Leather goods with own hands

Leather is an excellent ornamental material. From such a soft and pleasant base, you can make a variety of designer products: brooches, belts, original bracelets, hair clips, etc. Of course, all these accessories can be purchased ready in the store. But it's much more interesting to make them with your own hands. Let's consider what author's crafts and leather products you can create yourself.

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Skin basics

Let's start with the basic knowledge and concepts about this material, namely with the features of working with it:

• In work, you can use any skin and its small parts.
• You can effectively remove stains from the skin surface with the help of running water and sponges.

Important! The use of stain removers or detergents is detrimental to the material, since it makes the skin very rough, moreover, brittle.

• If you need to soften the skin, increase its elasticity, treat the face with glycerin.
• To join the elements of leather products, various rivets, special clips and threads will help each other. Seams are best done with a sewing machine, but be sure to select only suitable needles so that the holes are neat.
• Qualitative work can be done using special tools. Therefore, take care of the presence of at least a minimum of them: a hammer, a punch, a vice, forceps, etc.
• It is extremely convenient to cut out the elements from the skin on a dense surface. For example, an ordinary cutting board is suitable for this purpose.
• Decorative jewelry for leather goods can be highlighted bright beads and beads, shiny crystals, sequins, metal clips, buttons and laces, etc.
• To the edges of the skin were even, treat them neatly with fire.

Another important step in getting to know the work with the skin is to get acquainted with its types.

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Kinds of genuine leather

Like any material, the skin has different types. It is classified according to the quality of the dressing, it differs in the type of raw material, and also the age of the animals. The material has a dense front side and a loose purl, which is called bahtarma.

So, what kinds of material can be distinguished from which you can make handmade leather articles yourself:

1. YUFT.This type of material is made from hides of pigs, horses or deer, which impregnate the willow bark. In addition, this thick skin is treated with fat. Suitable for making shoes.
2. Chevro. This soft skin is made from goat skins. Chrome tanning makes the skin strong and supple, so it is applied to the top of elegant women's shoes.
3. Suede. A popular type of leather, made from the skins of goats, calves. The material is subjected to fatty tanning. In the process of dressing the skin, the facial layer of the skin is cut. Feature of the material is its low pile, softness of the fabric and high extensibility. Its use suede found in leather haberdashery and the production of footwear.
4. Chevret. Quite friable skin made from sheep skins. Also differs by good extensibility. Chromium tannins were used for its processing. From such a skin suits and outer clothing are sewn( different jackets and coats).
5. Opioque. Elastic and soft skin matter, made from the skins of dairy calves.
6. Velor. Another type of leather with a pile surface, but unlike suede, this material is slightly coarser, and the thick and even pile is slightly lower. In addition, chrome tanning of skins is applied. Used for sewing a coat.
7. Laika. Incredibly thin and soft skin, differs fine elasticity. The visiting card of such skin are kid gloves.
8. Safian. Thin and soft skin, obtained from the skins of goats, calves, foals or sheep. It is subjected to vegetable tanning.

Important! Most often, for the production of leather is used skins of cattle, however, you can purchase more exclusive material: from skins of snakes or lizards.

Leather handicrafts can be made from the skin by the remnants of leather things, whose service life has come to an end. For example, handbags, old gloves, bootlegs or belts. New pieces of leather for small gizmos can be bought in the atelier or the tannery. The cost of it will be small, since, in fact, it is the pruning of the material. For larger products, you will have to spend and buy a whole cut of leather.

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How to apply old skin to work?

For small leather products with your own hands or miniature gizmos, as well as individual elements of the composition, you can and should use old leather material. Purses, parts of boots, handbags - all this will fit for your creative ideas.

Step 1

First of all, cut the skin of the product at the seams. The front side of the skin is smooth and dense, it glitters pleasantly, as it is most often covered with nitrocellulose. We advise it to be washed or wiped with soap.

Important! It is impossible to wash leather products, since it is possible to wash away the substances of fatty tanning of the material, then it will lose its appearance, become bristling and sit down.

Step 2

Then rinse the product with salt water and vinegar. To do this, connect:

• One liter of water.
• 50 grams of table salt.
• One glass of 9 percent table vinegar.

Important! This mixture gives the skin elasticity. Improve this characteristic if you lubricate the surface with glycerin. After that, the old material will be quite suitable for a leather product with your own hands.

Other ways of washing the skin are:

• Unboiled milk or coffee grounds. The only exception for the second remedy is white skin.
• But the suede can be stretched in warm water with a detergent powder with the addition of ammonia. If it has greasy stains, then cleaned gasoline, chloroform or other solvent will help get rid of them. Dampen a piece of clean cloth in the liquid, and wipe the dirt.

Important! In order for the nap to look spectacular and like a new one, walk on the surface of the material with a rubber brush, fine sandpaper or foam rubber. After that, rub the skin with this mixture:

• One glass of warm milk.
• One teaspoon of soda.

