Every woman probably has things that she will no longer wear on the back shelves of her closet, for example, outerwear, old accessories, or out-of-fashion shoes. Perhaps among all this junk there will be items made from natural or artificial leather: worn gloves, jackets, bags, boots and shoes. You can find fresh uses for all this and learn how to create from them original crafts made from leather with your own hands!

Remnants of leather or scraps of leatherette make excellent crafts for children's creativity, or handicrafts - bracelets, brooches, paintings and panels, and much more. Homemade products self made This is not only a pleasant hobby, but also a good way to earn extra money, so it would be nice to figure out what exactly can be made from leather and leatherette, and take a step-by-step look at an interesting mk. You might want to recreate what you saw with your children.

This is not at all difficult, especially for creative people with a rich imagination. You can come up with many ideas: beautiful panels on the wall, souvenir gifts, leather flowers, accessories and decorations (brooch, hair clip), useful little things for furniture. To do this, you only need free time, perseverance and great desire to create something unusual and beautiful!

People have been making leather products since ancient times. At that time, almost all things were made from this material. Ancient people found a way to fasten on themselves capes made of fur from animal skins, adapted this universal material and in his primitive home.

At that time, clothes were sewn only with one’s own hands from real leather; it was practically the only material that was available.

After a huge number of years, this craft has greatly improved, beautiful crafts. More modern methods of making various clothes were invented, original items, jewelry.

Almost all the peoples on our land worked on processing fur and making leather products, for example, the Slavs traditionally worked in leather tanning. In the central part of Russia there was creative activity; shoes, pouches, boxes and much more were made there. This elastic material was used to produce book bindings that looked very rich: on chic leather embossing showed off gems , gold and silver glittered.

Gallery: leather crafts (25 photos)

How to make leather crafts with your own hands

If you are wondering how you can learn how to make leather crafts with your own hands, then first it is better to choose something simple, suitable for novice craftsmen. You can stop, for example, on making flowers, jewelry, watch a video or sequential photo on the Internet on how they suggest doing this. In the Yandex search engine, you can enter, for example: “roses made of leather with your own hands, master class”, or “flower made of leather with your own hands, master class” and complete visual information will open.

We present to your attention some original crafts that you can do yourself, showing your imagination, taste and ingenuity. The materials used for their manufacture are quite affordable, and in the process of work, following all the recommendations, you will understand that it is easy and exciting. Having learned to do leather souvenirs and jewelry, you will soon be able to show a master class on how to make them to your friends, family and acquaintances!

Leather bracelet for beginners

Let's start with simple work and make a fashionable one. leather bracelet. Jewelry of this type is very popular among young people today, and it can be made in just a few hours!

Material used

1. Leather cord - 80 cm.
2. Chain - 3 lengths of 25 cm (instead you can take 2 laces of different colors)
3. Scissors
4. Thread and needle
5. Button (same shade as the chain).

Let's take a lace made of natural or artificial leather of any color, and cut two, only of different lengths, approximately 27 and 53 cm. Now we take 3 pieces of the chain, preferably so that it is tight. Each of the chains should be approximately 25 cm long.

The whole principle of the craft is to weave a braid from a lace and chain. To do this, a cord 53 cm long must be folded in half and another equal to 27 cm must be sewn into the middle of the fold. We attach a chain near each cord; there should be three of them, 25 cm each. The ends of all parts must be sewn with matching threads.

We braid an ordinary braid. When the process comes to an end, we will need to take our sewing tools and connect them. At one end of the weaving we form a small loop from a piece of cord and sew it on. On the other edge of the bracelet you need to attach a large and beautiful button using a thread and a needle. The chains in the product should match the color of the button.

Now the finished bracelet can be put on and fastened with a button. Are you ready for a fashionable outing?

Making a leather brooch

It’s not difficult to make this brooch with your own hands, let’s make it in the shape of a flower and you will have a new unusual decoration! Let's start our master class.

Material used

How to make a flower from leather? First, we will make leaf templates from cardboard. Then from the inside leather material We trace the resulting patterns and cut them out. Just 9 - 10 blanks will be enough.

Take the resulting petal and coat its length from the inside with a thin strip of Moment glue. Fold along the glue line and press firmly with your hand to form a crease. We carry out this manipulation with all the petals.

Now add water to the PVA glue, but so that it does not turn out to be too liquid, and coat the inside of the leaf with it. After drying, take the petals with tweezers and move them over a burning candle from the inside, where there is no skin covering. This makes them more voluminous and take on a more natural shape. Class!

We cut out a circle about 4 cm in diameter from the leather and begin to glue the petals onto it. We glue the larger ones to the base, then the medium ones, and the smallest ones in the center.

Then we take several blanks, glue them together so that it looks like the middle of a flower and glue them to the center of the circle. We check that the petals hold well.

And finally, on the reverse side carefully glue the pin. We wait for the glue to dry well on our product, then we correct all the petals. That's it, we have a beautiful brooch in the shape of a flower!

Decorative panel on the wall

An unusual leather panel with flowers is a fresh and stylish product that can decorate any room and is an alternative to ordinary paintings. It looks very impressive and bright!

Material used

We take a large piece of leather material, suitable for the pattern, of any color. We cut out a rectangle so that it measures approximately 30 cm by 50 cm. This creates the main part of the panel on which the flowers will be attached. If desired, you can cut it out in the form of a circle, triangle or some abstract shape.

How to make leather flowers with your own hands? It’s not difficult, but it’s very interesting what we have to do now. They will consist of cut out leather petals and, using glue, we will form the plant itself. In order for future leaves to turn out even, you first need to make templates. If you wish, we invite our novice craftsmen to watch a video on the topic “leather flower master class.”

Let's take a small one sheet of cardboard and draw on it the details for the flowers - semicircular, round, elongated, 5 - 6 cm in diameter. And we will also depict elongated leaves here (these will be future leaves). Then we cut out all the blanks. Now we take multi-colored pieces of leather, attach cardboard templates to them, trace them and cut them out. Each such pattern- the future petal for our plants. You need to make a lot of them, since about 8 - 12 pieces will be used for one flower. Try to cut out as many petals from different colored materials. For example, 10 blanks from red leather, 8 from blue, 12 pink, 10 from green (for leaves).

