Mix of leathercraft tools, thread and rivets



When I first discovered leathercrafting somewhere in 2019, I had no idea what tools I actually needed, and I didn’t have the budget to just go and buy a bunch of them. So instead, at first, I used what I had laying around the house and garage, and just played around with leather. To see if I actually enjoyed it, and to get an idea of what tools I’d actually need and what could wait.

So, my initial tool list looked more like this: a plastic cutting board from the kitchen, a Stanley knife from work, my old school compass (with the pencil swapped for another sharp tip), a rubber hammer and metal ruler from the garage, pair of broken flip flops as an underlay when piercing stitching holes in leather (as I’d quickly noticed I was going straight through the kitchen cutting board and was piercing my table instead…).

I borrowed a couple needles from a fellow crafter, and the only tool I actually bought at the start was an awl. It did a lot of heavy lifting: marking leather, piercing the stitch holes, scratching surfaces before glueing. I still use that same awl every single day now!

collection of basic tools collected from home and garden to start leathercraft.

Were my first creations pretty? Nope. But I had fun exploring a new hobby, and not long after, I was gifted a basic starter kit.  Like many starting kits, it wasn’t great, but it felt like a massive upgrade from what I had been working with. And it included stitching chisels so it was immediately making my work look a lot cleaner.

Fast forward several years, and my current toolkit has expanded a lot. Something many leathercrafters experience, buying new tools quickly becomes addictive!

But here's my honest take: before spending serious money, it's worth getting a feel for the craft first What kind of items do you enjoy making? What type of leather do you like working with. Which tools do you actually reach for? Once you know you love the craft, then invest in better tools. Not everyone agrees with this approach, but it's the one that made sense for me, and I've seen it work for a lot of beginners.

If I were to start with an absolutely basic kit and still produce clean work, this would be my shopping list:

Cutting & Measuring

Must have:

Craft Knife – For cutting your leather pieces. Many options, there are rotary cutters, craft knives, box cutters, half-moon knives. Get a knife you are comfortable working with. Start with something simple. I prefer knifes with breakaway blades for an all-round option.

Steel Ruler – For measuring and cutting straight lines. Get one with cork backing, this avoids marking the leather and provides more grip so it doesn’t slide around on your leather, so it’s much safer to use.

Self-healing Cutting Mat – To protect your workbench, and your tools. They come in many sizes; I bought the largest I could comfortably fit on my work table.

Leathercraft Knife with a steel ruler on a green self-healing cutting mat
an awl, a rawhide mallet and stitching chisels on a poly board

Making Holes

Must have:

Awl – For marking patterns onto leather, marking rivet and snap holes, stitch holes, to scratch the surface before glueing (to provide grip), an absolute must-have multi-tool.

Stitching Chisels – For making your stitching holes. There is a large variety of sizes (number of teeth as well as distance between the teeth), and shapes (diamond for classic hand-stitch look, French style for elegant and clean look, flat prong gives a more minimalist/modern look and round holes are mostly used for more rugged and heavy-duty work).

I personally mostly use the diamond chisels, and have 1, 2 and 4 teeth chisels. That way corners and long stretches are easy.

Hole Punch - Essential if you want to set rivets or snaps etc. Personally, I prefer using my Rotary punch however you are limited how far from the edge you can punch. A set of single hole punches gives you more flexibility and may be the better starting option.

Mallet or Maul – A rawhide mallet for use with your stitching chisels (and stamps). Never use a metal hammer on your chisels as it will damage them.

Punch Pad or Poly Board – To place under the leather you want to punch rivet holes or hammer stitching holes in to. This protects your tools and your workbench. I add layers of thick scrap veg tan on top to extend the life of the board.

 Nice to have:

Wing Divider – For marking a consistent stitch line parallel to the edge of the leather. Only recently I got an actual wing divider. All these years I used my old school compass and it worked just fine!

Glue

Must have:

Leather Glue – To glue 2 pieces of leather together before stitching. I don’t use glue very often, but I recommend you have some water-based glue on hand for when you need it.

Nice to have:

Glue Applicator – To cleanly and evenly apply the glue. Not a must, but cheap and nice to have. However wooden ice lolly sticks, or thick veg tan scrap leather cut into strips work fine too.

Stitching

Must have:

Leathercraft Needles – for hand-stitching. Leathercraft needles differ from regular sewing needles as they have rounded tips (not sharp). You typically use 2 at a time for saddle stitching.

Thread – For hand-stitching. Waxed polyester thread is the easiest to learn with. Thread size depends on your chisel size, and it affects how easy it will be to stitch as well as the final look.

Scissors – To cut your thread.

Lighter – To burn off thread ends to seal them.

Nice to have:

Flat Headed Metal Hammer – For hammering your stitches flat. There are special hammers for this, but any metal hammer with a flat head will work. (Just make sure it doesn’t have any sharp edges!)

Stitch Groover – Traditionally used so stitches would sit flush with the leather surface; however I often use it decoratively.
Scissors, lighter, thread and needles, and a stitch groover on a green self-healing cutting mat
edge bevelers, burnishing compounds tokonole an toko pro plus 2 wooden slickers and canvas on a green self-healing cutting mat

Edge Finishing

Must have

Sandpaper – For sanding the edges of your work. A few different grits from 180-1000 will go a long way towards a clean finish.

Edge Beveler – This tool shaves a little off the edge so it becomes rounder. This is the one tool worth upgrading as soon as you can. They come in different sizes, and the size indicate how much it shaves off. The higher the number the more it shaves off and so the rounder the edge gets.

Burnisher or Canvas – For finishing your edges. Wooden slickers have various grooves cut in them. Hardwood ones work noticeably better, however if you are just starting out, using any wooden tool handle does the job too. You can also use canvas instead of a slicker, it gives a really good finish. I like using both in combination.

Nice to have

Burnishing Compound – Applied to the edges before burnishing. It smooths and seals the leather for a shiny, more water-resistant finish. You can use water if you don’t have a product yet. When you are ready to upgrade look for gum tragacanth, beeswax, tokonole or similar. My personal preference is toko pro.

Bone Folder – for loosening glue inside pockets, to help shape leather when wet moulding, and various other jobs. It’s one of those tools you didn’t know you needed until you have one.
rivets laid out on a wooden surface together with the tools required to install them in leather, such as a rawhide mallet and various setter tools

Rivet Setting Kit

Setting Hardware

Must have (if your projects use rivets or snaps)

Snap and Rivet Setter – There are basic kits available that include everything you need to set rivets and/or snaps in various sizes. They are worth having as it does open up a lot of new project options.

snaps laid out on a wooden surface together with the tools required to install them in leather, such as a rawhide mallet and various setter tools

Snap Setting Kit

→ Want to know more? Check out the
rivet setting guide or snap setting guide for a full walkthrough.

Where to go from here

You don't need all of these tools to get started. A knife, some kind of a cutting mat, a ruler, an awl, some stitching chisels, a mallet, needles, and thread will get you through your first projects, and probably further than you'd expect.

Start with what you have or what you can find cheaply, get a feel for the craft, and add tools as you hit actual limitations. That's how most of us built our kits, whether we admit it or not.

If you want a quick-reference version of this list to keep on hand, just fill in the form below and I'll send you a FREE one-page PDF Beginner Leathercraft Tool Checklist!

And when you're ready to make something, browse the leathercraft patterns in the shop, most are very beginner-friendly and can be made with a basic toolkit.

If at first you’d like to see what making a leather item actually entails, check out the YouTube channel and look over my shoulder as I create some pieces from scratch!

 Browse Patterns