Getting Started in Leatherworking, Part 4

There are many blogs and forum posts out there answering the very common question, "How do I get started in leatherworking?" While I certainly don't have all the answers, and there are people who are more experienced, I figured maybe it will help someone to hear the things I wish I'd known when I got started.

Step 4: Start small, Learn basics.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Bruce Lee

Now that you've considered why you want to learn leatherworking, and have ideas about what to make, the next question is now to make those items, right? Close! If you're good with making small items like jewelry or keychains, you'll get a LOT of practice doing the basics. But those same basics are needed even if you want to do more elaborate projects like bags, horse tack, or even a full suit of leather armor.

When you're learning, it's a great time to practice and experiment. You can usually buy a box of scrap leather for pretty cheap from either your local store or even from other leatherworkers. While that doesn't seem exciting, scrap leather is often enough for practicing your skills like tooling (especially for using your swivel knife), stitching, and burnishing edges. Even better, as you practice them, you'll become faster. These skills will become muscle memory and you won't have to think about which needle goes in front of another, or how to hold your stamps as you're tooling.

It may seem tedious, but these are the details that make the difference between "it's pretty good" to "high quality" items. When your stitches are perfect, your edges are glassy, and your tooling is clean, people WILL notice. So even when you are feeling confident about your projects, make sure that you continue to pay attention to these details. And the more practice you've had at them, the easier it will be.

So starting with small projects like coasters and key fobs might be boring...but use that as an excuse to practice. Move up to smaller wallets or name tag holders or picture frames...dice trays and cups are also fun to practice with. Just make sure you really have a grasp of the basics before starting your big duffel bag project you've always dreamed of. Mistakes will be made as you learn, but better to learn those mistakes on small projects before putting in a ton of time, money, and work on a project that falls apart on the first use!