This article is adapted from articles in Adventurer By Ian Turner.
Leatherworking Tools:-
Leather can be obtained in a number of ways. One of the cheapest ways of buying leather is to get old leather coats from charity shops. Shops that make and sell leather goods might sell offcuts as might cobblers. If you want lot of leather go to a tanner and buy from them directly as they will often do you a good price on things. (Taking cash is a good idea as they often prefer cash for small purchases. If you are asked if you want a receipt you don't.)
Leather is sold by the square foot. The leather will be priced as a certain amount per sq. ft. The cost per sq. ft. depends on the thickness or "weight"of the leather. Retail suppliers of leather sell it by the skin/side using an ounce range, an ounce being 1/64 inch in thickness so 8-9oz would be 8/64 to 9/64 inches in thickness.
Full Leather skins and sides are measured by intricate machines and the size is marked on the back in square feet. The first figure is the square footage, and the smaller following numbers refer to quarters of a square foot or if a decimal point is used then it means a tenth of a square foot.
Personally I would never buy leather unseen unless you know what you are doing. I always go to the tanner in person and have a look at what he's got and adopt a "how much is this skin" approach to get what I want.
Stapling.
This is only useful for medium to thin leather. It is very quick but it can be difficult to get the stapler in the right position. The staples leave sharp edges so need to be covered or placed on the inside of the item and the outside also needs to be covered as they look awful. Stapling doesn't produce a very durable join and tends to give way if it is placed under a lot of stress.
Gluing.
This is a quick and easy way of joining leather. Use Evo Stick Impact adhesive. When gluing leather make sure that no glue gets on the areas that will show as it is virtually impossible to shift it afterwards. It also a good idea to lightly glue things before punching holes for lacing/thonging. Not only will the glue make the join stronger but it will ensure that the holes line up as you can punch the pieces together rather than marking each one out individually and running the risk of the holes not lining up.
Riveting.
Quick and easy for medium and heavyweight leathers and gives a good finish. Rivets can also be used as a form of decoration in themselves. In order to rivet leather you will need a hole punch, a riveting tool and a hammer as well as the rivets and leather. Rivets come in a variety of sizes and metals and give a good durable join.
Sewing.
Sewing can be used for all weights of leather. You can use cotton for sewing leather but if you plan to do a lot of leather work it is worth getting some waxed linen thread which is thicker and stronger than cotton and gives a nice finish. For lightweight leather you can just sew using normal needles, for heavier weight leathers you will need to use a hole punch to punch holes in the leather before stitching.
There are several sewing styles but one of the best is saddlestitch. Use 2 needles at once passing them both through the hole at the same time in opposite directions and then pulling the thread tight. (You will need a length of thread about three time longer that the distance you plan to sew.)
Lacing/Thonging.
Lacing and thonging is done in much the same style as stitching described above. You will need to punch larger holes than for stitching and a thonging needle can be a great help in getting the thong through the holes.
Stitching/Lacing/Thonging styles.