Step 3

The wet material must be stretched on any substrate, thick board or plywood sheet. The small parts are dried under the press, placing them between dry pieces of fabric. After such procedures, the skin will get a smooth and smooth surface.

And while the skin dries, treat it with one of the options for impregnation:

• Castor oil.
• A mixture of butter and warm water, plus a little ammonia.

Important! Carefully and gently cover the surface of the skin with the composition. It is best to do this with a soft brush or a thick cotton swab. Remove excess material with a clean cloth.

As a result, you will receive an excellent basis for crafts. What can be done from pieces of skin? Lovely accessories and trivia: keychain, stylish decoration, jewelry, etc. And the rest of the skin is interestingly used in the design of the premises in the form of original accessories: handles for drawers, leather stripes can be used in the form of fasteners for shelves, handles for woodenboxes for storage.

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Required tools for working with the skin

Professionals have a great variety. However, if you plan to make crafts from the skin for yourself, for beginners, then only a few will be enough.

Important! In the course of your creative activity, you will replenish your toolbox, as experience will prompt the most practical and convenient improvised tools.

You can highlight the following tools for working with the skin, which you will definitely need:

• Scissors. To be reserved follows several types. For fine details made of fine fabric, manicure is excellent, and for larger items of dense skin - tailors. To make out a notched edge the figured scissors "zigzag" will help.

Important! Scissors must be sharply sharpened to cut the skin, and not crumple it.

• Silo. It is intended for sewing parts of the product.
• Hammer. Needed for punching holes in the material, drawing a picture and installing rivets.
• Ruler. Optimum, if it will be metal, as it is necessary for smooth cutting edges. In addition, with a knife and such a ruler, you can cut cords or parts from straight lines.
• Substrate. It is useful if you cut out parts with a knife, and also if you carry out actions with force application. An example can be a wooden board, a plexiglass plate, a dense rubber sheet.
• Punches. With the help of such tools holes are punched in the skin of the desired diameter. The principle of their action is quite simple: the tool is applied vertically to the skin and strikes the other end with a hammer.
• Figured stamps. The purpose of such tools is to create drawings on the surface of the skin, which can be various geometric shapes or ornaments. The technique is the same as for punches: striking the die. Most often they are made of metal or solid wood. You can make the stamp yourself. To do this, take a nail and turn it with the hat down. Round drawings are ready for use. And with the help of the file, you can also give another form: a square, a rhombus, etc.

Important! For a more relief ornament, place under the skin a soft substrate: felt or a piece of linoleum.

• Ball point pen. With its help, it is convenient to apply a pattern to the skin or pattern. It is necessary to draw from the wrong side.

These tools will be enough to make handcraft from the skin with their own hands become one of your favorite activities.

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Master class - a convenient method of self-learning

Leather products with their own hands - a master class for beginners and more experienced craftsmen. You can choose the most suitable option and embody in it your own creative ideas. So, let's learn how to make author's things, and here are some of them.

Simple and stylish necklace

To create a leather decoration, prepare the following tools:

• Revolver punch.
• Adhesive.
• Sharp scissors.
• Cut leather.

The creation process consists of the following steps:

1. Scissors cut out of the skin a number of triangles - their shape and dimensions can be different. So your decoration will look more interesting.
2. Then, using glue, connect all the elements together in a chaotic creative mess - as your fantasy and sense of taste tell you.
3. Wait until the adhesive is completely dry.
4. After that, in the resulting blank at the edges make two holes and thread a chain or decorative cord through them.
5. Fasten and wear your jewelery with pleasure.

Leather earrings

Another interesting crafts made of leather with your own hands for beginners, for which you will need:

• Leather. Desirable, painted in bright colors.
• The basis for earrings in the form of carnations.
• Adhesive and scissors.

The creation process itself is quite simple and fast:

1. Determine the design of your earrings, and then cut out the required shapes with scissors. They can be arbitrary or geometric.
2. Each of the elements is glued to the cap-base of the earring.
3. We are waiting for some time while the glue dries.

You are the lucky owner of new earrings!

Keychain and key holder made of leather

This unusual kit will become an incredibly practical and stylish product. In addition, such gifts from the skin with their own hands will surprise with their originality.

You will need the following things:

• A piece of leather.
• Sharp scissors and clerical knife.
• 6 rivets.
• Ring for keys.

Stages of creating a vase for keys:

1. Cut out the rectangle from the skin. Parameters define yourself - it can be a vase of neat sizes just for storing keys, but you can make it wider to add some more trivia.
2. Clamp one corner and make a hole in it. To do this, you can use a punch or a sharp knife, and even a nail. We insert rivet.
3. Do the same manipulations with the rest of the corners.

Vase is ready!

