How To Sew Leather: 5 Helpful Tips

Using leather to make handmade items can take a while to master. Whether you plan to use real leather or one of the available faux options, you will find the following advice on how to sew leather quite helpful.

1. Don’t Use Pins

Most people prefer to use pins to hold the fabric in place when sewing. While this is fine when working with many materials, it is not a good idea when dealing with leather.

Placing pins will leave holes that don’t close once they are removed. It would be better to use clothespins, tape or paper clips to hold things in place.

2. Do Fitting Ahead Of Time

You can do fittings a few times when sewing on standard fabric; however, this is not the case regarding leather. Every time you create a stitch, it will leave a hole, so there is no way to make alterations once a stitch has been made.

3. Choose The Right Needle

Some sewing needles are made for use with specific fabrics, and leather should use a needle designed specifically for sewing on it. When you are shopping for needles, make sure that you place these at the top of your list.

If you try using a standard needle when sewing leather, there is a possibility that it can bend or break when trying to force the needle through the fabric.

Remember that threading leather needles is a bit more involved than doing so with a traditional needle. It may take you a few tries to master it, so be patient.

4. Practice Your Stitching

As explained earlier, once you create stitches in leather, there is no way to redo them so they have to be done perfectly the first time.

If you are worried about messing things up, grab some scraps and practice your stitches beforehand.

Once you see that you can sew without mistakes, then you can move on to the leather you purchased for your project.

Again, this will take a bit of patience, but this is one of those cases where everything has to be done right the first time.

5. Place Markings On The Wrong Side

When sewing with a pattern, make sure you place all markings on the side of the leather that will not show when the piece is complete.

It’s important to note, marking wheels and transfer tape are not ideal when working with leather. Tailor’s chalk and marking pens are much better options.

Learning how to sew leather can be tricky, especially if you are not familiar with it. Use these tips to learn and find some scrap leather to practice on first.