The Club meets the first Tuesday of the month from 6-8pm in the Extension Office’s Conference Room (west end of the Ag Center). Here is where you will find the downloadable PDFs used in the Chatham County 4H Leatherworks Club. Click on the titles to open the item in a separate window from where it can be read or downloaded to print or keep.
Chatham County 4H Leatherworks Club
Introduction To Leatherwork
A simple introduction to the history of leathercrafting and a quick summary of what you’ll learn about in the first year of the Leatherworks Club.
Leather Basics
A simple overview of things to know about leather.
Tools Basics
A simple introduction to some of the tools used in leather crafts.
Introduction to Basketweave
The typical first step on the leather tooling journal, learning to create a woven basket image, aka basketweave.
Celtic Knot Coaster
Another coaster that will exercise your swivel knife and beveling skills.
This project steps back from tooling and takes a look at a bit of patterns and construction.
Tooled Basketweave
Before we did a basket weave pattern using the basketweave stamp. In this project, you learn how to create the pattern without the specialty stamp. Tests your layout, swivel knife, beveling and visualization skills.
Creating the Quilt Pattern
This is a common pattern that mimics the patterns found on quilts, with joined areas with buttons at the corner. Another good exercise for your swivel knife and to practice double beveling.
Adding Color to Your Work
Once you’ve stamped or tooled a design on the leather, you can add color! Read on to learn about the process.
Project Record Sheet
To help record what you do in each meeitng so you have the information to prepare your 4H Record Book, you can use this form for each meeting, and any practice or other projects you do.
Belt Basics
A great leather project is to make a belt, and useful too! This handout will provide some of the critical basic information you need to know when planning or making a belt.
Rose Coasters
(Floral Carving continued)
Roses are a staple of floral carving. This tutorial will also introduce the difference between traditional and inverted style tooling.
Introduction to Floral Carving
Floral patterns in various styles form the basis for much of the decorations on leather items. In this class, we cover the basics of traditional floral tooling. Work on these and the skills developed can be used in other styles and different subject matter.