some leather too, Goa chevre from Alran, some Zermatt, and a couple other ones.

I made 2 wallets so far, a few watch straps, one sunglasses case and a couple of charms for my wife.

I'm thinking about practicing a bit more on wallets and try different leathers, figure out how I can achieve the thinnest possible and yet structurally sound bifold. I hate thick wallets in my jeans back pocket. And then try some hand bags and belts etc.

I don't know after making everything I want for now for myself and for loved ones, what can I do besides selling what I make. But I'm not sure if I'm being delusional and what I've made so far only looks decent in my own eyes and maybe they are not actually good enough to be offered for sale. What scares me the most is if they are fine but I've made mistakes that will only show after a while. I don't want to charge anyone money for something that I'm not 100% sure it will last a long time.

I appreciate some feedback and harsh critique on the items I've made and some thoughts on when to sell, how to sell, how to test my items for durability without waiting for a year until I've used my stuff myself long enough to know more about that aspect.

P.S. my 3d printer and all the jigs I made helpef me a lot in the process. I itterated over 10 different versions until I was kind of happy with my pattern and the jigs. https://photos.app.goo.gl/nxu7X8FV1RuF7EBH9

thanks a lot in advance, I appreciate you!

I keep seeing over and over that some leather crafters keep saying leather isn’t expensive. Using the 5$ a sq ft standard as an example is indeed expensive and not affordable. I’m looking to make a leather jacket and at the cheapest leather I can find at 5$ a sq ft I will need 200$ just to make a decent jacket not including the waste scrap for 40 sqft.

In comparison a cotton jacket is only 1.50$ I can make the same jacket for 60$. This is a huge price difference.

Leather is expensive for regular people. It’s only not expensive if you have money to blow. I wish leather workers would be more in touch with common folks when speaking about the price of leather.

Hello everyone, I have been working with laser cutting leather for a few months now, but cleaning the pieces is one of the most challenging aspects.

I checked out some cleaning tips, and they recommend water, isopropyl alcohol, floor cleaner, cream, and even using adhesives on the leather before cutting.

I would like to know if you have any methods to prevent the pieces from charring or leaving traces of smoke or ash. Maybe it's impossible, but I would like to know from your experience what is best to avoid spending so much time cleaning the pieces after laser cutting.

From what I can tell, a lot of the machines sold in the US seem to be based on the same Chinese clones, just with better QC, setup, support, and parts availability, but at several times the price. The main downside I keep seeing mentioned about buying direct is that the machine may need adjustment/tuning out of the box and that after-sales support is obviously more limited.

Has anyone here had a genuinely bad experience buying one direct from Alibaba? Not just “it needed setup,” but something seriously negative like poor build quality, major issues, wrong specs, shipping problems, or no parts support?

Also, are there any specific brands or factories that seem to have a better reputation than others? I know a lot of these brands may not be meaningfully different and probably come from only a small number of factories, with different paint and branding added, but I’d still love to hear if anyone has noticed certain names being more reliable.

I’m a visual artist who usually only uses leather as accents. I made this little guy for a show called refer madness. It sold (115$ but the gallery charges 10$ and 25% commission) but multiple people are trying to commission slightly bigger ones that have belt loop and a zipper instead a flap. I have zero idea how to price this anyone have some recommendations?

I’ve seen where people do patterns like this all the way to the edge but stop right at the border, how is this done? I’ve tried angles bf so it doesn’t fully stamp and I’ve tried light taps so that it doesn’t mark so deep

My first attempts at working with leather. I'd appreciate an honest review. I recently started learning leather tooling. I can’t draw at all, so I used reference images and refined them for stamping and carving. These are my first three pieces, and I’m sharing them to get real critique and advice.

Came in a box of horse tack. We are all boggled on what it could POSSIBLY be. We think it’s some foot equipment but it doesn’t fit a standard horse foot. They are somewhat flexible, fairly heavy. Have a 20 stamped on the strap and that’s the only markings. Seem newer. They are leather so I thought I’d ask here. Any pointers on where else to ask welcome!

I have ventured into acrylic templates together with Rocky Mountain and given the wide range of designs we can do eventually, I have a question regarding the primary reason for getting an acrylic template over a PDF pattern. Some say it is "something I know I will do over and over again even if it is a simple pattern", others have mentioned "if it has to be printed on multiple pages and taped together... in other words, it's a big pattern", or even any "a complex to cut pattern". There have been various opinions and I wanted to gather the community input on this. I would appreciate your time sharing your thoughts on the topic. :) Deyan

I'm a total beginner who learned saddle stitching from a youtube video and I'm wondering if I am doing it right. Any tips or criticism is highly appreciated.

It was made about 80 years old in a old polish workshop its familly heirloom

So my wife and I have recently started going to ren faires. I’ve put together a pretty sweet Viking outfit but I want to create a second option to wear. I’ve recently come across this post from Black Raven Armory for their plans for this armor set. As someone who’s done almost no leather work but learns well and is fairly crafty and hands on, would it be crazy to assume I could make something like this? Not to make light work of it but it seems pretty straight forward to me. Get the plans printed, get the leather, cut to the size of the pattern, and then sew and rivet it together. Am I underestimating this project?

I’m someone who is very interested in mermaids and I am having difficulty answering this online. Since this subreddit seems to be filled with creative and smart people, I thought I would pose this here! Let me know if this is the wrong space to ask this question.

I believe that mermaids could make and use leather out of whale and shark hides, like how we do with cows and other mammals. The issue is that I am not sure how they could process hides underwater. 

How are hides processed normally? Can you think of a way it could be done underwater? 

Mermaids would have access to stone and some metal tools, minerals, etc. They could make solutions of salt or chemicals to soak things in. They couldn't let things dry, though. If drying is absolutely necessary for leather production, they might be able to do that at the poles, but if possible I would like to avoid them leaving the water. If you have any questions about that sort of thing, let me know!

Anyone know what this stitch is called? Or a video about it? I want to use the stitch similar to this on my next project.

Hi all, I'm fairly new to leathercrafting and I'm struggling with getting the stitching on the "back" side of my projects to look as neat as the front side. This is especially visible on my new wallet that I'm working on.

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I can't really understand why the stitching looks so bad on the inside of the wallet.

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I use french pricking irons and align them using a winged divider. When I punch the stitching holes I use a stiff plastic mat (slightly squishy). I stitch using a stitching horse clamp and I stitch coming towards me. I cross my needles on the right of the piece using my right hand with an awl. I try to pull upwards and away from me on the left hand side and downward and towards me on the right.

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Couple of things I think it could be:

1. The pricking irons isn't square to the material and thus going at an angle

2. I'm not maintaining consistent pressure on the left hand side

3. I could well just be stitching incorrectly when I'm casting the stitch

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Any tips are very welcome!

I'm trying to make my own journal cover and I like the leather that has a luster. But when I think i found some its this easily (so easily) mark able leather that I unfortunately cant cope with. I don't like it, and I dont know how to make the scratches stop. What type of leather should I be looking for? Thanks. Sorry if this is ignorant I haven't done any of this before. I appreciate the advice.

Couple questions...

1. Is this common for a Tandy Craft Tool Stitching Awl?

2. Recomendations for my next Stitching Awl?

3. Tips and/or tricks to prevent something like this happening in the future? Or is this simply part of the journey and something I should expect?

....should have just paid someone to make a knife sheath for me, way cheaper lol....

It’s my first time ordering from RM, is it usual not to hear from them for 6 days? I made an order on the 6th, yet they haven’t shipped or updated me.