In order for flowers and leaves to look exquisite on our panel, we need to give them volume. To do this, turn on the electric oven so that it heats up to a minimum (you can also use the working surface of the iron), then place the cut out petals on the heated surface with the wrong side. Since the skin is very elastic, under the influence of moderate heat they will quickly take on a three-dimensional shape and become like real ones. Remove the petals from the hot surface with tweezers. We carry out this procedure with all the remaining parts.

Material for future ornamental plants We have prepared, let's start making the flowers themselves. They can be made in different ways, taking into account the shape of the patterns. On our panel there will be roses and ordinary flowers with leaves, they can be made arbitrarily, or you can follow the principle of making a rose.

So, to make a rose flower from leather, take prepared petals that match the color of your choice. Take a small piece of leather, roll it up into a roll and secure it with glue. This will be the middle of the rose; we will now attach the rest of the petals to it.

Taking the next one, carefully coat the lower part with glue, wrap the core of the flower with this petal, press for half a minute, to fix the glue. Then we glue another one using the same principle. Accordingly, gradually all subsequent ones.

You can and should use your imagination during this creative process, try, for example, to glue darker petals in the middle of the flower, lighter ones at the edges, then the rose will turn out like a real one! On the outside you need to glue larger petals, so the product will look more natural. Thus, we make 3 - 4 roses.

Now let's take cooked leaves and glue them at the base of the finished flowers. From the remaining prepared petals we make other flowers, you can come up with them at your discretion, because now the principle of working on them is already clear. You can have as many decorative elements as you want, the main thing is that they look harmonious throughout the entire work.

Finally, let's get started with the design of the main material that was prepared at the very beginning. We take our cut out sheet of leather, and taking into account its shape, we attach our flowers to it using glue. Decorative elements You can attach them in any order, depending on your taste and imagination. At the end, if desired, you can additionally decorate the flowers on the panel with beads, rhinestones or other additional decor. Ready! That's our entire master class.

At your discretion, the finished panel can be glued onto cardboard, which will then need to be carefully cut to the shape of the product to make the craft retained its shape when used.

Is it worth opening a home leather workshop if all you have at your disposal is a single leather glove and a pair of leather or suede tongues from worn-out sneakers? I assure you, it's worth it!

Firstly, a single leather glove can turn into two again if you carefully tear it apart and remove the parts, resuscitate and renew them, as described at the beginning of the chapter. Cut out the other halves from fabric or knitwear. Or sew both leather halves onto the front side of knitted gloves. They will not only become more beautiful, but also warmer. And if you are interested in strength, then it is better to sew both halves of the glove on the palm side.

If the work of sewing on each finger seems too laborious to you, cut them off - they will have another use. Sew the remaining parts to knitted gloves from the palms (Fig. 33). Decorate the front side with a strap cut from the fingers of a leather glove and decorate it with cute little buckles (for example, from old sandals, just first thoroughly clean the buckles with chalk or a special paste for cleaning metals).

What can you make from the remaining finger parts? Well, for example, by cutting off the rounded ends and making paired cuts in the upper part of each strip, sew them together. Sew a round or oval bottom from thumb pieces or cut it out of a suitable fabric - and here you have a nice antique wallet, in the shape of a pouch (Fig. 34).

All that remains is to thread the lace through the slots. As for further decorative finishing - embroidery, painting, gold stamping, burning - this is entirely at your discretion. Or maybe the wallet is not bad anyway?
The wallet didn't work out - you can use the remains of the glove on decorative pendants: tassels, “lanterns” and other finishing details that do not have a name (Fig. 35). They are good to attach to a zipper leash on a bag or jacket, or to update the look of shoes or boots.

Further. If you cover the buttons with thin, soft, well-made leather (and gloves are made from this kind of material), your clothes will immediately accept modern look. To do this, cut out a circle of leather with a reserve. The edge is sewn with strong thread. Wetting the skin cold water, place a smooth button in the middle of the workpiece and carefully tighten the thread. When the leather dries, it will shrink and fit the surface perfectly evenly.

Shaped buttons also come out of narrow wedge-shaped scraps of leather that are thicker (Fig. 36). Round the corners of the elongated triangle, grease the bakhtarma with glue and twist the skin into a tube, starting from the base of the triangle. These oblong barrel buttons are good for coats, jackets. Or maybe such a button will be useful as a bag clasp. From pieces of leather 1 mm thick or more, cut identical circles, use a punch to make two or four neat symmetrical holes in the middle - and here you have ultra-modern buttons.
vices. If you want, decorate them with burning, gold embossing, or paint them. But in my opinion they are good as is. The texture of the leather, even when worn and lost its even color, is unique. By the way, you don’t have to cut out circles. Your buttons can be oval, diamond-shaped, triangular. Everything in this case is in your hands.

From small scraps of medium-thick leather it is easy to make a simple keychain (Fig. 37), a simple rectangular wallet with a button clasp (Fig. 38), and a convenient, cute toiletry case (Fig. 39). In Fig. 40 shows how to make a soft leather watch strap.

Once you have a larger piece of well-crafted leather at your disposal, why not use it to update your boring plain sweater? Decorate it with artistic leather appliqué. For example, in the form of a branch with graceful three-lobed leaves, as proposed by Estonian fashion designers (Fig. 41). Pieces of leather with the contours of leaves transferred onto them are placed on knitwear on top of pieces of thin durable fabric and sewn directly on the machine. The interlining fabric prevents the work from stretching while sewing. Then the excess skin along with the fabric is carefully cut off along the stitching with sharp small scissors with rounded ends. Branches and leaf petioles are embroidered with silk thread to match the color of the skin. If you do not feel qualified enough to perform such delicate work, then here is a simpler finish, also proposed by Estonian artists (Fig. 42). A stylized flower made of leather is attached to fabric or knitwear with several stitches of thick twisted thread through holes made with a punch. The stems are embroidered with a chain stitch.

