Sewing, Mending, and Tailoring Thread - Necessary skills for putting your anime girl patches on your mallninja gear.

[Puff]

Okay, Kiwis.

Spoiler: Longer version

I bought a full nubuck hide (a suede process, so a full cow hide) with no textile or sewing experience beyond minor repairs, putting on patches, and arts and crafts with my grandma when I was in elementary school. I made what I bought it for (a cover for my fancy new Bible) using techniques for saddle and holster leather which I'm a little more familiar with and it turned out... fine? It was a struggle.
Anyway, I've got this hide and want to use it and no reasonable idea of where to start. I really like the idea of making a jacket, but that seems like a remarkably big project for a first real one, and I'm NOT buying a leather sewing machine, so hand stitching. I'm not a stranger to dumb, huge projects with no experience though, so I could probably manage if there were like resources to get started. I mean I went from no jewelry making experience to doing wedding bands for my brother and sister-in-law in a few months last year, sewing a jacket couldn't be that hard, right?

Tl;Dr:
I've got an almost full 2-3 oz suede hide and nothing to do with it. For those of you without leather working experience it's like purse leather. My stupid brain wants to do a coat or vest despite the obvious problems of experience.

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

Okay, Kiwis.

Spoiler: Longer version

I bought a full nubuck hide (a suede process, so a full cow hide) with no textile or sewing experience beyond minor repairs, putting on patches, and arts and crafts with my grandma when I was in elementary school. I made what I bought it for (a cover for my fancy new Bible) using techniques for saddle and holster leather which I'm a little more familiar with and it turned out... fine? It was a struggle.
Anyway, I've got this hide and want to use it and no reasonable idea of where to start. I really like the idea of making a jacket, but that seems like a remarkably big project for a first real one, and I'm NOT buying a leather sewing machine, so hand stitching. I'm not a stranger to dumb, huge projects with no experience though, so I could probably manage if there were like resources to get started. I mean I went from no jewelry making experience to doing wedding bands for my brother and sister-in-law in a few months last year, sewing a jacket couldn't be that hard, right?

Tl;Dr:
I've got an almost full 2-3 oz suede hide and nothing to do with it. For those of you without leather working experience it's like purse leather. My stupid brain wants to do a coat or vest despite the obvious problems of experience.

I learned to sew by doing a coat by hand, so nothing wrong with that. Just get a pattern and take it a little bit at a time

 

[Puff]

I learned to sew by doing a coat by hand, so nothing wrong with that. Just get a pattern and take it a little bit at a time

Where does one find decent patterns? Is there like a go-to place online?

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

Where does one find decent patterns? Is there like a go-to place online?

Amazon has them, along with eBay and such. The coat I made was a Confederate shell jacket using a Timeless Stitches pattern. There also tends to be pattern cabinets at craft stores so you can always try there. My next coat project is a custom drover’s coat that I’m basing on a Folkwear pattern I bought.

Also, to repeat some advice I’ve given earlier, freezer paper makes for great tracing paper so you don’t mess up your master pattern by cutting it up