For thousands of years people have created clothing, tools, bags, armors and a million other things from leather. Leather making today is still a very important craft executed by professionals as well as hobbyists all over the world. You can become a Leathersmith or a “Leather crafts person” by learning the trade through an apprenticeship. There are also modern apprenticeships to learn the tanning process that is the process of turning animal hide into leather. Apprenticeships to become a leather worker or tanner also existed in colonial times. Before creating leather products, the animal hide has to be tanned to create the leather. Leather tanning is separate from leathercsmithing. For more information on leather craft in colonial times, see Thomas K. Ford, The Leather worker in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg, ebook at Gutenberg.org.
The purpose of this leather making activity is to provide you with an easy project to introduce you to this traditional, useful and interesting craft.
The instructions below include two types of wallets: The brown and beige wallets with the long flap have one pocket under the flap and one open pocket at the back. The small black wallet with a button has two pockets under the flap. Please print out in actual size for the pattern to fit. You can adjust the pattern if you want the wallet to be smaller or larger.
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