The trickiest stage here is punching a clean, even row of holes through layered leather, and that is where the maker puts in the most careful work. Thick material needs holes punched in advance before any needle goes near it, so the whole first half of this episode builds up to that moment with a lot of patience. The workpiece is a dark brown wallet, and the preparation is shown as a behind-the-scenes look rather than a step-by-step lesson, which suits people finding their feet in leathermaking.
The assembly sequence is easy to follow. Overlapping sections get marked out with a wooden-handled scratch awl, cement is spread along the borders, and the panels are pressed together. The seams are then tapped flat with a claw hammer and held under plastic spring clamps and metal binder clips while the glue sets. Once the clamps come off, the edges are shaved flush with a Stanley 99E utility knife. Everything sits on a green Am-Tech A3 cutting mat.
The marking stage is the part that stands out to me. Wing dividers are set to a 5 mm gap against a stainless steel ruler, then a perimeter guideline is scored onto the leather. Scrap backing goes under the workpiece, and 5 mm pricking irons are hammered through the layers along that scored line. Registering the first tooth in the previous hole to keep spacing even across seams is the sort of small habit that separates tidy work from wandering rows.
Two things are left open. The actual stitching is saved for part two, so the saddle stitch method is still to come, and I would myself wonder whether a steel hammer face is the kindest thing to strike iron teeth with over the long run.
Project by Paul Pirie. Watch it on their YouTube channel: