Tag: leather skills

Leatherworking Resources

Leather Carving, Leather Stamping

If you are a leather worker or want to be a leather worker, this is just a reminder that I have some tutorials on leather carving and leather stamping on my website.  Just go to the Resources section and look for the tutorials there.  They are written to provide an overview to a beginner of the process steps I go through for carving floral elements in leather.

Hand tooling a flower in leather.
Process of carving a flower in leather.

I also have leatherwork tutorials on stamping basket weave designs.  These focus on the basket stamp but the techniques apply to other types of geometric stamps.  I do want to create a tutorial on geometric stamping at some point so stay tuned for that.

Let me know about any other sort of leatherwork tutorials  you would like to see here.  I’m also working on developing a YouTube channel that will have leatherwork tutorials and tips for the leather worker at all ranges of skill levels.  If there is something you would like to see or know more about how I do it, drop me a note in the comments about what you are interested in or let me know your questions.  I’ll answer it in the comments if I can and it may just be something you will see in a future tutorial or video here on this site!

Leatherwork Tutorials

Leatherwork involves a lot of diverse skills and there are many different ways you can follow your interests.  Maybe tooling and carving leather isn’t your thing.  Maybe you enjoy designing and assembling hand bags our of exotic leather more and don’t care about carving and tooling.  Maybe your interest is in leather restoration.  Whatever you area of interest is in let me know what you would like to see and if I have knowledge or information to share on it I will.  I learned because other leatherworkers were willing to share their knowledge and now I want to pay that forward and share what I know to help others.

Great Leather Craft Books

Leather Carving, Leather Construction, Leather Stamping

Walt Disney is quoted as saying “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island. And best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”

Leather working may be an old art form but it has embraced modern technology. Since the inception of YouTube people have posted how to videos on every subject imaginable, including leather craft. There are some good and some not so good videos out there, but I wanted to talk about some of the great leather books.

Craftool Tech-Tips by Al Stohlman

One of my favorite books is a simple book called Craftool Tech Tips by Al Stohlman. This book (more of a large magazine type format) is only 22 pages but packed into those pages were hundreds of tips and techniques from Al Stohlman on floral and figure carving as well as stamping with geometrics. In addition to showing how to use the stamping tools there are side notes about proper use of the tools. When I was just starting out this simple book was a treasure trove showing me how to use the tools I had and teaching about tools I discovered I needed.

Flower Carving in leather with a veiner tool
Using the veiner on flower petals.

When I first started working with leather by main interest was in carving and I used to spend hours going over this book to learn the techniques. I can still pick up pointers from it to this day and I consider this to be one of the best books I own. I was fortunate to pick up a copy early in my leather carving career.

This first book has been around a long time (it was first published in 1969) but my second favorite book is much more recent.

Leathercraft by Nigel Armitage

Leathercraft by Nigel Armitage is a much newer book, published in 2020, and its a much different book from the first one. While the first book talks all about carving leather this book talks about basic construction techniques, particularly hand stitching leather. It is written by a master leather worker with over thirty years experience and it gives a really good insight into English leather working techniques. Since my early education in leather craft had been focused on carving and stamping, this book was a catalyst to improving my construction skills, refining hand stitching and improved pattern making. It is a well written book that is easy to follow and understand and will improve the skills of any leather crafter. It has exposed me to techniques and skills that I did not know about and it has broadened my capabilities as a leather crafter. I can’t say enough good things about it.

These are both excellent leather craft books that will serve you well during your journey to explore leather crafts and arts. I highly recommend adding both of these books to your library! And check out many of the other books out there. Some of them were written over 50 years ago but they contain descriptions of techniques that sometimes aren’t documented any where else. With so many leather craft books out there you can find something that informs you on the areas of leather crafts that interest you and will enhance your skills.

Where to get these leather craft books?

Leathercraft by Nigel Armitage is available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or through your local book seller. Craftool Tech Tips was published by Tandy Leather but as of this writing seems to be unavailable through their website. You can find copies available on both Amazon and eBay but you might also be able to find a copy at a brick and mortar Tandy store if you get lucky. Hopefully this book will be available again soon on the Tandy site.