Introduction: Leather Lacing

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Need leather lacing to repair or complete a project? This is an easy technique, that you can use to make a long piece of leather lace from a single chunk of leather.

Step 1: Materials and Equipment:

  • Leather - 4" square or bigger (not too thin, it will be easier to control)
  • Something round for tracing a circle
  • Pen or marker
  • Nail
  • Hammer
  • Knife, exacto or another very sharp edge that can be stuck into a piece of wood
  • Scissors or knife to cut leather
  • Piece of wood (long enough to sit on one end)

Step 2: Prepare Your Leather

Cut a circle out of your leather. I used a roll of masking tape to trace a circle, but you can use anything, even a compass, and make it as big as you want.

To start with though, it might be easiest to use a 5 or 6" circle.

Step 3: Prepare Your Jig

Take your knife, or if you are using an exacto knife, break off a section of blade, and hammer it in to the end-wood, at one end of your board, leaving at least a 1/2' of the blade exposed above the wood (sharp edge into the board!)

Place your nail, the distance you want the width of your leather lace to be, from the blade and on the right side of the blade facing the blade, if you are left handed (photo 4) and to the left of the blade if you are right handed (photo 5) and hammer the nail into the board so it its firmly in place.

Step 4: Cutting Your Lace

Have a seat on your board, facing the jig end to hold it in place for cutting your leather.

Place the leather circle in front of you on the board, just in front of the blade and up against the nail.

Feed the leather in a circular motion into the blade, keeping the outer edge of the leather circle up against the nail to keep the lace even. Once you have a bit of a tail you can feed your circle and pull on the leather tail,

Try to keep the leather moving smoothly against the nail and keep turning your leather until you have enough lace or it gets too small to safely feed the leather.

Warning: Keep a close eye on where the the blade is, so you don't cut your fingers!