leathercraft

Complete DG LeatherCraft March Tooling Series

Posted March 31, 2020 by Don Gonzales

Our “Tooling Series” videos are back in March! In this tooling series video, i go through my entire tooling process. In each video we will work through a certain number of stamping tools to complete the pattern shown in the video. In March, we are tooling a much requested skull… with a twist… this one is wear an indian headdress.

This series will show techniques for not only floral tooling, but also detail work of tooling a skull as well as getting realistic feathers. When this pattern is completed, we will do a video showing the paint and dye work on a piece like this.

Take a moment and click the link below to grab your FREE copy of this pattern in a PDF format. Just enter your email address and you can download and print your copy of this pattern and then tool along with us through this series. Here is that link to grab the digital pattern for FREE: https://dgsaddlery.com/marchtoolingseries/ Continue reading →

How to Make a Leather Bifold Wallet

Posted February 20, 2020 by Don Gonzales

This project video is about making a Leather Bifold wallet. I designed this wallet so that it is fairly easy to assemble with a lot of space to tool. Leather Wallets are fantastic gifts as well as just items that you can stock up on and sell at anytime. We sewed one of these and buckstitched one in the video to show a different option of assembly if you don’t have a sewing machine in your shop. If you have been wanting to make yourself a new wallet for some time, give this video a look and see if this design would work for you. Continue reading →

Hand Stitching Leather with an Awl and Two Needles

Posted November 3, 2019 by Don Gonzales

Hand stitching Leather with an awl and two needles is a “must-have” skill set for any aspiring leather craftsman. This method allows for maximum efficiency when it comes to having to hand stitch any project.

There are many ways to accomplish the same goal, and hand stitching is not any different. Many people prefer to use a dremel tool with a small drill bit or a set of pricking irons. These tools work for making the holes when hand stitching, but in my opinion they do not save any time nor create as pretty of a stitch.

In this video, Hand Stitching Leather with and Awl and Two Needles, I show you what I know about hand stitching leather the traditional way. I prefer this method not for maintaining traditional skill, but more for its efficiency and accuracy when hand stitching leather projects. This method allows for the best possible stitch and for me I find it to be the quickest method. Continue reading →

Cobra Sewing Machine Options with Maker’s Leather Supply

Posted October 10, 2019 by Don Gonzales

Selecting a Cobra Sewing Machine or any leather sewing machine can be challenging whether you are a first time buyer or have years of experience. Doing the proper research to insure that you get the best possible machine to do the job you need it to do takes time and patience.

When I was in college doing leather work on the side, I hand stitched everything that I made. Hand stitching is a valuable and necessary skill that all LeatherHeads should take the time to learn and master. But there does come a point for most of us where a leather sewing machine becomes a much needed piece of equipment for our business.

There are so many different brands, sizes and styles of machines out there. Selecting the best machine for your needs can be daunting. The great news? There is tons of information on the internet as well as helpful and knowledgeable people waiting to help with any questions or concerns that you may have when making the upgrade from sore fingers and long hours to powered sewing machines. Continue reading →

How to Make a Round Leather Handbag

Posted September 23, 2019 by Don Gonzales

Developing the Round Leather Handbag

About a month ago or so I was in the shop on a Saturday trying to come up with something new and different to make. My hopes were that I would use this time to be creative and develop a new product that would be like nothing I had ever created. I cut poster board all afternoon working with all kinds of different shapes, proportions, and layouts. I came up with many different ideas, but none of them seemed to be “that one” project.

It wasn’t a total loss though, because I learned some valuable things in that creative session as I usually do.