Figured parts cut from scraps of leather (can be multi-colored) just need to be glued and stitched onto a wide bodice or onto a strip of artificial leather - and here you have a fashionable belt (Fig. 43). As a fastener, if it was not possible to find a suitable buckle, bunches of narrow straps cut from leather in a spiral with beads or simple knots at the ends are suitable.

Finally, when you have quite a few pieces of leather of the same type and color at your disposal (such sets are sometimes sold in DIY stores), try, with patience, to make a belt or bag according to the method of Estonian craftsmen. These items do not need to be stitched or glued. It is enough to cut out many identical parts and assemble them, hooking one after another. In Fig. 44 shows the manufacture of a single and double belt (do you understand how they are assembled?)

in Fig. 45 - making an openwork bag. This design also involves narrow horizontal straps, the ends of which, once closed, will have to be sewn or glued.

Bags, wallets, purses

These are the first things that come to mind when it comes to leather goods. Finally we got to them. Let's start with simple crafts, requiring not so much material and skill.

Here is the simplest children's handbag, worn around the neck (Fig. 46). They put keys in it, change for the road and for ice cream. The design is ingeniously simple: an oval is cut out of leather as large as your scrap will allow. Four neat round holes with a punch on one edge and four on the other, thread the lace through - and you're done!

Decorative finishing at your discretion.

The second model of a similar handbag (Fig. 47) is a little more complicated in design and not so original, but it does have a clasp. You can jump and run - nothing will fall out of it.

Polish designer A. Olodovy came up with a leather string bag. To make it, nothing is required except a fairly large piece of leather of medium thickness and a shoe knife. Do you remember how an openwork garland is made from a paper strip cut evenly along the entire length? Mark your piece of leather as shown in Fig. 48, and make very neat cuts. Place a weight in the middle, grab the handles and pull up - your small piece will stretch into a lattice string bag of very impressive size! And when it is empty, it rolls up into a tube and takes up very little space.

I would like to propose the design of a bag from a part of a worn-out boot, namely from a narrow strip of leather with a zipper sewn into the middle. This is the case when, when dissecting an old boot, it makes sense not to evaporate the zipper. You will need two more narrow leather straps for handles and the remains of an old-fashioned bologna raincoat. Fold the thin bologna fabric into an accordion, making an opposite fold in the middle, and baste it for ease of work. Sew the edges of the accordion to a leather strip with a zipper (here is a reliable bag clasp). All that remains is to securely stitch the structure along the edges in the transverse direction. Attach the handles. What should happen is shown in Fig. 49. The longer the bologna accordion, the more spacious this string bag will be.

In Fig. 50 shows a very simple design of a rectangular zipper bag from a multi-colored leather set. Just remember to cut out and sew in the lining with an allowance before sewing in the zipper.

The envelope bag (Fig. 51) is also cut out on the basis of a leather set. Please note that the underside of the flap must be lined - either from a whole piece of leather (can be artificial) or from lining fabric. Fastening with a button or Velcro.

Bag in pic. 52 has a very long triangular valve that is somewhat
wraps around once when it is closed. Agree, this is a fairly reliable clasp. The inner side of the flap has a thin silk lining, which contains pockets for flat objects (combs, mirrors, papers).

Using a relatively small amount of leather (the top of a boot, for example), it is nevertheless possible to make a fairly large, roomy bag if you combine leather with tarpaulin, canvas, or denim. The combination of leather with tapestry fabric (the kind used for upholstery) is very elegant).

In Fig. 53-55 show models of such combined bags proposed by Estonian fashion designers. Large decorative details made of leather sewn onto a fabric base. And although there is not much leather here, the bags give the impression of leather with fabric trim, and not the other way around. In the model in Fig. 54 defects of worn leather are hidden by finishing with perforations: even round holes punched with punches of different diameters along the lines of the structure. After such treatment, it is advisable to tint the prepared leather parts.
From rough, thick leather you can make a very nice little handbag according to the model proposed by Cuban designers (Fig. 55). No lining or any decorative finishing is required. Maybe you just need to bead the edge of the bag flap with a heated wheel.
All these bags use old waist belts as handles: for some models, for example, in Fig. 56, a broken leather drive belt from a sewing machine will do. It is not forbidden to make handles from fabric. If you find pieces of leather from which you can cut many narrow straps in a spiral, weave handles from them using one of the methods shown in Fig. 57. By the way, this is how they weave a bracelet or watch strap.

Thick, durable tetrahedral handles are woven from leather straps, as shown in Fig. 58. So that they do not bend and are securely fastened, steel wire is inserted inside.
From stripes thin skin a small pocket toiletry case will come out. This is a narrow, flat case, which, however, holds many useful things: a comb, a nail file, a pen or pencil, a stack of narrow pieces of paper for notes and a mirror cut to fit the case. The mirror will be replaced by a polished strip of metal. The design of the toiletry case is clear from Fig. 59.

Finally, a description of a homemade wallet “with a secret.” If you open it, there will be two narrow parallel jumpers on one side, and a wide cross-shaped jumper on the other (Fig. 60). Place a piece of paper on top of the cross. Close the wallet, open it again - the piece of paper somehow ended up under the cross! Close and open again - the piece of paper will now be on the other side of the wallet, under two parallel jumpers.

The secret is in the fastening of the jumpers, thanks to which the wallet can be opened from either side. You close it on one side, then quietly turn it in your hands and open it on the other. It is clear that such a wallet is very convenient: whatever you put in it, it is automatically pressed securely by the jumpers. It also has compartments for coins and travel tickets. Parts A and B consist of two parts, stitched back to back. In one of the parts of part A there is a window cut for a coin holder. A ticket flap is attached to part B on the outside. Jumpers B and D are cut out double and sewn or glued together. Attach the left edges of the jumpers B to the left side of part A, and the right edges to the left side of part B. And vice versa, attach the left edges of the crosspiece D to the right side of part A, and the right edges to the right side of part B.

Shoes, gloves

Most likely, you will not be able to make real shoes yourself at home without special equipment and materials. But it’s worth trying to make the simplest house shoes.

