leather craft

Large Basket Weave Pattern Hand Tooled

Posted by Don Gonzales

The Large Basket Weave Pattern is a hand tooled style of geometric stamping that I really admire. I have seen this type of tooling being done by some really talented toolers over the last few years and I think it looks really unique. I did not invent this style, nor did I start the trend… I am late to the game when it comes to tooling this creative style.

With that being said, I am showing in this video how I tool this Large Basket Weave Pattern. It really is a very simple pattern once you understand what is happening in the tooling. This is a great pattern for wallets, bible covers, notebooks, and even saddles. The only caution that has to be mentioned here is to keep in mind that the bigger the tooling window (area the tooling will be in) the more confusing it can become.

As you will see in the video, the only tools that you will need are listed below and it’s not much. You don’t need to go out and purchase some new fancy stamping tool or line carving device. This pattern utilizes tools you already have in your arsenal but allows you to create a pattern that customers seem to really enjoy. Here are the tools that you will need:

  • Swivel knife
  • 1″ wide or so straight edge (I use a scale which is 7/8″ in width)
  • vertical lined thumbprint
  • wide beveler

That’s all ya need!

Check out this video and give the Large Basket Weave Pattern a shot. I bet this will become one of your favorite geometric tooling patterns for your leather craft projects.

Hole Punches You Need for Leather Work

Posted by Don Gonzales

One of the most important tasks performed by anyone in leathercraft, or even just someone attempting to repair something made of leather, is making a hole in it.

There are a few ways to accomplish this task and a few different tools to help. If you are working in leathercraft then you will need to have a few different sizes and styles of tools to be able to punch holes in leather.

In this quick video, I go through what I use and prefer.

How to Install an Inlaid Seat in a Saddle

Posted by Don Gonzales

Most of the saddles that we build in the shop are what we call “hard seats.” This means that there is not a padded seat in a saddle where the rider sits in the saddle.

Padded seats are common in rope saddles, trail saddles, and barrel saddles. But the clients that we build for, even our ropers, prefer a Hard Seat saddle. These saddles’ main advantage is that there is no padding to break down over time changing the way the saddle sets. A hard seat saddle will ride the same for its lifetime.

With that being said, this does not mean that our clients don’t appreciate fancy additions to their saddles. One of our most popular additions that can be made to one of our custom saddles is an Inlaid Seat.

Our inlaid seats do not contain any padding so the client still gets the benefit of the hard seat while adding some chrome to their saddle. We can do padded seats with many colors of chap leather, exotic leathers, as well as tooling them for a unique personalized look.

This video shows the process we go through installing an inlaid seat on a custom saddle we are building. This particular seat will be tooled with the client’s brand and floral tooling.

How to Make a Premium Leather Clutch Wallet

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this project video, I show you how to make a leather clutch wallet with more of a Premium set of Interiors. The interior of this wallet includes a few more slots for cash and storage as well as a zippered coin pocket. We also show you how I create and install a “T” pocket system for credit card pockets.

If you are looking for a “step-up” project, then this is a great one. The interior of this wallet is more challenging than our previous clutch wallet video that we created.

If you would like the Companion Pattern Pack that goes along with this video, then you can purchase that DIGITAL PDF file by Clicking Here.

This pattern pack includes all the cut patterns for all the pieces as well as line up marks. There is also 8 different floral tooling patterns included as well.

*Note: This is a digital pattern that you download and print out on your own printer… we do not mail this pattern to you. You have instant access to it after purchase.

For the double sided tape that I used in the video, visit https://makersleathersupply.com

For leather sewing machines and equipment, visit https://leathermachineco.com

For the best tooling leather in the industry, visit http://www.hermannoakleather.com

The Best Xacto Knife and a New Awesome Purse Zipper

Posted by Don Gonzales

Are you looking for the best Xacto Knife to use on your leather craft projects?  I have used a large barreled Xacto knife handle for years.  I get a ton of questions and emails about where I get them and what blades I use in them.  I found a new place to get them and while I was there, I also found some really great purse zippers to use in our shop.  These zippers are really classy looking and in my opinion they look much better than just the normal YKK zippers that we all use.

 

 

Continue reading →

How to Make a Saddle Bag Crossbody Purse

Posted by Don Gonzales

  This video shows how to make a new crossbody purse that I just came up with.  The design is based on a real saddle bag design altered to work as a crossbody purse.  I think the design of this purse is really nice and would be popular with many.   This would be a great project to offer to your customers for gift ideas.  You also may want to make one of these for that special lady in your life.  

This crossbody purse goes together very well and has a lot of room to do floral tooling and personalization.   

If you would like to purchase the pattern pack for this project, then Click Here to get that.   The pattern pack is a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD in a PDF format that you print out on your own printer.  The pack includes all the cut patterns as well as 6 different floral patterns.   

How to make a Pistol Case with Maker’s Leather Supply

Posted by Don Gonzales

pistol caseThe product line at DG Saddlery over the years has included many types of leather goods.  We have designed and created knife scabbards, pistol holsters, belts, home decor, harness, tack and of course saddles.  One type of item that we attempted many times are zippered type bags.  This item not being my area of expertise, we were able to make something that worked but wasn’t at the level that we wanted to create.  Because of this, we as a company many times would stay away from taking orders on any type of zippered bag.

I have recently decided that I would like to finally gain the skill set needed to be able to create projects with zippers incorporated.  We were in Waco, TX recently to make a video with Aaron at Maker’s Leather supply on Sewing Machine Selection.  While we were there, Aaron and I decided to do a collaboration video together building a project.  He came up with the perfect project for our visit.

This video is our collaboration on the making of a pistol case.  This particular pistol case holds two pistols and zips closed.  This was a great project that allowed me to gain more knowledge about installing zippers in bag design. Continue reading →

Dyeing the Background on a Leather Floral Pattern

Posted by Don Gonzales

This video shows how to dye the background of a leather floral pattern.  We are dyeing the horse head floral piece from our July Tooling series for this tutorial.  Yes, I am aware that it is September… I like to think this one is fashionably late.

In this video I am using Black Fiebings Pro Oil Dye and Dark Brown Antique Paste also by Fiebings.

If you would like to tool the pattern from 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 #4 in this series.  You can find Video #1 by Clicking Here.

 

 

 

 


 

Quick Tips to Easily Edge Leather Straps and Strips

Posted by Don Gonzales

In this video, I show you some tricks I have learned to easily edge leather straps and strips.  Strips of leather that are wider don’t seem to be as challenging, but those that are narrow can be a problem.  Sometimes even dangerous.

Having a sharp edger is the first step in getting the quality edges that you want to see in your work.  But there are some things that you can do to make your job a lot easier.

The edger that I am using in this video is the #3 Ron’s Edger.  I upgraded my old set of Osbourne edgers (which I used for many years) last year and I love them.  If you are interested in trying some, give Aaron at Maker’s Leather Supply a call.