This is NOT a beautiful piece of leatherwork by any stretch of the imagination, I know that! It was a test to see if I could use my vinyl cutter to cut some 1.2mm thick veg tan leather. I used my Silhouette Cameo with a deep cut blade and cut out my maker's mark and then saddle stitched it onto this black cap. I also cut out a thin strap and stitched that on as a dual pen/pencil holder while in the workshop.

For this, you will need (Affiliate Links)

Silhouette Cameo 3 (USA)

Silhouette Cameo 3 (UK)

Silhouette Deep Cut Blade (USA)

Silhouette Deep Cut Blade (UK)

Fabric Glue (USA)

Fabric Glue (UK)

Step 1: Leather

I started with some 1.2mm thick Veg Tan leather. I got these bits quite cheap as they were offcuts on eBay, and are perfect for little projects and test like this. I cut a small square off this piece using my Exacto Knife.

Step 2: Cutter

So now we get to the main bit. This whole thing was to test if I could use my vinyl cutter to cut veg tan leather. I've seen people use this for faux leather, but I wanted to use real leather. After a few tests, I realised I needed a deep cut blade.

One thing I would recommend is having a spare or rough cutting matt as I do here. For experiments or first tests with new material I often make mistakes and end up cutting into the matt and ruining it.

I set the deep cut blade to it's max depth, and slowed the speed down in the software. I also did 4 passes on the leather. I made sure to set the leather down with the flesh side facing up, as the small fibres on the flesh side would not stick down well. Because of this it was important to remember to mirror my logo before cutting. I also cut a thin strap to use as a pen holder.

Step 3: Punch & Glue

I ran around the edges with my hole punch to make the stitching holes. Usually, I use my edge groover to make a nice clean groover around the shapes. This helps the stitching sit flush with the leather, and helps set a path for the forks to ensure they are nice and straight. But the leather was so thin it just wouldn't work. So I had to go without, it worked okay but could have been better!

Then I used some high tack fabric glue to hold the patch onto the cap. I had to make sure that the middle parts around the 'C' are stuck down properly.

Step 4: Stitch

As usual I used some .6mm thick waxed thread I saddle stitched this onto the cap, it was quite hard work as I guess there is some pretty thick cardboard at the back.

Step 5: Balm

I didn't want to dye the leather as I loved the colours of the black cap with the natural leather, and with time it will get a beautiful natural patina.

So I used my own blend for leather care, it adds great protection and cares for the leather really well.