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Leather Crafting
in America
There is no sure way to date the
beginning of leather crafting in America. Stone tools and other
evidences thousands of years old point to work with leather.
Much of the leather crafting in modern times is done differently
than in those early days, but not all of it has changed so much.
Leather continues to be important
for clothing, personal accessories, furniture, and many other things
(see
marginal notes here). Working with leather requires
skill. Such skill can be learned today just as it was when the
very first people learned how to work with leather. The
leather worker will also need certain tools. Many simple and
very complex tools are available. Some are hand tools and some
are motorized and automated. Leather work may be done in the
home, in a shop or even in a factory.
Tools are used for cutting the
leather into shapes and designs. embossing, punching, stitching and
sewing, laminating and gluing, and other crafting processes.
Specialized tools are also sometimes used for scraping, tanning,
softening, specialty processing and dying leather.
Is it worth all the work to
transform a piece of raw hide or tanned leather into a garment,
pouch, covering or other useful item? It can be very
rewarding, and even profitable, if you develop the skills required
to produce good work. Men and women in all parts of America
make their living from leather crafts. |
