How to Start Working With Leather on the Cheap

Explore Guides

Start the Guide ›

How to Start Working With Leather on the Cheap

Attila Acs

12.4k Views

Step 1 of 18

This is what we'll be making

Step 2 of 18

Find an old bag, jacket or other leather item you don't use anymore.

Step 3 of 18

Cut off all hardware and cut along the seams. This way you will have large pieces of leather to work with.

Step 4 of 18

If there is lining, cut it out separately.

Step 5 of 18

These are the 2 pieces I'm going to use for this project.

Step 6 of 18

Apply glue to the back of the front piece and glue the lining on.

Step 7 of 18

Cut out the piece. I cut a 14.4cm by 13.2cm piece. Use the phone you're going to make the cover for as a guide by wrapping the leather around it.

Step 8 of 18

Fold the leather in half and cut a rounded corner.

Step 9 of 18

Apply the glue to the inside of the edges and glue it in place. This will make sewing much easier and keep things aligned.

Step 10 of 18

Use a ruler and any sharp object to mark each stitch you're going to make. Try to keep a consistent gap between stitches.

Step 11 of 18

Close up of my stitch markings.

Step 12 of 18

Start sewing around the top opening. Check out my hand sewing tutorial for detailed instructions.

Step 13 of 18

Sew around one side of the top.

Step 14 of 18

Once you're all the way around, you can loop the thread vertically before sewing along the long edge of the case.

Step 15 of 18

Back stitch a couple of stitches.

Step 16 of 18

Cut the threads and melt the ends.

Step 17 of 18

If your lining has a white edge, you can use a market to paint it black (if you don't have black dye)

Step 18 of 18

YOU'RE DONE! Enjoy your new phone sleeve (and use the remaining material for other projects!) Check out www.highonglue.com for more.

You're Done

Check out other guides by this author!

Attila Acs

Australia

highonglue.com

I want you to make things! Custom leatherwork (cases, bags, wallets and sleeves for gadgets).

Keep Exploring

Arts & Crafts

How to Make a Leather Case for Kindle Keyboard (Advanced)

by Attila Acs

379

9.1k

Arts & Crafts

How to Carve & Tool Leather

by Attila Acs

439

13.3k

Arts & Crafts

How to Hand Sew Leather

by Attila Acs

194

8.2k

Start Over

608

19 Comments

Supplies

Embed

George Murray

Cincinnati, OH

Seth Kontny

Danandayu Triwibowo

ÜT: -6.901336,107.613214

SquareEgg Yep

Tatiana NickleSalami

Los Angeles, CA

Ja Nari Lee

Michelle Ajas

Adam Berg

Marina Gonzales Pipe...

North Canton, Ohio

Debra P

Octavio Ortega

Martin Olguin

shannon b

Rahul Malik

Zeb Nakhooda

Natasha Stebbins

Juanita Jones

Ty Hartle

Evodie Clerger

Aleksi Lydman

Amanda Greensworth

United States of America

Athena M

Edwin Tofslie

Hood River, OR

Ho Lee

Jonatan Noponen

Helsinki, Finland

2 Needles

Thread

Old bag or jacket

Glue

Scissors or scalpel

Ruler

Sewing awl or something similarly sharp

Thank you by the way!! 😜

Fadhli Bonch 7 months ago

Oh my, this guide made it look so easy! Gonna start looking around for unused leather and start working!

Fadhli Bonch 7 months ago

Keep them coming! I love the up cycling

Mediaflo McGee 8 months ago

Really nice work

Serge Tishchenko 8 months ago

Usefull

Eugene Andreev 9 months ago

Always wanted to do this, looked at people's bags and leather coats and thought my iPad could benefit from this , looking forward to more tutorials.

David Cinavas 9 months ago

Thank you!

Britton Lees 10 months ago

Thank you man i learned a lot of your works , i used to creat leather case for my iphone , your works are great i learned a lot about sewing .please post more guides .thank you a lot

Masroor Al 10 months ago

Great idea! going to the thrift shops for old leather this weekend!

Sharon Rundall 11 months ago

Great idea! Can you show us how to put an ID window on one side and maybe card slots and coin and cash slots? Thanks!!

Wendy McPhee 11 months ago

What a great idea. I have wanted to make a big travel bag. I am going to start looking for old leather coats. The bag I want to make is $600.00 retail. This should save a few bucks. Thanks

Randy Murray 11 months ago

Very nice, going to make one very soon.

Dexter Butler 11 months ago

A very smart idea!

Joanne Tse ☀ 11 months ago

This is really neat!

Faith Montague 11 months ago

Very nice cover you made :)

Stephan Azzopardi 11 months ago

alsom!

mehmet altunbay 11 months ago

Very nice! Love you much, God be with you! The idea of recycling !!

Denise Thomas 11 months ago

Great instructional guide. I have a few ideas to modify and make one of my owne!

James Madigan 11 months ago

I'm definitely going to make one, but for my iphone with a case. Just going to have to find some leather...

Adam Berg 11 months ago

Very simple to do.

Abraham Madril 11 months ago

Be first to comment on Step 2.

Be first to comment on Step 3.

Be first to comment on Step 4.

Be first to comment on Step 5.

Yes, it's PVA glue. I also sometimes use adhesive from a spray can. Depends what needs to be glued and how flexible it has to be, I guess

Attila Acs (author) 4 months ago

What kind of glue did you use? Is that just plain PVA glue?

James Preston 4 months ago

Thank you! And I really appreciate you answering so fast!! I'm still waiting on an answer from a question I asked WEEKS ago!! 😁

Amanda Greensworth 11 months ago

Oh I see. Ok that'll make it easier and less work - not having to make a strap. Now I havta find some leather. O.o maybe the second hand store will have something!!!

Amanda Greensworth 11 months ago

Also... The measurements depend on how far away your stitch is from the edge (and the thickness of the leather). You might have to add a few mm if you don't want a tight fit

Attila Acs (author) 11 months ago

No, the measurements are very tight! So much so, that I push the phone out from the bottom because my fingers don't fit in between the case and the phone. You could add a cutout in the top that makes it easy to pull the phone out but I wanted to make this design as simple as possible. Also, with some use, this kind of leather tends to soften and it'll get less tight.

Attila Acs (author) 11 months ago

Oh I see, okay thanks!! For the one you made, do you think it needs a strap of some sort to help keep the iPhone/iPod touch in the case when it's not in an upright position?

Amanda Greensworth 11 months ago

Yes, only because in my case the bag lining was sewn in (not glued). So I cut it off and then glued it on to the leather. If the lining is already attached to the leather (or you don't want any lining), you can of course skip this step :)

Attila Acs (author) 11 months ago

Glue the lining back on after cutting it apart from the leather??

Amanda Greensworth 11 months ago

Be first to comment on Step 7.

Be first to comment on Step 8.

Be first to comment on Step 9.

Be first to comment on Step 10.

Be first to comment on Step 11.

Be first to comment on Step 12.

Be first to comment on Step 13.

Be first to comment on Step 14.

Be first to comment on Step 15.