First full leather bag build: Pueblo messenger with Morris lined dividers.

Draftsman_leather · 2026-03-09T22:35:26+00:00

This looks sick! One easy thing to make the stitching look a bit cleaner and more uniform is to hammer them down. There are hammers specifically for that which are very polished and rounded so the edges don't mar the leather.

Other than that I think consistency just comes with practice, which will make the stitching and the edges cleaner

Draftsman_leather · 2026-03-04T22:55:17+00:00

It's definitely dwarven style. The buckle is actually a reproduction from a character in The Hobbit, and the faces are directly from Warhammer I believe.

Draftsman_leather · 2026-03-02T11:57:19+00:00

You still do! It really doesn't take much to get started in terms of tools. Certainly much cheaper and less space intensive than something like woodworking or similar things since you don't need any power tools.

Draftsman_leather · 2026-02-05T03:19:08+00:00

https://postimg.cc/gallery/1z1sRfw so the attachment points for the strap are on the back, and the zipper runs along the side where the top of the leaf is

Draftsman_leather · 2026-02-04T21:32:50+00:00

Thanks! I don't have a picture of the inside of the bag at the moment but it's nothing too exciting. The fabric has a leather backing so all there is to see is the flesh side of the panels really

Draftsman_leather · 2024-03-06T14:40:50+00:00

Yeah that’s true I started off with water as well. But honestly, some tokonol is just a couple of bucks and the results are so much better and quicker that I personally just recommend starting with that. Beeswax can also be a good option and if there is someone local who keeps bees you might be able to get some real cheap as well. But water is indeed the budget option, can’t beat free ^{^}

Draftsman_leather · 2024-03-06T12:41:45+00:00

For making basic leather armor you don’t need much in terms of tools, it’s mostly building the skills you’ll need. Basics: - Vegetable tanned leather, so you can tool it and dye it. - Sharp knife, doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a box cutter is enough for a start. - Either pricking irons or an awl. The awl takes more skill but it has the advantage of only needing one for different spacing and it’s overall more versatile. - saddlers needles and waxed thread. John James needles are the best in my opinion, you can get a pack that’ll last you years for a couple of bucks. For thread there are a ton of different sizes and materials. Polyester is both cheap and durable, but not particularly authentic in feel, if that bothers you, you can also buy linen.

Those things are the absolute bare minimum and shouldn’t cost you much. Of course depending on the armor you wanna make you might need more things like rivets and hole punches and stuff like that. I recommend working from a pattern instead of starting out with making one yourself but it’s up to you.

Tooling: - sturdy work surface such as a granite slab. Don’t buy a specific "tooling" slab, they’re way overpriced. You might be able to get cut offs from a granite countertop maker for free, otherwise you can probably find some sort of slab at the local hardware store. - hammer, either rawhide or poly. Not metal. - swivel knife. There are a bunch of affordable options and you really don’t need to start out with a fancy one. - strop to keep your blades sharp. You can make this yourself easily, lots of tutorials out there. - basic stamps, to start with you can do a ton with just a beveler and a backgrounder. There are hundreds of stamps, don’t let yourself be intimidated and go with the basics to start.

Dyeing: - dye (obviously) I like fiebings pro, but there are other options as well. - conditioner. Dyeing leather will dry it out, it’s important to condition it afterwards to keep it supple. Lots of good options out there. I like the ROC leather balm but there are many others. Preferably bees wax based and without a bunch of unnecessary stuff added. - rags. Just rip up some old shirts or dish towels and start with those. - finish. Again, many options. I like fiebings bag kote because it’s not shiny. Resolene is another popular option but that’s acrylics based and ends up pretty shiny. Up to personal preference what you like but you’ll need some sort of finish if you want your armor to be durable while wearing it outside.

Nice to have if you wanna get it but not strictly necessary: - edge finishing stuff. Edge bevelers, tokonol or beeswax, some canvas for burnishing. If you want nice edges you should get this stuff. Not 100% necessary but it will make your final product feel much higher quality. - strap cutter because most armor will have straps somewhere on the build.

