Take a moment to study your leather before committing to your cut. Put your leather on the table and take a few seconds to examine the piece of leather before applying your template. You may notice the grain side, the flesh side, small imperfections like scars or blemishes, or variations in texture and thickness. You may also notice some areas that are stretchier than others. These observations can help you determine where to cut and how to orient your pattern. If you simply cut out a shape using the first available space, you might inadvertently cut out a useful scrap or misplace a critical component.
The grain side is the outside of the leather. It’s the side you’re most likely to see in your finished product. The flesh side is the inside. It’s usually more fibrous and less refined than the grain side. It’s important to know which side is the grain and which is the flesh when you’re transferring your pattern. You need to know which side of the leather will be facing out when you’re done. You also need to know if the two sides of a piece are the same, or if they’re different. If you get your two sides mixed up, you’ll have two different grain directions and two different sides visible on the same object.
Stretch is harder to see than the grain and flesh side. But it’s still important. Take a piece of offcut leather and hold it with both hands. Try stretching it in different directions. Some leather is stretchier in some directions than others. In a larger hide, you may even find areas that are more or less stretchy than other areas. If you cut a thin strip, fold, or seam across an area that stretches a lot, it will stretch while you’re cutting or stitching, and your piece will no longer fit with the other. This is why your template on paper fits perfectly, but your cut piece doesn’t.
Before cutting into your project piece, you need to examine it carefully. Under bright light, look for blemishes, scratches, and any loose fibers. Check for any discoloration or unevenness in the texture. Look for areas that seem too thick or too thin. Look for areas that are more flexible than other areas. You don’t want to find a piece of leather that’s perfect, because that’s rare. But you want to know what you’re working with so you can decide where to put your visible parts and where you can hide flaws. If you move your template a couple of inches, you can avoid an area that’s stretched or torn.
As a quick way to practice examining stretch, try tracing the same template onto several different pieces of scrap leather. Cut out the shape using the same knife and straightedge. Compare the resulting shapes. Are they the same? If not, try to understand why. Look at the grain direction and stretch of each piece. Try different orientations of the template. Stretch is easiest to see when you compare pieces that are supposed to be the same.
Stretch isn’t the only thing you need to pay attention to during the cutting phase. If you’re planning to stitch, you need to ensure that the leather won’t shift or stretch while you’re stitching. If the leather stretches or shifts while you’re marking stitch lines with a stitching awl or pre-punching holes with a stitching chisel, your stitches may end up too close together or too far apart. During dry-fitting, you may notice that your pieces don’t line up as smoothly as they should. You may think that the problem is with the stitching or the adhesive, but it may just be the leather. Examine the stretch and temper of the leather to see if there’s a problem with the material itself.
Don’t cut into your project piece of leather until you’ve inspected it carefully with your hands and eyes. Make sure you know which side is the grain side and which is the flesh side. Look at how the leather stretches and check for blemishes or damaged areas. The time you spend inspecting your leather will help you make better decisions about how to cut and assemble your project piece.
