Have you wondered where to buy good quality, affordable, leather that is suitable for bag making? Cyndi from The Nosy Pepper is here to give us the skinny on where we can get beautiful leather for bag making, give us tips on how to sew with it, and give us a discount code that we can use while shopping at one of our favourite leather shops, The Tannery NYC.

I should mention that we were not paid for a positive review on this leather, but we were given some leather to try out so we could judge for ourselves. Truth be told, we're already devoted customers to The Tannery NYC anyway! Cyndi will tell you all about it in this post! - Janelle MacKay, Emmaline Bags.

Have you been curious about sewing with leather? Not sure where to start? It can seem super intimidating but it doesn't have to be! With a few tools and knowing what your machine can handle you can start incorporating leather into your bag making.

The Tannery NYC carries an amazing selections of colors and finishes that are often hard to find. Many leather suppliers sell mainly to manufacturers leaving few options for those of us who just need a small amount for a project or two. This is what makes The Tannery NYC different, they sell the same high quality leather but in sizes that are affordable for bagineers. They're constantly adding new skins and their customer service is amazing! If they don't have exactly what you are looking for just ask, chances are they can get it for you! I'm particularly in love with the metallics they carry. They are incredible!

I used their silver metallic skin to make this bag:

It was absolutely amazing, and it's hard to capture how gorgeous this leather is. It's so luscious and catches the light in a way that it's hard to show in a picture. It almost takes a different hue depending on the environment. It's such a perfect pairing with the Emmaline gunmetal finish hardware. I made this bag with Emmaline's Miss Maggie's Handbag pattern. I love this pattern because it's so easy to change up the look with different features and hardware. For this bag I used the Long John Strap Anchors, Script Style Bag Label, purse feet and hanging tassel cap all in this luxe gunmetal finish.

Miss Maggie is a great starter leather bag if you are ready to take the plunge. There are few seams to worry about with the exterior and no curves either. Another way to reduce bulk is to cut your exterior in one piece. I did this with this bag, as you can see there is no bottom seam:

Laurie Dasso makes the most incredible leather bags and has used various leathers from The Tannery in her stunning creations and has helped me tremendously in venturing into the world of leather. Check out some of the incredible bags she has created with some of the gorgeous leather from The Tannery NYC:

Obviously Laurie is a master with leather and has an industrial machine and years of experience,  but that doesn't mean that you can't sew with leather too! I have a domestic as many of us bagineers do and Laurie has taught me so many things about modifying construction for domestic machines.

Here's some info to keep in mind as you get started:

First, it's important to know what your machine can handle. Most domestics can handle sewing with a leather that is 3oz weight or less. Make sure you always use a leather needle and use some scraps to test out your machine, see how many layers you can reasonably. Adjust tensions, your pressure foot pressure and find what works best for your machine. Don't forget, you can always hand crank!

Leather, is unlike any other material. Some inconsistencies with grain, texture, or even some marks are part of what makes it leather! Some believe these flaws are what makes it indicative of an artisan work. Always use care when cutting out leather, especially if there are marks or parts that you don't want on your bag so you can cut around these. Lay out your pieces carefully before cutting to make sure you fit your pattern pieces in a way that maximizes your leather.

At the Tannery you can purchase by the half or the full skin. A half skin is about 10 ft², a whole skin roughly 20 ft². You can get a smaller bag out of a half skin. Skins come irregularly shaped so keep this in mind when choosing a project. It's very different than buying by the yard.

Always use clips and not pins with leather, once a hole is there it's permanant! Leather tape is also a great alternative.

For the handles, leather is something that you don't have to worry about raw edges because it absolutely will not fray. I didn't want to leave the side edges raw, so I used Laurie’s strategy of doing a tri fold, so that there is only one raw edge and it's more or less hidden on the back of the strap. This greatly reduces the layers your machine has to handle but looks more finished than leaving the side edges raw. As you can see, it's hardly noticeable that there is a raw edge:

Do NOT use cotton thread with leather, it will eventually break down. Choose polyester or nylon thread instead. A leather needle is a MUST. 