Now we turn to making a keychain:

1. Cut out a small rectangle from the skin, and on one side of it leave a horizontal strip about 1 cm wide. It turns out a kind of rectangle with a tail.
2. Bend this section in half and secure it with a rivet, so we got a loop.
3. On the surface of the rectangle using a ruler and a pencil, we mark the lines along which we cut the fringe with scissors, not reaching the edge of the material about 1-1.5 cm.
4. Twist the resulting fringe around the loop, fixing the whole structure with glue.
5. The last step: loop through the loop key ring, chain or decorative lace.

Important! Such an elegant key chain can be used not only to store keys, but also to decorate a handbag.

Hair bow

You need the following materials:

• Strips of leather.
• Thin wire.
• Regular hair band.
• Scissors with ruler.

So, what do we do:

1. We draw a ruler line on the cut of the skin. The length is about 40 cm and the width is 4 cm. We cut it out.
2. Both ends of the strip sharpen with scissors.
3. Attach the leather strip to the elastic band, and fasten them together with a wire. In this case, the elastic band should be placed in the middle of the leather band.
4. Tie the hair as usual with an elastic band, and wrap the leather band around the tail, elegantly decorate the bow.

Stylish leather clutch with your own hands

Bag - an accessory of every young lady, and how nice if such a product you created yourself. Everyone will certainly pay close attention to your purse. That's why needlework from the skin with their own hands is so necessary!

Let's start the process with the preparation of the necessary materials:

• Cut the skin of the required size and color.
• Scissors and clerical knife.
• Clips.
• Flat plate.
• Sewing machine and needles of the appropriate size, nylon threads are also necessary.

Sequence of the creative process:

• From a piece of leather, cut out a rectangle measuring 40 by 28 cm.
• Begin the design of the front of the clutch. How it's done? Cut out the sides of the rectangle pieces 12 cm in length and 1.5 cm in width. Lines should be smooth.
• Now to the top of the product we put an ordinary plate and note the lines of roundness, on which in the future we cut off the excess.

Important! To make such rounded sections you need to be as symmetrical as possible.

• The following actions: bend the bottom of the bag to the places of smooth cuts on the sides of the product. Secure the joints with clips.
• Sew the stitches around the edges of the bag on the sewing machine. We remove the clamps.
• We turn the bag on the front side.
• Bend the top of the workpiece, at a distance from the edge of about 2.5 cm, make a small longitudinal section.
• Now we need a separate cut of the skin, from which we cut out a strip of material 70 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide.
• We tie one end into the knot and put the opposite end into the hole on the bag.
• Surplus stripes gracefully wrap around the clutch and tie a bow or a beautiful knot.

Leather flower

What can be made of pieces of leather? Incredibly beautiful rose!

You need:

• Leather.
• Adhesive.
• Candle.
• Ball point pen.

Stages of manufacture:

1. On the underside of the skin, draw a rose petal of 10 pieces small and large, and cut out the details.
2. Over the fire of the candle, we burn the elements. To keep the skin you need to bark down. Hold the petals with a clamp or tweezers. During the processing of fire, the parts are slightly bent inward.
3. On the underside of the petal, apply glue and roll up the roll. So the heart of the flower turned out.
4. For the next element, we apply glue and connect it to the middle. The petal should "embrace" it.
5. And now gradually we paste the bud with petals. We start with small elements, and then go to large ones.

Important! Place rose petals on one level. To create an even more effective look of the flower, sprinkle its surface with a shiny spray.

Leather belts

Such accessories are used by men, women, and children. Therefore, gifts from the skin with their own hands in this performance will be very handy.

For production you need:

• Strip of leather.
• Rivet or button.
• Sharp scissors.
• Stationery or carved knife.

And now the production sequence:

1. Determine the length of the belt by wrapping a strip of material around the waist and mark the intersection of the two ends. You can even make it a little longer.
2. At the marked location, make a hole for the rivet.
3. With a knife, make a slight incision of about 5-6 mm. Then the rivet will go right through.
4. If you want, you can make the ends of the belt round, for this just give them a smooth shape with scissors.

The original belt is ready!

Or one more variant of such product from a leather by own hands. For its manufacture you will need:

• Hammer.
• Sharp knife, you can apply clerical.
• Strip of leather.
• Two rivets.
• Metal ring in the shape of D.

Proceed:

1. Cut the strip of skin of the required length, and the width of the belt should coincide with the width of the ring.
2. Mark the location of the rivets, make four holes.
3. We pass one end of our belt through the D-ring, and then install the rivets with a hammer.

It's so simple and fast you can make original leather accessories, which are very exclusive.

Handicrafts made of leather by oneself are an incredibly creative and entertaining process. You will really like to create unique accessories and things in the style of hand-made. In addition, currently these products are at the peak of popularity. And gifts from the skin with their own hands will amaze your family and friends, and your efforts will be appreciated.