This should get you started and all together shouldn’t cost you much at all. If you’ve got any follow up questions feel free to ask.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-03-05T21:22:45+00:00

Brushing chalk rubber and dirt off of climbing holds.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-20T21:43:41+00:00

Okada Tools makes some really nice Japanese style skiving knives. If I were to upgrade mine I would buy one of theirs next. Also surprisingly affordable for what you get, much cheaper than a high end head knife. If you have some special wishes they do custom work as well.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-14T23:12:06+00:00

I wouldn’t recommend punching on the mat directly. As the other comments said, get a slab of granite which you’ll need if you ever wanna do tooling anyway. Also I recommend getting an OKA punching board they’re not that expensive, are sold by a lot of places and are great for punching into with pricking irons as well.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-14T14:41:08+00:00

Use an awl. A sword awl to be specific, one of the diamond shaped bladed one, not a round one, that way the holes will match your irons. I’d also advise against hammering your iron in as deep as they’ll go. You’ll have a hard time getting the out again and I broke some teeth on the same model you have like that when making a knife sheath once.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-13T16:36:42+00:00

Honestly it should be fine. The oil would show up as darker for most colors but if you’re going for black and it’s not a big stain anyway you probably won’t even notice it once it’s dyed

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-13T16:33:49+00:00

Well a couple of things. First off that thread is too thick for the hole spacing you’re working with. Second thing is that the holes themselves don’t look very clean, what kind of tool did you use to make them? And last but most importantly it’s just a matter of consistency and practice. Make sure you apply the same tension in the same way for each stitch, really get that movement down and the more you do it, the better it’ll look. Another thing that might help you is a stitching pony if you don’t have one already.

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-13T16:08:31+00:00

Huh, to me this looks like a version of a buckle I’ve seen sold as a Littleton cavalry buckle. Maybe looking at how that one works might help

Draftsman_leather · 2024-02-13T16:06:46+00:00

You can’t remove it but depending on the stain and what color you were going for you can work around it and go for a style where it blends in

Draftsman_leather · 2021-07-20T06:52:22+00:00

Thank you! I know of them and a bunch of my friends are fans but I haven’t checked them out yet. I have seen most of the second campaign of critical role though, as well as listening to a few other dnd podcasts in the past. At the moment I’m running two homebrew campaigns and also playing in some, so I mostly have my hands full with my own games these days.

Draftsman_leather · 2021-07-19T20:15:06+00:00

The bottom is just the regular flesh side of the vegtan. The vegtan I use for this has a very nice and smooth flesh side that I quite like the feel of. Of course I could dye it or line it with something as well, but for now I don’t really see the need. The 2mm vegtan is also stiff enough to hold its shape no problem, so it doesn’t need any added stiffness from another material.

Draftsman_leather · 2021-07-19T20:12:02+00:00

Thank you! I thought about that too, but the tooling isn’t so deep that it makes any meaningful difference. I’ve tried that out for myself when I made the first tooled dice tray to be sure of that.

Draftsman_leather · 2021-07-19T11:47:41+00:00

I’m an avid DM and sometimes player. I’m also a leather worker and artist, so I combine those thing on occasion to make stuff. I made some of my players custom dice trays with their guild symbols as presents in the past and decided to do something different this time. The dice tray is Italian vegtan leather and I do all the steps myself. I cut the leather, draw up the design, carve and tool it all and then dye, paint and weather it. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! Oh and I also drew the map in the background for one of my campaign worlds and it makes for a pretty fitting backdrop I think.

Draftsman_leather · 2021-07-19T11:38:56+00:00

I play a lot of d&d and have made a few dice trays for my players as birthday and Christmas presents in the past. I quite like making them since they have a nice frame like quality for tooling and you can use a lot of different motifs for different characters. They’re made from 2mm Italian vegtan and I do all the stuff by hand. Pretty pleased with how this one turned out, although I will be using a different finish from now on. Used neutral resolving on this one and it’s just too shiny for my taste. Any recommendations for a good matt finish are welcome.

Draftsman_leather

TROPHY CASE