Leather Card Holder
Cutting the leather
Note: this tutorial assumes you have gone through the First Cut procedure and are comfortable using the laser cutters, and focuses on working with leather instead. If you have not used the laser cutters before, please complete the First Cut tutorial before starting this one.
Step 1
Download and open this template file.
You can open up the file in Illustrator and add any designs or text you'd like. This is optional! The design is ready-to-go the way you downloaded it if you'd prefer to have a plain holder, like mine.
Step 2
Find some thin leather (anywhere between 0.040-0.060 inches thick is ideal) and place it in the laser cutter on the right. We'll be using air assist with the leather, as it burns easily.
Remember to use the wooden pegs by the laser cutter computers to pin down the leather, as it is a floppy material and has a tendency to shift or bubble during cutting.
Step 3
Set the laser settings to "leather" and update the material thickness with your leather's thickness.
Position the design and cut.
Step 4
Once you have finished cutting your piece, take it to the sink and grab a paper towel. Leather burns quite a lot on the edges, so we will be roughly cleaning them off.Â
I like to "draw" the edge of my leather along the paper towel; you'll know it's working if you see burn streaks!
Continue this process until you are not getting large amounts of burn residue left behind, then get the leather tool box out from under the right laser.
Dying the leather
Step 1
Find the leather dye and conditioner. You'll need gloves and a few paper towels for this part, so prep wisely!
Get out the leather dye and lay down a folded paper towel to protect the table. Take the small rag out of the dye box, we'll be using this for applying the dye.
Step 2
Start applying a small amount of dye in a circular motion, don't be alarmed if it looks splotchy! Leather dye is very hard to apply smoothly, and most of the time it takes a few layers of dye to create an even surface. How much dye you put on is ultimately up to you; most of the time I prefer to keep the handmade appearance in my pieces by not over-dying them to cover up my strokes.
Step 3
You'll notice when you fold the piece, the underside of the leather shows through. This is okay! We can dye that to match.
Just dye the corner of the inside that shows when folded, the rest of it will be hidden once we stitch it closed.
Step 4
Once you're happy with the result, let your piece dry for about five minutes. This gives the dye time to soak in before we apply conditioner.
Step 5
Rub a clean section of the rag from the leather box in the conditioner, you don't need a lot!
Start applying the conditioner to your entire piece, again using circular motions. Rub it in firmly, making sure every piece of the dyed leather is coated. This helps protect your leather and keeps the dye sealed.
Sewing the holder together
Step 1
Finally, it's time to sew it together!
Take the waxed thread and one of the thick needles from the leather box and trim about a foot and a half of the thread.
Step 2
Tie a double knot at the end of the string, then thread the other end through the needle.
Even if you've never sewed before, never fear! We'll be using a simple whip stitch for this project.
Step 3
Begin by bringing the needle from back to front on the first hole in your leather and pulling the thread all the way through until you hit your knot. Next, go back around to the back and do the same motion. This will leave the thread coming around the outside of your piece to give it a nice, protected edge.
Step 4
Continue this motion, pulling the thread tight with every stitch. You'll start to get a pattern that looks like the one on the left.
Step 5
Once you've finished, we need to tie a knot the same way we did at the beginning.
Step 6
I like to go back through my last stitch after tying my double knot to ensure it's not going to slip!
Step 7
Finally, cut your thread at each end. You can cut fairly close to the knots, as waxed thread is pretty sticky and won't slip easily.
Congratulations, you've made a leather card holder!