Let's start with thick house slippers wool socks, to which leather soles are sewn. Sometimes they are made from new socks. But it makes sense to improve socks in this way, the feet of which are starting to rub. Let's cut two soles from the boot top with an allowance of 7-10 mm at the edges. It is unlikely that it will be possible to sew the sole smoothly to the sock without a special blank. Instead of a blank, try putting the sock over a smaller boot (clean and dry, of course). Sew the sole with a thick, harsh thread using a zigzag stitch.

For flip-flops (Fig. 61), in addition to two leather parts for the top, cut from the top of a boot, you can use something that has been lying idle in the house for a long time: the top of an old felt boot (for soles), pieces of foam rubber (for soft padding), scraps of cloth or drape from an old coat (for insoles). How these parts are arranged in a “sandwich” in the final form is shown in section А-А. The edges of the parts are covered with a leather strip edging, forming a wide welt. All this is connected with large stitches using two needles sewing towards each other. A simple cut of closed house slippers is shown in Fig. 62.

But the greatest success awaits the home shoemaker in making soft shoes for babies. Leather moccasin slippers are cut out very simply (Fig. 63). Here you only need to lay one seam along the toe. You need to tighten it so that small folds form along it. You can also make two seams on the heel, but this is not necessary for house shoes. Finishing fringe looks better on suede. Glue insoles inside the finished moccasins, placing porous rubber pads under them. The cut of children's shoes, which was developed by Estonian fashion designers, is a little more complicated (Fig. 64). The parts are connected at the toe and heel with large cross stitches through pre-prepared holes. The upper edge of the boots is trimmed with a strip of soft leather, suede or fabric. Fluffy fur is also used.

Mittens made of leather or suede, even artificial ones, are elegant. If, of course, you can cut out six rather large parts from an old bag or boots (Fig. 65). As a last resort, try stitching the pieces together with one or two horizontal seams. More is not advisable, otherwise the mitten will be stiff and the seams will get in the way. Don't forget to cut out the lining from soft fabric. Will hide material defects decorative finishing: embroidery with wool and beads, applique with pieces of fur, colored felt and cloth. You can save leather by making the cuffs of your mittens out of fabric and decorating them with patterned braid.

What else are the tops of worn boots good for? Cut six identical parts from them and sew a real leather ball (Fig. 66). In the last seam, leave a gap through which you turn finished work present, and insert the rubber inflatable chamber inside. You can also fill such a ball with pieces of foam rubber.

Leather is a very flexible material from which you can create a lot of beautiful things. Many people have at home old leather jackets, bags, trousers, etc. that are worn out and out of fashion. And it looks like you won’t wear it, and it’s a shame to throw it away. Such things can make amazing DIY leather jewelry.

Weaving stripes

For beginners, the most suitable simple options, which will allow you to adapt to the material and tools itself.

For example, this bracelet. For it you will need:

• a piece of leather, preferably clean, without scuffs;
• leather glue;
• scissors, better tailors;
• a thread;
• needle;
• awl, sharp knitting needle. You can even use a hole punch.

We measure the circumference of the wrist. Cut out a strip of leather of the appropriate length and width of 2.5-3 cm.

For convenience, fold it in half and cut the workpiece into three parts lengthwise, not reaching the edges about two centimeters.

We pass one end alternately between the first and second strips, and the second, and the third. Thus, braiding the pigtail.

Then we round the ends of the bracelet and make a hole on each one. We pass a thin strip of leather through them. The bracelet is ready, you can tie it in a bow, or you can cut out a fastener from the same leather, as shown in the photo below.

But such a simple necklace in boho style will decorate a laconic look.

Heat treatment

The next master class will demonstrate how, by frying leather in a frying pan, you can make a beautiful flower that will look good as a brooch, pendant, ring and earrings.

Required material and tools:

• pieces of leather;
• PVA glue;
• hot glue gun;
• acrylic paints;
• scissors;
• tweezers;
• paper for creating patterns;
• pen or pencil.

We draw flowers of different sizes on paper and cut out the number of blanks from leather, as indicated in the photo. You will also need leaves and strips folded in half, cut into fringes.

After setting the frying pan over medium heat, place the pieces on them, face up. After a while they will begin to rise and become more rounded, then press the middle with the tip of a knife. Once the parts begin to shrink, remove them from the pan.

Using a hot knife, mark the veins on the leaf blanks.

We form the desired flowers.

Then, if desired, we paint the resulting parts, preferably with a sponge, since the brush will leave streaks. It will be more interesting if you use gold paint as the main background, interspersed with bronze, and tint the leaf a little green.

If we want to make a bracelet, then we take a ready-made base for it, from the store, made from scrap materials, for example, a reel of adhesive tape, a strip of thick cardboard. It will need to be covered with leather, glued with glue.

Then we assemble all the parts together, either using thread and a needle, or glue.

And this is what a set of bracelet, ring and earrings looks like:

Also, using heat treatment, but without a frying pan, you can create such a lush chrysanthemum.

A dull knitting needle, the non-sharp side of a knife and a candle are suitable as a heating tool.

Cut out the parts as in the photo. Moreover, the top strip should be like this, at first thin and without teeth. Its width is approximately 3 cm and its length is approximately 30 cm. The triangles should come out in three sizes, slightly smaller than each other.

Round the tips of the teeth. You can also make them triangular.

The leather can be tinted to the desired color. Also go over the leaves in green.

Now let's start heating. We take a heated knitting needle and run it along each tooth, pulling it tight. Thus, we get a partially rolled tube. We make veins on the leaves.

Flower assembly. On the circle of the base, first glue large petals, then medium and small ones, filling everything towards the center. Then we twist the strip with teeth; on some turns you can glue it. And we fix the resulting core in the center.

On reverse side add leaves. And if you want to make a brooch, then the appropriate fastening.

Skin coloring

Such leather can be additionally dyed and cut into fringe, after which the following ethnic earrings can be created.

Again, it is better to use acrylic paints for painting; they dry quickly.

