Tag: leatherwork techniques

Angled Leather Basket Stamping Tutorial. It’s Easy!

Creativity, Leather Stamping

When I published my Straight Basket Weave Tutorial I said that I planned on making the same kind of thing for Angled Basket Weave, and this is it.  Angled basket stamping is actually what I use almost exclusively when doing leather basket stamping.  So if you look at my work this is the technique you will see almost anytime I’m basket stamping a project.

Leather Basket Stamping

If you’re not familiar with the term, angled leather basket stamping means you are stamping your impressions at an angle but the centers of the impressions run at a straight line to the borders of the project.  See the picture below for a visual of what I mean.

Leather belt with basket stamp design

On this belt the actual stamp impressions are at an angle but that angle is such that the basket weave design runs parallel to the length of the belt. There are a lot of ideas and techniques out there on how to do this.  Sometimes people work out the precise angle the stamp needs to be held at to achieve this effect, they make templates of the angle, etc.  Those techniques work but there is actually a very simple way to do this that works for every basket stamp and does NOT require any knowledge of trigonometry or using any special tools!  In this case there really is one simple trick to lining the stamps up correctly.

I’ve done this tutorial differently than the last one.  This time instead of a photo heavy blog post, I’ve created the tutorial as a PDF file that you can download.  You don’t need to sign up for anything, just click the link below to download the file.  Take a look at it and I think you’ll see it’s really easy to stamp angled basket weave.  Grab a piece of scrap leather and give it a try.  You’ll be stamping angled basket weaves like a pro in no time flat!

Download the tutorial here: Angled basket tutorial

As always if you have questions leave a comment here.

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.