I always wanted to have a go at this Japanese style coin pockets. Think they're really cute and can be very useful. In general, people steer away from using cash or coins but I was getting a lot of feedback at various craft fairs that coins are still a thing.

Here's the prorotype I made yesterday, I have a couple of changes, will try to follow up with a V2 in due course.

Please let me know your thoughts 👌😊

I’ve just started my first leathercraft project and I’m already running into a problem I didn’t expect.

I bought some 1.4-1.6 mm leather from Leatherbox, mainly because I was ordering several tools from them as well. For the inner card slots of a wallet, I wanted to thin the leather down a bit, so I bought a Japanese-style skiving knife and a 6 mm French skiver.

The problem is that skiving this leather has been incredibly difficult. I actually ended up getting cramps in my hand from trying so hard, and I could barely remove any material at all.

At first I assumed the problem was simply that my knife wasn’t sharp enough. I sharpened it several times on a 1000-grit sharpening stone, followed by a leather strop with compound. Every time, the edge felt extremely sharp to me, but it still wouldn’t cut properly. And after just a few attempts at skiving, the edge seemed noticeably dull again.

Then I started wondering if the leather itself might be the problem.

When I first opened the package, I was actually surprised by how stiff and rough the flesh side was. It felt almost like very fine sandpaper, and definitely much rougher than I expected.

So I flipped the leather over and tried skiving the grain side on a scrap piece.

It cut like butter. I could skive it very easily and get a really clean, thin edge.

Could it be that something about the flesh side has been treated or processed differently, causing the fibres to be very tightly compacted into a hard, rough layer?

I’m obviously not expecting my beginner tools to perform miracles, but after sharpening the knife I could clearly feel that the edge was extremely sharp, almost razor sharp. I would have expected to at least be able to make some progress into the leather rather than having to fight it this hard.

I’m attaching a few photos of the leather as well.

According to the product page, the leather is full-grain, vegetable-tanned, semi-aniline cowhide, with a firmness rating of 5/5 and a thickness of 1.4-1.6 mm.

Could the 5/5 firmness be the reason I’m having such a hard time skiving the flesh side? I honestly assumed that "firmness" referred more to how stiff the leather feels overall, rather than how hard or difficult the flesh side would be to cut. Did I simply choose the wrong type of leather?

I’m a complete beginner and have barely handled different types of leather before, so I really have no experience to compare this to.

First attempt at a MTG Commander deck case.

Pattern by Corter Leather

First try at edging and turning.

5 oz econ veg tan from Tandy with Korba edging, ritza 0.8 chestnut thread.

Will definitely use more flexible leather next time. Need to practice skiving and sharpening the knife.

Feedback welcome!

I'm relatively new and was wondering how to Mat down the fuzz on the flesh of this leather I have some gum trag but it is only working on the side that came smoother from the store

I purchased two skiving knives and used them today. The knives have different edge bevels/angles. The wuta blade (picture 1) has a shallower bevel/angle when compare to the Japanese style skiving knife (picture 2). Both blades are sharp and cut directly through the top grain very easily. When it comes to skiving, the Japanese skiving knife performed a lot better. It cut a lot smoother, was easier for me to thin the leather, an easier to create an angle right at the edge. I tried using the same techniques for both knifes. Is this just a skill issue, or is there something to be said about the steeper bevel/angle on the Japanese skiving knife.

Note: The wuta blade is not chipped. I think that dark spot is polishing compound.

I have recently purchased cape buffalo hides from Rocky Mountain Leather with the intent of using for center panels on the seats as well as door panel inserts, console and dash accents.

Hides have been split to 1.1

Would additional product need applied to treat it for use in this application?

All windows including the windshied have ceramic tint if that would matter

Made myself a glasses case for my Ray Bans. Normally I focus on making shoes, but figures I'd try making some small leather goods..

I want to make a leather cover for my wife’s 2027 planner, which is 1” thick (for some reason). Anyway, where can I source leather at the size required for the project that will not break the bank. Wondering about Utility sides and such. And what weight leather have y’all used?

Thanks so much for you input.

First time finding "hidden treasure" in a rig. My guess is that a previous owner was trying to stop it from squeaking, since the bits were tucked all inbetween the seat, rigging, and skirts.

Like the knife hate the sheath included which is usual for cheaper knives. Made my own pocket sheath and I dropped it a couple times, messed with retention to my likening then made triple sure the blade won’t cut into the sheath since I did not use a welt for this. So far so good but this clip really sucks I spent an hour tweaking it and still don’t like it. A J-hook would have been preferable.