Another option for these earrings:

Additional decor

By adding beads, rhinestones, rivets, waxed cords, etc., you can create the following decorations.

You can even cut out words on the front side of the strip.

The skin itself can become a kind of bead. Cut out two rectangles of different sizes, for example 5 and 4 cm. Assemble it into an accordion, stringing it on a thread. In this case, it is necessary to secure it with knots on both sides.

Alternate the leather element with beads of different sizes and materials.

Install a fastener at the ends and you get either a necklace or a bracelet.

This article gives only a few techniques and decoration options. However, they will also allow you to create a variety of jewelry that will add some ethnicity to any image. Jewelry looks noble and expensive. Undoubtedly, they will become a wonderful addition not only to your collection, but also as a gift they will delight your loved ones and friends.

Video on the topic of the article

To create jewelry and other things, it is best to use natural materials. Leather products will be an excellent option for creating beautiful jewelry, accessories and other decorative elements. It can be various brooches, earrings, pendants and necklaces. You can also recreate beautiful hoops that are decorated with small leather flowers. But to make a truly beautiful and masterpiece thing, you need to learn how to work with this beautiful material.

DIY leather goods: business card holder

This method is quite simple, so it is suitable for beginners. 10x12 cm are the dimensions that will be used during work. Any leather is suitable for this work.

Cut the workpiece to the specified size and take a ruler with circles. If you don’t have one, you can use coins or a compass. Round corners and work with a utility knife. 5 cm are removed from one edge and a hole is made using an awl. Also, retreating 1.5 cm from the edges, make the same notches.

Using a ruler and stationery knife, cut out a patterned pocket. Make a notch using an awl at a distance of 6 cm along both sides so as not to go beyond this border. Using an awl, small holes are made at the same distance along both sides to the indicated notches.

Retreating a little space after the notches, make the same holes on the other side. Using the holes formed, the product is sewn at the edges. The thread is taken with a reserve so that it is convenient to sew. Threads need to be matched to the color of the product. The edges of the business card holder are sanded using sandpaper and a beautiful accessory for plastic cards is ready.

DIY leather goods: brooch

So as not to throw away the old one leather jacket or a bag, you need to find a worthy use for them. This master class will show you how to make leather jewelry with your own hands from old leather items.

To work you will need:

• A piece of genuine leather;
• Water;
• Liquid soap;
• Ammonia;
• Cotton swab;
• Paper;
• Pencil;
• Scissors;
• Hot frying pan;
• Beads and seed beads;
• Tweezers;
• Threads with a needle;
• Satin ribbon;
• Hot glue gun.

Manufacturing process:

• Before you start working with leather, it needs to be treated. To do this, mix water, liquid soap and ammonia in equal proportions. Stir the resulting solution well and begin to treat the surface of the skin. Take a cotton pad, soak it in the solution and wipe the skin.
• Three flower patterns are drawn on a piece of paper. Their size should vary, from small to large flowers. Cut out three parts.
• Place three patterns on the skin, trace and carefully cut out.
• Place three pieces on a hot frying pan, wrong side out, for a few minutes until the flowers begin to change their shape.
• Using tweezers, remove all three parts from the hot frying pan and place them on the work surface.
• After complete cooling, fold three flowers into one volumetric flower and begin to stitch it with a needle and thread. The top center of the flower is decorated with beads.
• Three long leather cords of the same size are cut from a piece of leather. They are woven into a neat braid.
• From satin ribbon make a beautiful bow. Using a glue gun, a beautifully decorated braid of leather cords and a satin bow are attached to the back wall of the flower.
• Using special fittings, they make a beautiful and neat mount on the back wall of the flower. The result is a beautiful, stylish and original brooch.

How to make a hair tie from leather and fur

A decent hair decoration can be made from leather and fur. It will look like a rose flower. To do this, take a sheet of paper and draw a rose petal pattern on it. After the petal is cut out, it is applied to the skin and outlined. In total you will need 30-40 of these petals. Cut each petal out of leather using scissors.

Using a hot frying pan, shape each petal. You can use a candle. Each petal is scorched over a candle and the desired effect is obtained. Using a glue gun, collect a flower and glue each petal together.

Place and glue on the back of the flower natural fur. To cover all the tails beautifully, cut out a circle from the leather and cover the entire surface of the back wall of the rose with it. Using a small piece of leather and hot glue, glue the elastic to the flower. To do this, the gum is coated with glue, applied to the flower and glued together. To hide the place where the gum and the flower are glued, take a piece of leather, both edges of which are coated with glue and glued to the rose, covering all the irregularities.

Since leather is a natural material, all products look very expensive and noble. Using many photos and videos, you can make any crafts and decorations from this material, and each work will have a stunning appearance.

Video on the topic of the article

Message quote Do-it-yourself original leather goods: manufacturing secrets

Alexandra Klyushina
Original do-it-yourself leather goods. Manufacturing secrets

Introduction

Dear readers! Fellow artists and beginners, curious and searching!

This book is intended for those who keep rags and beads, scraps of chains and skeins of multi-colored soutache, bags of beads and leather scraps in their chests... in short, all those who have skillful hands and a thirst for creativity. Who feels bad about throwing away old boots, gloves, or a shabby, out-of-fashion jacket, but wants to express their individuality, decorate their home, and bring joy to themselves and their friends.

Leather is an amazing material: soft, warm, you just want to stroke it. In addition to traditional shoes, bags, gloves, we wear jackets, coats and even evening dresses from the finest husky, chevrette, suede. And what a variety of accessories - brooches, pendants, hairpins, bracelets, belts, belts, thongs! All this is sold in abundance, but it is much more interesting to do something with your own hands.

The book you are holding in your hands is dedicated to interior design with exclusive leather goods that will help you create comfort and make your home individual and original.

You will gain theoretical knowledge and general information about working with leather and be able to apply it in practice. Moving from simple to complex, you can achieve good results, our tips will help you work on each product - they are accompanied detailed description, drawings, drawings and diagrams.

