[AmitKumarVinay]

Hello All,

I wanted to reach out to all of you to talk about a hobby that i picked up in the last couple of months to take my mind away from a stressful daily job.

I picked up this hobby after a rather disappointing experience while buying a wallet and a hand bag from a renowned international fashion brand.

But it made me really curious to find out why does an accessory as small as this cost as much as someone's monthly income or in some cases the annual income itself. So, I started doing my research to find out why is it really so expensive. Is it the material or the craftsmanship that is involved in making this ?

The leather used by such renowned companies are mostly sourced in Europe. The tanneries in Europe continue to use the age old tanning process which takes about anywhere between 4-6 weeks to prepare the finest quality leather.

After understanding all of this, quest to make my own wallet and a hand bag began. I went to the best educator in all of the world "Youtube" to learn more about this craft.

I am based out of Chennai and it was relatively easy for me to source tools to make a wallet. Once i got hold of all the necessary tools, I started looking for the most important thing to make a wallet. Little did i know that there are so many materials that one can use to make a wallet. But i decided to choose the leather without even knowing that there were so many kinds of them.

So, I bought leather from an export reject shop believing that i had gotten hold of the best leather that has ever been produced. I found out very soon that I had actually bought a piece of lining leather which is possibly the cheapest quality of leather that one can buy. It did not end there, I had also paid 10 times more than what it was actually worth.

But even with all of these mishaps, the experience of creating something for yourself and using it as a daily essential is something that you cannot put a price tag on.

Please do let me know if someone shares a similar interest and we can learn from one another about this amazing craft.

[roamer012]

Please do share pictures of your efforts. Also please share online source of raw material and tools used for the same. I am an EDC lover and would love to make my own wallet.

[AmitKumarVinay]

Here are some of the products that I have learnt to do in the last 3 months.







I am waiting for the lockdown to be over to source some fine leather and hoping to make more products.

I will write a detailed post on what are the absolutely necessary tools to begin with and online sources to learn about the craft.

[2000rpm]

Hi friend,

Nice hobby, and great finishing. Only request, if you can use some other material for the same as leather is, well, made out of Animal skin. Fake leather may give you the same fun, infact Vegan stuff may give you premium positioning

[Jaguar]

This is a good youtube channel for someone interested in leathercraft Little King Goods
I don't ever intend to may any leather goods myself but subscribed to this channel since I am a tools geek.

[msvg]

I am interested to order a few customised leather products for my daily and few for my friend .
You rightly said it’s difficult to put a price on products that are done bespoke for urself .
Please ping me on personal message to chat on WhatsApp.

[AmitKumarVinay]

Hello All,

It has been quite sometime since I posted anything in this thread. In the last couple of years, I have really worked on improving my leathercraft skills and also truly understanding the materials used in making a bespoke product. Here are some of the products that I have made recently for my friends and family. Please do share your feedback.

Regards,
Amit

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by AmitKumarVinay

I have made recently for my friends and family. Please do share your feedback

Excellent workmanship .

Would you please post some work in progress pictures that could help us understand the process of turning a piece of leather into such crafty end products.

Not a big fan of leather, but the beautiful wallets have really piqued my interest.