First time working with leather

Ok well if you want to sew it you need tough thread and special (big n strong) needles. Its safer to do it by hand i think because i wouldnt want to risk breaking a sewing machine (if you have one). I would recommend this for attaching it together but glue could work too. id try maybe fabric glue. Again, something strong. Id say experiment on small pieces before doing a big proiect.

www.tandyleatherfactory.com/

My hubby does historical reenactments and works with leather a lot so I'm passing on his information. I don't work with it very often at all.

A good thing to remember is that anything that will affect leather (dye, paints, stamping tools, snips, etc) will affect leather still "on the hoof" so to speak...namely, your skin.

Leather dye can be expensive at specialty stores though if you're not going to use it often, you can use the dye in the shoe department of most big box department and drug stores. I have heard people have great success using RIT dye but can't give personal experience on that.

Unless you have a heavy duty industrial sewing machine, I wouldn't attempt to machine stitch leather thicker than a standard piece of denim cloth. You'll burn your motor out quickly that way. I have seen that one done much to the person's dismay.

Hubby says he's used everything from standard Elmers up to rubber cement with equally satisfactory results. Heat can cause things to let go however, so be warned. (I live in the south so heat is an issue here)

A cheap, flea market fry daddy or double boiler is your friend if you want to harden your pieces. Melt BEES wax in it but be aware that hot weather may resoften. To avoid that, you can add paraffin wax to the mix but that lowers the flashpoint dangerously and you could have really really bad hospital like results. Please do a small test on a sample of each sheet of leather as using hot wax to cuir-bouilli the leather can and usually will distort the shape somewhat.

If you want to tool a pattern in it, either with fancy leather punches or a simple screwdriver (hubby's done that), then you can't use the wax to harden it as it will push the design out. You will, however, need to keep the leather wet while you do that. Use a rubber or raw hide mallet if you're using leather tools or you'll wear them out quicker. Have something softish beneath your leather, like a scrap piece, to protect your tools and table/bench. A bench block or other hard surface will mar your tools greatly.

Another great way to put a pattern on plain leather is with a wood burning tool. Works wonderfully but is kinda stinky. lol

I think that's all hubby related when I picked his brain. The following link has some resources that may help though they will be geared more towards the reenactment group than simply general information. http://www.sca.org/links/misc.html

Hope that helps!