Made By A Fabricista: Leather Goods

I may have mentioned before but one of my favorite textiles to work with is leather. I love the feel, smell of it and how it sews. You can really find some good leather gems from Fabric Mart, I will say if you see it get it because more than likely it won’t stay long. I saw these two hides on the website and had to grab them immediately!

For this make I was inspired by another creator Andrea Jones who used Motif Studio Patterns to make her Origami Bag Pattern. I decided to do the same but color block with the two leather hides from Fabric Mart along with another piece of remnant leather I had in my stash. I decided to go with the oversized version of the bag pattern.

When it comes to sewing leather here are a few tips I want to share. For needle size you want to go with a larger needle size that is sharp. I recommend 100/16 or 110/18 for size. You want to be precise when sewing with leather because it does puncture and leaves marks if you ever have to take it out.

When cutting a pattern on leather it is best to trace it directly on the hide (wrong side) then cut with a rotary cutter. This is helpful with precision since you cannot pin through the leather. To “pin” pieces together I use sewing or binder clips depending on the density of the leather. It holds well and keeps your material in place. This also prevents the need to pierce your leather with extra pins.

While sewing I use a teflon foot, this is great for sewing leather or vinyl as it helps glide over as you are sewing. If you want to take it up a notch you can also use a ring roller foot which is used for sewing leather and other similar materials especially if they are thicker. You can’t iron leather so in order to help keep my seams flat I use rubber cement to hold the seams open and press flat by hand or with a creasing tool (I used my hera marker).

This project looks more complicated than it really is to make. I like the concept overall but I do think there is something else missing to make me really love it. Since I used a lighter weight hide I think I should have gone with the smaller version of the pattern so it could help hold its shape a little better. I do love the leather and want the bag to look a little more elevated.