Try your hand! Leather is a completely accessible and pliable material; even a child can master working with it. Material for relatively small products (trimmings) can be purchased at ateliers, leather goods companies or from private furriers. You can also use old items and their parts - bags, boot tops, gloves, straps. And for a large product, it is better not to skimp and buy whole leather at the market or in a store.

Following the recommendations set out in the book, you will learn how to decorate with leather objects of various shapes and purposes - notebooks, watches, jars, bottles, ties for attaching curtains, panels, as well as make your own jewelry and sew unique handbags.

Put a part of yourself into your work and you will have a chance to create a truly unique piece.

What you need to know about skin

First, let's get acquainted with the different types of leather.

Leathers vary in quality of manufacture, type of raw materials, and depend on the age of the animals. They have a front and back side. Purl is called bakhtarma, it has a loose structure. The front side is denser and more uniform.

To the main types natural leathers relate:

- kid - soft skin chrome tanned goat skins. Used for preparing the uppers of elegant ladies' shoes;

- chevrette- chrome-tanned leather, characterized by looseness and high tensile strength, is made from sheep skins. Suits, jackets, coats are made from it;

- Laika- thin, soft, very elastic leather, mainly from the skins of unborn and newborn goats and sheep. Used to make haberdashery items (such as gloves), shoe uppers, etc.;

- yuft- thick leather tanned with willow bark and treated with fat from the skins of pigs, horses, and deer. Used for the manufacture of shoes and saddlery;

- velours- chrome-tanned leather with a pile surface. The pile, smooth and thick, is obtained by sanding the back side (bakhtarma). Pork skins are sanded from the front side. It resembles suede, but is rougher and has a lower pile. Used for the manufacture of men's and women's coats;

- suede- fat-tanned leather from the skins of calves, goats, deer, etc. During dressing, the front layer of the skin is cut off. Suede is particularly soft, has a low, shiny pile, and has increased stretchability. Used in the leather goods and footwear industries;

- split grain- layer separated from suede.

Different ways to clean your skin

This will be useful not only in our work, but also just in everyday life.

The most common methods:

Wipe first with soap and water and ammonia, and then with a cloth moistened with petroleum jelly or glycerin;

Rinse with warm, unboiled milk;

Rub with beaten egg white or half an onion.

White skin is cleaned with a mixture of milk and egg white (beat).

The shine and elasticity of the skin (except white, of course!) is restored by rubbing with coffee grounds.

Patent leather should be wiped with a cloth soaked in glycerin or cleaned with a swab dipped in milk.

Yuft should be treated with fat: the more often and more abundantly you lubricate it, the softer it will be.

Suede can be cleaned:

Sawdust soaked in gasoline (remains of sawdust are cleaned off with a brush);

An eraser for ink, as well as fine-grained abrasive sandpaper;

Wash with soap and water at a temperature not exceeding 60 °C;

Hold over steam, then clean with a rubber sponge or brush, card brush or regular school eraser.

Removing stains

Stains from household grease are removed with gasoline or talc and a solution of oxalic acid, and from machine oil - with a solvent.

Ink stains ballpoint pen removed with a mixture of alcohol and acetic acid or magnesia. You can also try to remove them with salt: apply wet salt to the stain, wipe it with a sponge or cloth, then moisten it with turpentine and rub the skin until it shines.

The cleaned products are ironed with a non-hot iron through a dense layer of cotton fabric.

Grease stains from suede can be removed with purified gasoline.

How to dye leather at home

You can use dry aniline dyes or nitro dyes specially designed for leather or wool. Please note that you can only paint uncoated skin.

Finishing is one of the final technological operations of leather processing in order to give it certain properties. For example, when painting patent leather or leather obtained from old products, it must first be wiped with acetone or solvent No. 646.

If the leather is not varnished, it can be wiped from the front side with a swab dipped in ammonia, then dried in air and the operation repeated. In some cases, you can even remove the old coating from thick leather using sharp knife(this operation, which you will have to learn for further work, is called sanding), and then sand the surface with fine-grained sandpaper.

To dye, aniline dye is poured into a glass jar and poured with a quarter liter of hot boiled water. The paint is stirred until the powder is completely dissolved and filtered. If a precipitate does form, it is better not to shake the solution before use.

Usually the skin is painted without dipping it into the solution, but by straightening it and applying paint to it using a brush or swab; At the same time, the paint should not drain from the tampon. The maximum temperature of the solution for dyeing leather is +60 °C, for suede +45 °C. The tampon is moved over the skin with short longitudinal or in a circular motion until the surface acquires a uniform color. The leather is then dried and the dyeing and drying process is repeated if necessary.

The painted product is washed once with warm (+30 °C) water using a soft brush. The wet surface is lubricated with glycerin and dried in air.

In some cases, fixatives sold in chemical stores or vinegar are used to fix the paint.

To obtain an original uneven color, crumpled dry skin is dipped into a dye solution. Can be painted in batik technique: To do this, you need to first bandage the skin in various places with thick threads or thin twine (Fig. 1), and then immerse it in the dye solution. IN the same technique is performed painting using wax: Pre-designated areas of the skin are covered with heated wax, which is applied with a brush. Warm wax can be diluted with kerosene in a ratio of 2:1. After the wax has hardened, paint is applied to the skin.

Rice. 1

When painting leather with nitro paint, use squirrel or kolinsky brushes. To achieve greater durability of the coating, add a small amount to the paint. castor oil: 2 drops per 100 g of paint is enough.

Leather paint in aerosol packaging is very easy to use: it is sprayed by holding the can at a distance of about 20 cm from the skin and quickly moving it along the surface to be painted. After a ten-minute break, the next layer of paint is applied. This operation continues until the surface acquires an even and durable color. If paint drips occur during the work, they are removed with a solvent.

To give the skin an uneven color, you can use an aerosol or spray bottle: the crumpled piece is sprayed with paint and then treated with a fixative. Thin black lines, emphasizing the contrast of color and forming a mysterious pattern, can give it a unique originality. The lines are drawn with ink or gel paste.

Small details and finishing elements of products can be painted with artistic oil paint. You will learn more about this in the PAINTING section, which will be just below.

