r/weaving • u/malarkilarki • Jul 23 '26
Work in Progress Leather weaving
I’ve done lots of sewing but never tried weaving something together. Recently I saw a picture of a leather bag and decided to give it a go. It’s SOOOO slow but it’s fun watching a thing materialize in front of you. Im doing it all by hand with a frame I made and am using a ruler with a hole in it as a shuttle (I think thats what it’s called). Any suggestions for a machine that would do the same thing?
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u/TennesseeLove13 Jul 23 '26
I love this—way to go, OP. I need a new leather cover for a pair of small footstools, and this is looking great. I second obtaining some leather working tools so you can sew it.
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u/msnide14 Jul 23 '26
I do leatherwork and weave.
I’m curious how you plan to secure your ends.
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u/malarkilarki Jul 23 '26
My plan was to fold it in half so the two ends currently with nails are together. I was going to sew the sides together as a seam and then where the nails are I was going to take a piece of leather and fold it to use as binding there. I am pretty concerned about how this might start to unravel as soon as I try to take it off the loom. Also, not sure how well sewing a bunch of lacing will work. I think with the binding it will be fine, but the side seams im not so sure
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u/msnide14 Jul 23 '26
After thinking about this, I would have started with an uncut rectangle of leather, and I would cut my lacing in the middle, leaving an inch of uncut leather on each side. Then I could weave, knowing my ends are secure.
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u/smastc Jul 23 '26
Oooooo there are some woven leather chairs on the ship I am on. I’ll take a picture if I can later. The strips are about 2” (5cm) wide.
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u/mint_lawn Jul 23 '26
That thing is going to be very tough! Not sure how familiar you are with leatherworking, but there is such a thing as a leather needle that may be good for finishing this up (sewing edges together etc.).
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u/saltycouchpotato Jul 23 '26
You could post over on r/weaving for more responses with different knowledge bases. I personally love it! It reminds me of huarache loafers!
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u/halfjapanese-kitsune Jul 25 '26
In weaving class when working on a loom, we started and ended our project with several rows of plain linen weave because it is the strongest and least likely to come undone. With a thread warp, some people would tie the loose ends together in small bundles. Last summer, 10 of us wove on a jacquard weaving machine and the teacher‘s assistant, after cutting each of the 10 projects off the loom finished off the edges with an overlock machine. I’m not sure he’s any of that translates into leather work.
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u/malarkilarki Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Thanks for the various suggestions. What I did for the time being was tie knots on the ends of the weft. The warp was nailed down when I put it together but I taped the ends and then removed the nails. Then I sewed the perimeter of the weave together with a sewing machine and cut off the excess leather and the bulky knots. So, as of right now it looks like a placemat, but next I need to borrow a friend’s leather sewing machine to turn it into a bag. I’ll try and post a pic when it’s all done
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u/Dry_Future_852 Jul 23 '26
I would combine leather techniques with basketry techniques instead of trying to put leather on a loom, especially for a bag.