When sewing on a domestic machine, realize that you may have to change up parts of the pattern and keep in mind the bulk your machine can handle. Don't be afraid to hand crank if things get tough.

As you can see, I opted not to topstitch my Miss Maggie. This is because I was afraid with the bulk of the layers, my stitching wouldn't be as smooth as I would like. Better no top stitching than messy stitching or even worse: a bunch of holes in the leather after I rip those icky stitches out!

Sewing with leather is something that's doable for almost anyone! Just choose easy projects first to get a feel for what you're dealing with. It's something you can try to incorporate into other bags by making leather straps and accents if you're not ready to jump into making an all leather bag. The Tannery also sells scrap packs, so you can try out some scraps and make some small projects. 

Get the Discount Code!

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Photos and content provided and written for Emmaline Bags by Cyndi Farfsing, from The Nosy Pepper. Cyndi's blog is chock is full of more bag photos and make making tips. Check out her bag series "It's in the Bag! Better Bag Making Series," to learn a ton of new bag making skills.

Share your projects made from Emmaline patterns and/or with Emmaline hardware in our facebook group Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group, or on instagram with the hashtags #emmalinehardware, #emmalinepatterns, #emmalinebags, or tag us @emmalinebags.

Have you been curious about sewing with leather? Don't know how to get started? Or hesitant to jump in? Here's a great quick project to get your feet wet with leather and get a bit more comfortable without committing to a large project. Leather Fringe Key Fobs!

The Tannery NYC has generously offered Emmaline Bags followers 10% off purchases of 50 USD or more using code EMMALINEBAGS. 

The Tannery offers an incredible selection of high quality and hard to find leathers in amazing colors and finishes. The Tannery is a fantastic resource for bagineers because unlike many other suppliers, they offer sizes that are often hard to find. Many suppliers of similar quality leathers sell wholesale to manufacturers leaving those of us who only need enough leather for a bag or a small project left with few options, most of which aren't as high quality.

I have personally purchased from The Tannery NYC and I can speak to both their incredible customer service and high quality leather. They have an amazing selection and if you don't see exactly what you want, send them a message!! Chances are they can get it for you!

At The Tannery you can purchase both by the half skin (typically about 10 sqft) or by the full skin (about 20 sqft). Leather is not sold by the yard, and as it is a natural product the shapes are somewhat irregular. You will find that depending on the leather you choose, most bags can easily be made with a full skin or less. I made a medium shoulder bag with a half skin, but your needs would vary depending on the project.

We only need small scraps, so these make great gifts that you can whip up last minute. The Tannery NYC sells scrap packs as well, which are perfect if you want to get a feel for using leather by making up a few small projects or using them for accents in bags. Oh, and ALL those colors! These leather key fobs are a great way to test out how your machine handles leather.

Here's what you'll need:

- Small leather scraps (3.5” wide x 5.5” or whatever length you prefer)

- Leather needle (Do not sew through leather without a leather needle!)

- Double Sided Tape (if you are doing a no sew version)

- Marking pen

- Rotary cutter or sharp scissors

- Key Fob Hardware (available here in both nickel and antique brass finishes)

- Pliers

- Nylon or Polyester Thread (no cotton with leather)

Cut your scrap to 3.5” wide and to the length you’d like your key fob to be (I did 5.5” long).

Measure and mark a line that is a half inch from the top of the short edge.

Above this line, make a mark that is 2.5” from the left edge of your leather.

Decide how wide you’d like for your fringe to be. I chose ¼”. Be careful if you would like to make narrower fringe, as depending on the length of your key fob if you make them too narrow they may be likely to get caught on something and break off. If doing less than ¼” you may want to make a shorter fob.

You can either use your marking pen to draw lines for cutting or you can use your rotary cutter and measure as you go, cutting one piece at a time. You want to cut from the bottom of your leather to the horizontal line you drew across the top. Don't cut past that line.