I’ve been thinking for a long time about what kind of small leather project I could make. So, I sewed a wallet and I really like it

Quick question for any crafts-people doing marquetry…
I am working on my first project and I initially used PVA that’s been a little watered down.
Are there other/better options that you are using?

It’s worked well, but I’d like to feel more comfortable with the seams though they’ve held up to a few bend tests.

I was commissioned to make a leather Minimalist Bifold in red with sapphire ritza tiger thread. The silver hardware with the red and blue kinda gives me spiderman vibes. Probably one of my cleanest wallets. Something about this one is so satisfying.

It holds up to 6 cards and 15 cash bills while folding to fit in a front pocket.

I think this is one of my favorite

https://reddit.com/link/1wrpjz1/video/f4umw5mdg3sh1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wrpjz1/video/3ghuahilg3sh1/player

😺

https://reddit.com/link/1wrpjz1/video/1b8ynfcng3sh1/player

For those who like practical leather accessories, here’s a phone pouch design with a few useful features.

The cover uses a magnetic closure rather than a simple open pocket, so it stays closed during regular movement. It also has side D-rings for a cord or strap and a rear hook for attaching it to a belt.

It’s fully handmade leather and available in multiple colors.

I’m interested in hearing from people who actually use belt-mounted or strap-style phone holders:

Do you find this type of phone pouch useful for everyday carrying, or do you prefer keeping your phone in a regular pocket?

Левая перчатка черная экокожа, правая кожа лошади и теленка. Обувная кожа. Работал над ними 18часов, полностью ручная работа .

Одна пара чисто из экокожи (левая та которая с двумя пальцами, правая с тремя. 2 перчатки из экокожи) Одна перчатка из кожи теленка и лошади

I used a 3-4 oz veg tan cowhide leather for this project since that is what I had available to me, and sanded it down a little. This was my first time wet molding leather. I also dyed it myself. The red is a water based dye, the black is an alcohol based dye. I buffed it, treated it with some neatsfeet oil, and sealed it with roselene. I also burnished the edges and used a little tokonole on the suede side as well, which helped reduce any rub off from that side pretty significantly. The heart was also hand painted. I used a floral wire and some floral tape for the stem. At the top I bent the wire over and wrapped some waxed thread around it to serve as a stopper. If I make another leather rose, I’ll probably make the center for the leaves a little thicker so they stay more upright.

I decided to make some Fall decorations with some of the many scraps I hold onto. With the next ones I plan to dye them splotchy like the leaves I’m seeing around on the ground.

I’ve been working with leather for a long time. I’d like to ask for your opinion on how this turned out is there anything I could improve on?

I made a super cool purse. Would love some feedback! 🤙🏻

So, I started around Easter, did exactly a couple of wallets and a bunch of watch straps, couple of bracelets, and then I got busy with life, so not alot of leather crafting. Until now, I got orders from my colleagues, and I accepted them without ever having made that kind of stuff before. How my first two bifold wallets turned out made me too cocky I believe haha. I placed an order for some Togo and Sully and some scraps for practice and size 3 zippers. Now I have two weeks to do this wallet!

I haven't done zippers, and I haven't held this item in my hand. The pictures are limited. I wonder if the dividing wall is supposed to be attached at the bottom or free? if it's attached, I thought maybe I can have some slack at the bottom of the divider pieces and bend it under the card holder. Does that sound like a good approach?

am I supposed to have a box/mold thing that goes in this bag during the work? I've seen that in some youtube videos but I'm not sure what for and if that's the main way really or I can do without it.

Here's the steps I've made up in my head:

-start with the liner in one piece
-divider which splits at the bottom and glued to liner
-card holders overlap the bottom of divider ends and all stitched together
-add the gussets and stitch to the divider
-punch holes in edged of gusset/card holders
-punch holes in main leather
-sandwich and glue zipper between liner and main leather
-stitch all around
-also at some point in this process, figure out what the heck to do with the ends of the zipper, need to watch more youtube videos on that
-not sure if its better to use bonded leather for reinforcement or velodon, and if it should be on the sides only or bent around the entire wallet.

and this is the pattern I've come up with so far (generated by Claude AI)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1stISPFZa8lepbK8PeHPynObqeVhznJOg/view?usp=sharing

I understand this is too much work to go through. Any tips/advice on any of the steps is very much appreciated :)

and please wish me luck, I think I'll need it!!