Burning Leather

On Pinterest (the Mecca of crafty inspiration) I saw a picture about burning designs into leather with a wood burning tool.

Hey…I had leather…AND a wood burning tool.  Of course I had to give it a go!

I have a sophisticated wood burner that is either On or Off.  I read online it was best to use a lower heat setting, so I just used the only one I had.  It was hot, Man.  It definitely burned the leather, and it was very precise about it.

I started by using a leather tool that is for tracing.  It is something I picked up at Michaels.  It is just pointy with a blunt end on it, so it can press against the tracing a leave a slight mark in the leather.  It would have left a better mark if I wet the leather first, but I wasn’t that patient.  I drew the design out on tracing paper and then pushed it into the leather.

The designs kind of evolved from the original tracing and sometimes it was hard to follow the lines.  If it was a symmetrical one, I had to watch to make sure I was doing it the same on each side.

Lastly, I burned the edges and then put on some snaps.

I might need to seal them, but I don’t have anything on hand right now.  Not sure if I can afford a trip to Tandy Leather.  I usually end up buying lots of stuff!