Once you've cut all your lines, it will look like this:

Remember that mark you made 2.5” over from the left edge? Starting from the left side fold your key fob over until the raw edge of the leather meets that line.

Now take the right edge of your key fob and fold it over and past the left raw edge. It will extend *almost* to the other edge of your key fob:

Clip in place (no pins on leather).

Now, let's do a quick stitch across the top of your key fob to secure it. Making sure that you have your leather needle in place, stitch across the top edge using a ¼” seam. Lengthen your stitch length and hand crank to get started as necessary. As this is a bit of bulk, I find it easier to start in the middle and back stitch to get going. You can also use a hump jumper here too.

That's it! You just sewed leather! Not just one layer but THREE! Not so bad eh? If your stitches don't look perfect, no worries! They will be hidden behind the key fob hardware.

Still afraid of sewing leather, or maybe you don't have any leather needles handle? It's ok! We can make these no sew too!

Follow the steps above but before you fold your left edge over, run a strip of double sided tape across the top edge.

Same as before, fold the left side over to the mark you made earlier.

Then fold the right edge over.

Now, once you have your top secured by stitching or double sided tape, we are going to add our key fob hardware. For this part, simply slide the top of your fringed key fob into the hardware, and using a pair of pliers crimp the hardware shut. Use a towel or fleece between the pliers and the hardware to keep it from getting scratched.

That's it's! We are all done! These are super quick, and you can get your feet wet with leather. Once you get a feel for working with leather, you can start incorporating it into your bag making and work up the skills and confidence to sew a leather bag.

Thanks again to The Tannery NYC for the leather used here. For these key fobs I used the Silver Metallic, Fuschia and Rust Brown Semi Naked leathers. Go check out all the incredible leathers they have, you might want one of everything!

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Photos and content provided and written for Emmaline Bags by Cyndi Farfsing, from The Nosy Pepper. Cyndi's blog is chock is full of more bag photos and make making tips. Check out her bag series "It's in the Bag! Better Bag Making Series," to learn a ton of new bag making skills.

Share your projects made from Emmaline patterns and/or with Emmaline hardware in our facebook group Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group, or on instagram with the hashtags #emmalinehardware, #emmalinepatterns, #emmalinebags, or tag us @emmalinebags.

Boxy Leather Pouch - Click to Enlarge

If you follow along here, or have purchased one of my patterns, you have probably heard me mention DST (Double-Sided Tape) a few times before. Yes... I love it!  It's one of my fave sewing notions.  Today I thought I would show you just where and when I use this handy stuff when I'm constructing my bags, wallets & totes. I'll show you why I love it so much.

Question:  What do you sew a guy for Father's Day?
Answer:  A very masculine padded leather e-reader case... of course!

The story goes like this:  My husband really needed an e-reader, but he didn't think so. I told him several times, but he always said, "no, I like to read real books", "no I don't need one", "no I don't like the screens".  BUT, he travels a lot for work and spends hours in airports and on airplanes reading.  We are always buying him books to lug around (he seems to only read heavy books), and they take up so much room in his bag. He's always running out of books too. An e-reader would give him an endless supply.  It just made sense, but he wouldn't hear of it, which made NO sense to me. Sigh.

Much to my amazement (not really), last week my DH asks me, "Do you think I want a Kindle or a Kobo?"

"Umm.... what? Why? Are you getting one?"

"Yah! All the guys at work have them, and they think I should get one. I had a look at Blah, Blah's and it's great, he loves it! So which one has more titles available, and how do the bookstores work?"

"Really Mike, Really... REALLLY?  The guys at work hey?", I say. "I told you so, I TOLD YOU SO!!  WHY do you never listen to my ideas? hmm???"

Anyway... my darling husband has purchased himself a new Kobo Aura, because it has a backlight and apparently that is why he didn't want one when I suggested it... because he was waiting for this special one.  Since it's new, we couldn't find a case for it yet, so..... sew..... sew I sewed one the night before Father's Day.    Excellent idea.