What tools and accessories are needed to work with leather?

We will tell you about those that will be necessary. Don't despair if you don't have them all - especially since not everything can be bought in the store. For example, shoe joint or punch You will most likely get it by turning to a jack of all trades for help. As you work, your set of tools will be replenished, but it makes sense to acquire the entire arsenal only if you are thoroughly familiar with the subject. If you get down to business occasionally, then you can get by with what is found in almost every home: scissors, an awl, a hammer, a ruler.

The “jamb” is not sold in stores, but our handyman friend can make it from a hacksaw blade. The “jamb” is intended for cutting parts from leather with a thickness of more than 2-3 mm, since cutting it with scissors is a bit difficult. Commercially available office cutters with blade parts that break off solve the problem of sharpening: such a knife can replace a “jamb.”

Cutting the leather with a knife is done on a plastic board or plexiglass plate. It is better not to use tiles and glass for work, as this will dull the knife very quickly.

Also useful at work scissors, like manicure - for cutting small parts from thin leather, and ordinary tailor's ones, and to obtain a figured jagged edge - zigzag scissors. The scissors should be sharp so as not to crush the skin, but to cut it.

Knife for scraping leather. Scarification (thinning of the skin) is the most difficult and necessary operation. A polishing knife is similar to a shoe knife and has the same sharpening, but its blade should be very straight in the middle and slightly “rolled” towards the ends. It is best to make it from blades for mechanical saws (using the services of the same handyman) - they hold an edge well.

The handle of the knife should be covered with a thin layer of leather. Do not use electrical tape; it wears out quickly and stains your hand. Every 10 minutes of work, you should adjust the knife on the strip of leather. After 40 hours of work, the knife must be sharpened. Burrs and scratches on it are unacceptable.

The knife should be stored in a special case and used only for sanding.

Of course, you can sand with an ordinary “jamb”, but removing a uniform layer without ledges and cuts can only be done with a well-sharpened special knife, and besides, only a good tool gives the worker confidence and calmness. Therefore, you should always have at hand: - sharpening stones, both coarse and more subtle. During sharpening, the stone must be moistened and the knife must be passed along it at an angle of 15-30°;

- punches, figured stamps. Various sizes and molds, tools with a serrated profile for shaping the edge, punches for punching holes of various diameters, (Fig. 2) During use, they are placed vertically on the skin and hit hard with an ordinary hammer on the opposite end. It is advisable to place wood, thick cardboard or a hard rubber sheet under the medium-hard material.

Rice. 2

They also use stamps, but the stamping process requires a softer substrate. Stamps are applied to the surface of the leather, also hitting them with a hammer. To obtain a more embossed pattern, a soft pad (a piece of linoleum, felt, a microporous rubber plate) should be placed under the skin.

Stamps can have a geometric or any other pattern. Stamps are made from metal, hard wood, and plastic. Metal stamps can be applied hot or cold. In the first case, the print leaves a dark mark. If there is no special stamp, you can replace it with an ordinary nail: the head will act as a stamp. The hat can be sharpened with a file and given the shape of a rhombus, square, etc.

The shape of the holes can have any cross-sectional shape you need (Fig. 3);

Rice. 3

- adjustable punching pliers. Holes for the braid can be made not only with an awl, but also with adjustable pliers (Fig. 4). They have 6 punches ranging in size from 1 to 6 mm, located on a rotating drum. They are easy to use, since you do not need to monitor the direction of the holes, but they also have their drawbacks. The laces do not fit into round holes as well as those pierced with an awl. The mites only penetrate one layer. It is necessary to place waste leather or cardboard under the pierced leather so that the leather is pierced through and the piercing part does not wear out too quickly;

Rice. 4

You can pierce the skin chisels various profiles. Straight holes are punched for pulling the cord, braided edges, and those with a rounded profile are used for curly trimming of the edges.

Holes are punched on a wooden block, the cut of which is perpendicular to the direction of the fibers in the tree. You can use a piece of linoleum or soft plastic to punch holes.

Punchers are also used for braiding and decorating with ornaments of holes, stars, etc.; it leaves no marks on the skin. For the same purpose, you can use a hammer with a flat and wide head, onto which a piece of leather is glued;

For taping glued areas, wicker inserts you will need mallet(wooden hammer), it does not leave marks on the skin. For the same purpose, you can use a hammer with a flat and wide head, onto which a piece of leather is glued;

Rice. 5

- furrier's needles they have a blunt end, since they only need to be pulled through a hole made with an awl; they serve only for inserting thread, and not for punctures;

- awl needle(Fig. 5). This is a very convenient tool for sewing both simple and hard-to-reach seams. The thread in it is wound onto a bobbin, which is inserted inside the body and pressed by a spring. Through a hole in the body, the thread is brought out and threaded into the eye of a sewing machine needle.

You can make such a tool yourself (don’t forget about the jack-of-all-trades!) by equipping a machine needle with a wooden handle, like an awl:

- awl used for piercing holes, for marking and transferring designs. The awl can be round or have a tetrahedral shape. A round awl is used for sewing and braiding, if you still need to thread a lace into the same hole into which the thread has already been threaded. A cross awl can cut the lace that has already been threaded, so you can only stretch the hole with a round awl. It is used both for basting and for unwinding incorrect holds;

roller (wheel basma). Before stitching, the roller is moved along the place intended for the seam, marking the distance between the stitches. If the roller is not commercially available, it can be made from a larger or smaller wheel.

With a little practice, a person with a good eye and without marking seams can set the distance between stitches evenly (2, 3, 4 mm are the most commonly used stitch sizes). The heated wheel leaves dark spots on the skin;

- metal ruler needed for even trimming of edges, for cutting cords and parts along straight lines with a knife;

- tweezers necessary for heat treatment of leather, drapery, and also for gluing very small parts;

Extremely useful and easy to use wood burning device. They can be used to apply a design to the skin, outline the details, giving the product a more finished look. If you have thermal transfer tape or foil, you can make gold or silver embossing on the leather;

You can use it to sew parts together. saddlery needles, they differ from the usual ones in the cross-sectional shape:

When sewing, be sure to use thimble;

To apply a pattern or mark a pattern on the inside of the leather, use ballpoint pen;

For heat treatment of leather, ordinary pan: on it you will “fry” the skin. At the same time, the leather parts become convex, and their edges become more neat. For the same purpose you can use candle, matches and lighter.

