What should I make with my thick natural leather?

[sara_m_volk]

I purchased some leather in the recent leather sale, and received it last week. I had planned to make soles for my slippers with the thick leather, so I bought a big piece. But when I received it, I realized it was such thicker than I realized. I think medium leather is probably what I want for the soles of my slippers. So now - I’m trying to figure out a good idea to use my big (and expensive) thick leather. What are your suggestions?

[CMadok]

They might make good coasters… I saw a handbag/clutch in the catalog that used thick leather and wood, maybe something like that? I’ve got some thick leather too…and I honestly have no clue what I will do with it either. I usually use medium or light for anything I’ve made so far.

I might make a trivet or an mousepad or something…no clue yet.

[cynd11]

The Artisan’s Clutch in the Catalog is very nice, although it’s not one of the free with Premium designs. If you decide to make it, I designed a jig for it that makes the gluing job easier. You can find it in this post:

Artisan's Clutch from The Catalog

I haven’t seen any examples of this design having been made up, so I thought I’d show mine. This is one of the first designs I purchased after getting access to the catalog on New Years’ Day (yay!). [purse1] I wish I had researched how to dye leather before I did it; my result is very streaky (I used Tandy Leather’s EcoFlow dye, and this was using Proofgrade thick leather plus thick maple plywood). I’ll do better on my next one. (I bought lifetime access to the design). I have to say that …

[melissacarvalho]

I made luggage tags with the leather from the shop! They turned out amazing and engrave beautifully. I would post a picture but my address is listed on it.

[geek2nurse]

Dog collars!

[deirdrebeth]

Shoe soles if you plan to go outside with them
Trivets/coasters for your tables
Patches/tags for your stuff
Phone stands
Wall art
Straps/belts
Armour (for cosplay or actual fighting)

So many things

[eflyguy]

I would start by testing to see if it can be cut.

Someone very kindly sent me a bunch of leather for a project I had in mind but it won’t cut cleanly on the laser - they had only ever cut it by hand. Not all leather is equal, it seems.

[deirdrebeth]

Good point - the comment about the “recent leather sale” had me presuming leather.

I have found a few places where it doesn’t cut through - but in those few instances the “score” line makes it super easy to run an xacto knife through those areas!

[sara_m_volk]

Good idea! But – this is proofgrade, so it definitely should be cuttable.

[sara_m_volk]

Yup, you’re right – proofgrade thick leather! I bought during the sale.

[eflyguy]

This is the first time you mentioned that.

[sara_m_volk]

I had originally planned to make slipper soles, but thought it was too stiff and thick. Do you think it would still work well for this application? Maybe it would be more pliable without the masking?

[sara_m_volk]

thanks everyone! These are fun ideas. If you have more – keep them coming! I think I’m leaning towards luggage tags or slippers. Or possibly walking stick dangles.

[cynd11]

I’ve seen some nice notebook/journal covers made out of thick leather.

[deirdrebeth]

Oh it definitely would work for soles - typically when you sew shoe soles on your put the needle through the side of the leather and then up through the top - so the bottom remains a single solid surface - so you wouldn’t be able to cut those holes using the laser, but you can totes cut the outline.

Even the thin PG leather is stiff - if you want the soft stuff you want to look for “milled” - it comes in many thicknesses, but it drapes like fabric. This is what I buy from Tandy when I want soft leather.