Here's a look:


About the fabric:  What a challenge to find fabric in my stash that looked masculine.  I instantly thought of the soft lambskin leather that I got at Tandy's a couple of weeks ago.  This black leather is very soft and thin and almost feels a bit like the thickness of an ultra suede.  It's only about 0.8 mm thick so sewing it on my regular machine wouldn't be a problem, I wouldn't even have to dust off old Pinky (the heavy duty) for it.

Finding lining fabric was difficult, and luckily I had one FQ of the very awesome Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.  I have it in the green/blue as well, but I knew this orange/black would be perfect.  Score!  So glad I had that.


About the zipper pouch pattern:  There are many great zipper pouch patterns on the internet available.  No need to reinvent the wheel here, a simple google search will yield you hundreds.  I didn't go by a pattern, but this is a tutorial showing the method I use.  Go HERE!  I used 1/4" seams and a zipper much too long for my fabric panels, and trimmed off the ends.  I prefer to do that rather than hunt for a zipper the exact size.

How I altered the pattern to suit leather and an e-reader:

* I measured the e-reader and added 1 1/2 inches to both the length and width.  I cut two pieces of leather for the exterior, and two of cotton for the lining.

* In most cases, you will want to interface your zipper pouch, and in this case it was especially important because I wanted the reader to be safe in a padded pouch.  I couldn't use anything fusible, such as a fusible fleece, so I grabbed my by Annies Soft and Stable to use as a sew-in interfacing on the leather.

* Normally, you would place your fabric piece on an uncut piece of Soft and Stable, baste around the edges, and then trim the Soft and Stable, but in this case, I didn't want to add basting stitches through the leather, and I wanted to be able to easily trim back the Soft and Stable to the seam lines created by the actual seams (leaving less bulk) so instead, I cut my Soft and Stable squares to match the exterior leather size and taped them on. (Putting too many stitching holes through the leather will weaken the leather and cause tears along the seam line, much like tearing off a postage stamp!)

* Important:  I trimmed 1/2" off of the top edge of the Soft and Stable (the edge that the zipper will be stitched to) because I didn't want the Soft and Stable to add bulk in the zipper seam or top stitching. To attach the Soft and stable to the leather, I used double-sided adhesive mounting tape. (This tape is tackier than double-sided wash-away tape and found in your craft section, probably by scrapbooking or picture framing). I put the tape on the leather about 1/2" in from the edges so that I wouldn't be sewing through it when I sewed the sides together.  Essentially, the Soft and Stable will match the left, right and bottom edges of your leather pieces, and be 1/2" shorter along the top (zipper) edge.

* I followed the instructions to make a zipper pouch like I normally would, but left a much larger opening for turning than what would be normally recommended.  I left open the entire bottom of the lining for turning as the leather and Soft and Stable would be quite bulky. BEFORE turning,  I trimmed back the Soft and Stable right back to the seam line, being very careful not to clip any stitches.

What I would do differently next time:  The sewing machine sewed through the layers very easily, and it wasn't until I was part way through that I realized that I hadn't even put a leather needle in, and my Universal needle was doing just fine.  (Using a walking foot is recommended!!!) But... I used regular sew-all polyester thread (never use cotton on leather, it deteriorates the leather) and I do regret not using a stronger thread like an upholstery thread or nylon thread. I am afraid that I may have broke a thread in the bottom of the pouch when turning, so I turned it right side in again, and did another row of stitching across the bottom to be sure and that is a bit of a no-no as well, because it creates more stitching holes, but I didn't have a choice - darn it!

There is a lot of bulk in the zipper ends, so when I turned the pouch right side out, it made a smaller opening than I bargained for and the Kobo barely fit in! It's snug, but works. That is why I recommend the panels be at least 1 1/2" wider than the e-reader is long. The Soft and Stable is thick too, so it "uses up" a lot of fabric width too. I'm sure that's not a technical term.... if you have one let me know!!