I went home that afternoon feeling a little like I had wasted the afternoon. I told my wife what I was trying to do that afternoon and that I just didn’t have much luck coming up with a “new” project, much less “that one” project. She casually mentioned doing a Round Purse. At first I wasn’t sure that this was the project since it seemed too simple. After visiting about it more I began to think it might make a neat project. She pulled up tons of photos of Round Purses on her phone and apparently they are really popular right now. The next day I went back into the shop and designed patterns for one of the easiest purses that I have ever made. Is it “that one” project? Probably not, but it is a good project and I had a ton of fun with it. Continue reading →

Figure Carving a Horse Head into Leather Video 3

Posted July 18, 2019 by Don Gonzales

Here is a much requested video from your suggestions both here and on our facebook page! For the July Leather Tooling Series we are showing how to figure carve a horse’s head into leather. I am not the greatest figure carver out there and I still have a lot to learn on the subject, but I will attempt to show you what I do know. After that, you can seek out guidance from some of the greats out there… and there are many amazing figure carvers that you can learn from. Jim Linnell and Peter Main would be the two that I would highly recommend checking out if you haven’t already.

Here is a link to Jim Linnell’s website

You can find Peter Main on facebook

If you would like to tool along with us in this tooling series, here is a link to a FREE copy of this pattern Click Here.

Just enter your email address and we will shoot that out to you. It is a PDF file that you can download and print on your own printer.

This is video #3 in this series.

Tools used in this video:

-Modeling tool – Peter Main

-Modeling tools

-Craftool Thumbprint

Here is the photo of the horse in the pattern for you to use as reference.

The model for this project is an unknown Bay Gelding that resided on a place that borders us. I just liked the way the horse looked and took many photos of him for artwork reference. Not sure what happened to him, but we haven’t seen him in a long time… I like to think that he is somewhere on the rodeo trail or maybe just retired and moved to Florida.

Online Leather Classes with DG LeatherCraft Academy

Posted July 13, 2019 by Don Gonzales

The biggest request we get is “Do we offer any Leather Classes?”

I’m going to cut right to the chase… we have a Big Announcement to make this month. After a year or better of researching, planning, cussing, discussing and finally building… we are finally ready to reveal the biggest digital project we have ever created.

Based on the inquiry for leather classes and feedback that we have gotten over the years from amazing fellow LeatherHeads like you, we felt there was a real need in our industry for this type of product. It took us some time to choose the right platform as well as build out all the components that go into creating something like this so that it offers the most value with the least amount of hassle on your end.

We think that we have done just that!

I would like to introduce our newest addition to DG LeatherCraft,

DG LeatherCraft Academy is our new platform where we can create Online Courses that go in depth on different topics and areas of leather craft and design work. Much further than we can on our YouTube channel or on our blog. The Academy will be home to all of our future Premium Courses for those who want complete leather classes on particular topics and certain areas of the craft.

These courses will be completely online so that you can go through any of our leather classes at your pace on any device. No set dates, times or having to travel out of state. Once enrolled in a particular course, you can go through the curriculum all in one sitting in order… or you can do a lecture a day in any order you want. And when you complete the course, you can go back through it again anytime as many times as you want.

Worksheets for these leather classes can be downloaded and printed so that you can work along with us throughout the course. Then after completion you will have these sheets to reference if you need to. Continue reading →

Figure Carving a Horse Head into Leather Video #2

Posted July 9, 2019 by Don Gonzales

One Piece Saddle Swell Cover

Posted July 7, 2019 by Don Gonzales

I have had a ton of requests to do a video on how I put on a one piece saddle swell cover. This video is a quick rundown on how I put mine on. I am working on another video that will show the amount of prep work that goes into getting one of these put on successfully. I wanted to break it into two separate videos and this one is just putting it on and hopefully it will help to show how these are put on.

The swell I am covering in the video is an Olin Young with leg cuts at a 12.5″ width and a 7.25″ gullet height. Sometimes these go on easily and sometimes they don’t… this was a time that it went pretty easy.

For more articles and videos from DG LeatherCraft, be sure to subscribe to this channel as well as dig through the archives of our blog here. Don’t forget to sign up for the LeatherCraft Newsletter. We are also on facebook and instagram.