If you are scared by the amount of work equipment, calm down. If you give free rein to your imagination, you can use what you have at hand - items from manicure set, scalpels, metal tubes, parts of a children's construction set - and you will be surprised how suitable all of this is for our purposes.

And there are also special adhesives for leather

The most convenient and easy to use glue - polyvinyl acetate(PVA). It does not smell, is relatively cheap, and does not require much experience. But its significant drawback is that when it dries, it forms a hard film, which bursts when bent.

Glue "Moment", and also colorless “Moment-Crystal” is plastic and suitable for gluing belts, bags, etc. It dries quickly and is suitable for decorating leather. The disadvantage of “Moment”, “Butex”, “Phoenix”, “88” adhesives is toxicity, a pungent odor and the fact that they drag behind the brush or tube spout, but the film formed upon drying is elastic and durable.

For temporary fastening of parts and edges use rubber glue. It does not leave stains, it grips well, but the connection is fragile. It can be used as a basting mark before stitching.

Used for polishing leather shoe polishes And petrolatum. Castor And machine oil make the skin more flexible.

The work will also require various accessories, therefore, do not throw away locks, loops, rings, buckles from old bags, boots and other items, old hairpins with stones and glass, scattered beads: you never know in advance what may be useful in your work.

Leather techniques

For each product it is necessary to select a certain material: for example, leather from gloves is suitable for jewelry - it is soft, elastic and can convey the most subtle nuance; It is better to sew bags from tougher leather, and if soft leather is used, the lining must be made of dense material.

First you need to make a pattern for the product. If it is complex, it is recommended to first sew the model from cheap fabric and, after making the necessary changes, use it as a pattern. In order to cut out the details, the patterns are placed on the wrong side of the leather and the outline is traced with a ballpoint pen.

When cutting out paired parts, you need to remember that the skin stretches more in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction, so they need to be cut in the same direction. You cannot use pins to chip the skin: marks will remain on it.

Soft leather is sewn on a machine using a regular needle No. 80 or No. 90; Sewing thicker leather requires a special triangular needle. The stitching should be large, as the leather is easily cut through. If the machine does not move the leather well, you can stitch it through thin paper, which is then removed. Threads need to be strong and elastic: cotton, linen or twisted silk. Nylon threads are not suitable for sewing.

When sewing suede, you need to take into account the direction of the pile: it is better if it is directed from top to bottom.

If the product is assembled from separate pieces of leather, they need to be sewn onto non-woven or thick cotton fabric. For ease of use, they should be glued to the base with rubber glue so that the upper pieces overlap the lower ones by 0.5-1 cm.

The leather should be ironed from the wrong side with a low-heat iron without steam through a dry cloth.

Details about sanding

This is a very important process due to which the skin is given the required thickness. As a rule, it is necessary to thin the leather evenly only at the joints of the parts, however, if there is no leather of suitable thickness, you have to sand its entire surface.

You need to learn sanding on small pieces of leather that you don’t mind ruining.

To work, a plastic stand (plexiglass) is placed on the table like a school notebook - at an angle of approximately 70° to the edge of the tabletop. The height of the table and chair should be selected so that the elbow of the bent arm does not reach the table 1-2 cm. The leather is placed on the tile with the side up, closer to the front and right edges, and pressed against it with the fingers of the left hand. The knife is grasped from below with the little finger, ring and middle fingers, thumb rests against the end, and the index finger presses the knife from the top in the center. Knife, forefinger and the forearm should be on the same line when working.

They begin to sand from the edges in the direction away from themselves. The knife is held with a slight tilt to the right. You need to learn not to plane, but to cut off layers of leather: to do this, the knife must run parallel to the surface of the slab, without cutting into or tearing out of the leather. The fingers of the left hand should not be placed in front of the knife - you can forget and cut yourself.

When sanding, the long edges are cut first, then the short ones, and lastly, if necessary, the middle.

Do you think these are too complicated manipulations? Don’t be upset, with a certain skill and a good tool, sanding does not require physical force.

Finished products are coated with varnish, beeswax, mastic or shoe polish, applying them with a soft cloth, then polished with a piece of flannel - this will protect the product from contamination.

To fix the color, it is recommended to coat the painted product with leather varnish or egg yolk.

Joining leather products

Skin stitching

You can sew thin leather parts in the usual way on a sewing machine, you just need a special needle for leather.

Those who have an old-fashioned swing-hook sewing machine can sew even thick leather - they're in luck. Thanks to its special design, this sewing machine makes this quite easy. Modern imported sewing machines have a removable foot with wheels for pushing fabric. This foot can also be installed on a domestic one. sewing machine by purchasing an adapter. Another option to make the work of a sewing machine easier is a Teflon foot for imported machines. It can be installed on any sewing machine using an adapter.

If the leather does not glide well, you can lubricate the seam with machine oil or place thin paper underneath and on top, and then remove it.

The leather should not be held together with temporary stitches; For basting you need to use rubber glue.

The most convenient way to sew is to use an awl needle. First, the needle is inserted into the skin. When it moves back, a loop is formed on the opposite side, into which the elongated end of the thread or a second strong thread is pulled. You can tie a regular, preferably blunt, needle of any size to the end of this thread: this makes it more convenient to thread the thread into the resulting loops.

The result is a seam that resembles a regular machine one: both threads form stitches, each on its own side, and the interlacing of threads occurs between layers of leather.

Types of seams

Stitch seam- the most common, used to connect parts. To thin the seam, you need to sand the edges of the parts to the width of the allowance, then fold the parts right sides inward and, filling the allowances with rubber glue, sew a stitch. After this, unfold the parts and remove any remaining glue; bend the allowances in different directions, tap them along the entire length