Closing thoughts on the e-reader case:  It was fun, fast and very easy!!  I'm doing it again!  And... IF Mike doesn't like it for his Kobo, it's going to make a great passport or headphone bag for him. So it's all good.

I had a bit of trouble finding a masculine looking prop to go in a photo with it though... how about Mike's shaving brush... does that look masculine??  What does shaving have to do with an e-reader? Nothing.  But I think it looks good there.


What else we did for Father's Day:  CAKE!!!  We had a BBQ with family here at our house, and we had CAKE, CAKE, CAKE!!   Man, I love cake. This really, really cool cake was made by Jacqueline at Cake Affair here in Spruce Grove. It was a very delish neapolitan 3 layered cake and went over very well with the crowd.   I had the cake sitting in the middle of the table all afternoon and a few people never knew it was a cake! Three different people actually thought it was a stuffed or plastic centrepiece. Great cake, Jacqueline!


I hoped you liked my little story about the leather e-reader case. If you have any questions at all, please ask and I will try to help as best as I can. All I can say is, don't be afraid to use different fabrics when sewing.  We are not always limited to quilting cottons. There is so much nice canvas duck, corduroy, faux suede, thin leather, vinyl, upholstery fabric, decor cotton, etc., out there.  Experiment!  You will usually get great results and learn a lot in the process.

I hope this helped in some way.  Leave a comment!!

Today I had plans to go the Edmonton Quilt Festival with a good friend, but we have to postpone it until tomorrow, so instead I'm doing some sewing. I'm should be sewing seat covers for my husband's truck.... but I just can't get into it! Instead.... I made a handmade leather clutch!


Tandy Leather has assorted lambskins with a wide assortment of colors and finishes on sale this month and I couldn't resist getting.... umm.... 9 of them. Oops! They were a good deal at 19.99 each. You can't blame me. (BTW, that does not count as fabric purchasing, although I did blow my vow to not purchase fabric last night because Pink Chalk Fabrics got their yarn died linen back in stock and I've been waiting for that for ages.)


Back on subject.  I decided I would like to give a clutch pattern away with a certain purse lock that I have ordered to be made, and that shipment should be here in a couple of weeks.  I drew up a pattern, made a mock up and then bravely cut into a nice brown piece of leather.  It's very thin, and embossed with a sort of snake skin pattern. The snake skin kind of creeps me out, because I hate snakes, but I also think it's kind of cool at the same time. I find it ironic that a lambskin would have a snake print... A lamb in snakes clothing? Is this a juxtaposition, or a paradox, or an oxymoron? Regardless, I think this leather was initially doomed to be an Italian shoe, but because of flaws or size, it can now be a little clutch with an adorable little lock!!  (This is not the lock I'm getting in stock, I really wish I had more of these little guys.)

This clutch sort of looks like the popular envelope clutches at first glance, but is actually quite different. The leather sewed together very easily with my Pfaff on the main seams and my heavy duty machine on the top stitching. It was easy to turn the leather right side out and do regular seams, because it is so thin. You could not do it with a thicker leather. I lined with some nice quilting cotton that was backed with fusible fleece (that was cut 1/2" smaller around all edges to make sure it didn't get in the seams).


I'm also playing with quilting cottons with this pattern as I know that not many can, or will want, to use leather.  I used by Annie's Soft and stable on this and it was not ideal because of wrinkles created in the exterior fabric.  Quilting it before assembly would have fixed this problem.


I am going to try it with a few other interfacing options and tweak the pattern a bit before it is released.  As of now though, I do like it because the 2 exterior pieces will fit nicely on a fat quarter and you line it with another FQ. If I went any bigger, you would have to buy more yardage and that wouldn't be ideal.



So now... I must put this aside and either clean the house, shop for flowers for my pots, walk to the park with my son and neighbourhood kids, or work on DH's seat covers. Which do you think I will do? Park!!

Thank you for reading.  Please leave a comment, I LOVE to hear from you.



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