(Newswire.net — December 25, 2019) — Hobbies provide a welcome escape from the monotony of daily work and personal responsibilities. They offer an opportunity to relax, yet still enjoy a sense of meaning and purpose.
If you’re creative and like using your hands, you have plenty of hobbies to choose from. From woodworking to painting to gardening, there’s something for everyone. Furthermore, don’t overlook leatherworking, which is quickly gaining popularity.
6 Tips for the Leatherworking Beginner
Have you ever seen a leather handbag in a store and been mesmerized by the beauty, smell, and feel of the product in your hand? Well, you’re not alone. Leather is something that appeals to almost every consumer on some level. And this universal appeal makes for a great hobby.
Leatherworking is a compelling hobby that allows you to create high-quality goods for yourself, friends, family, and perhaps even a few customers. But before you can assign yourself the title of leatherworker, you have to learn how.
Here are a few helpful tips designed with the true beginner in mind:
1. Ask Yourself, Why?
What is it about leatherworking that appeals to you? This might seem like a frivolous question, but it’s important to be as specific as possible.
Some people get into leatherworking because they have a practical need. (For example, they want a leather purse, but can’t find one they like.) Other people enjoy the meticulous, precise process of cutting leather and threading needles. There are also people who want to start a business and leatherworking enables them to create cost-effective products.
What’s your motivation? And will you still be motivated a year or two from now?
2. Pick a Simple Project
The best way to get started is to select a simple project. Pick something that’s small, has relatively few steps involved, and can be done in just a couple of hours. Good beginner projects include belts, watch straps, bracelets, coasters, and dog collars.
3. Watch Some Online Tutorials
Most people find that it’s easiest to learn how to leatherwork by watching someone else. In this day and age, you have access to thousands of hours of leatherworking videos and tutorials on YouTube. Use this to your advantage!
4. Learn the Basic Skills
There are some basic skills that every leatherworker will eventually need to master. These include things like cutting, saddle stitching, and edge finishing. You’ll also encounter more advanced skills like knife sharpening, skiving, and various other stitches.
There’s no sense in overwhelming yourself with all of these skills at once. Instead, use your introductory project as an opportunity to acquire a couple of skills. Learn what’s needed to complete the project and that’s enough. By adding new skills each time you do a project, you’re able to pace yourself and learn over time.
5. Acquire the Right Supplies
Leatherworking is much easier and more enjoyable when you have the right supplies on hand. In particular, you want to buy the right leather.
Brush up on some basic terms before shopping for leather. This includes phrases and terminology like weight/thickness, vegetable-tanned, chrome free, chrome tanned, crust, distressed, embossed, full grain, grain side, oil tanned, patina, rawhide, skirting, splits, top grain, etc.
You’ll also need to add the right tools to your workbench. Once again, the best approach is to only buy the tools you need for the first project. You can then continue to add tools as you take on more advanced projects. However, you’ll eventually need to acquire various cutting knives, cutting mats, diamond chisels, mallets, stitching awls, stitching needles, skivers, bevellers, and groovers.
6. Practice (A Lot!)
There’s no substitute for practice. Don’t expect to become an artisan craftsperson the first time you touch a piece of leather. The more you try, mess up, and try again, the better you’ll become.
Stick With It
As with any hobby or artistic pursuit, you won’t become an expert overnight. There’s a lot that goes into leatherworking and you’ll inevitably experience some rough patches where you feel uninspired or ill-equipped. In these moments, the best course of action is to continue pushing through.
Commitment and discipline will ultimately help you reach a point where you find immense satisfaction in leatherworking. Stick with it and don’t let a moment of frustration cause you to give up!