Just messin about with leather.

[Grebo]

I have been making little bits & bobs out of scrap leather, purses, phone case's & the like, so far just for our own use, but I have had some people interested in buying some things.
Now so far I have just been using normal (sewing) workshop/ upholstery tools & marine fittings.
Any one got any advise &/or suggestions on how to proceed.?
Are there any specific tools to make like easier ?
What can I use to stiffen some small pieces of soft leather. ?

[Saddleman]

I made my daughters handbags last year for Christmas out of soft leather and bonded 1/4" scrim foam to the leather to give the leather some body so the bags would hold their shape.

Browse around www.leatherworkers.net for ideas.  Seems to be mostly a veg tanned kind of place but still lots of ideas.

Loren

[seamsperfect]

foam is a good idea and if you want to stiffen it a tad more you can use chipboard sewn to the back of the leather.
Kevin

[Grebo]

Cool thanks guys, I just bought a nice pair of black leather trousers ( far to small for me  :-X ) only a couple of euros from a charity shop. Can make some nice stuff out of them.
What did you use to 'bond' the scrim to it Loren. ?

[Saddleman]

I used spray contact adhesive to bond the leather to the scrim foam. You could use canvas too to beef up a thin garment leather like those pants if you didn't want the thickness the foam would create. 

[Darren Henry]

Any one got any advise &/or suggestions on how to proceed.?
Are there any specific tools to make like easier ?

I wish I could help you with suppliers , but I've never been to Spain. I have two sources here in Canada. There are outlets like Tandy/Leather factory that cater to crafters who carve and tool belts,pouches etc and there are shoe findings wholesalers who sell cobblers and us shoe makers their glue,heels, leather etc...

You're going to want a Tina knife to skive the edges of the leather (especially if you're going to book it), a small can of leather cement *, and a sheet of bag stiffener #.

* The small (946 mil) cans come with a brush in the cap. I like Helmifix by Helmitin out of the US but Renia out of Germany is also very good.

# Bag stiffener is very similar to the material we use to make the hard "box toe" in your shoes. It's a sheet of fibre board impregnated with a resin. For that bit of the purse above the zipper you would sew it in dry to hold the shape of that rim. You can also activate it with acetone to stick it a larger panel (like the bottom of bag) .

Google Tandy/Leather factory and Warkov Safeer leather ltd to see what all is available and then search for shoe findings suppliers in your area.

[Grebo]

Thanks for that Darren, I often find it's easier & believe it or not cheaper to order from overseas and certainly easier to find stuff on the net that walking around town  :o   crazy man.

Thats good I have plenty of canvas  :D  Loren.