Fashion Design Tuutorial: How to Cut Leather Step-by-Step

Learn the basic tips you need to know to make your leather accessories look professional and precisely cut, with Annoni Bags

Annoni Bags is a brand of hand-crafted handbags and wallets founded by Gustavo Annoni (@gus_annoni), an Argentinian lawyer become saddler who promotes handmade leather design through his fine, meticulous work.

Gustavo teaches you the step-by-step techniques you need to cut a piece of leather or cowhide, and achieve an elegant design full of craftsmanship.

Have a look at the following video:

You’ll need these materials:
- A piece or side of leather
- Paper pattern
- Sticky tape
- Pencil
- Ruler or triangle
- Knife or cutter

Tip: Select a flawless section of leather

It’s important to remember the following tips before starting to cut leather. As it’s a natural, unprocessed material, leather can have a few imperfections. Remember to work on areas that are free of marks and scratches, to ensure an elegant, beautiful bag or wallet.

How to cut leather in 4 easy steps

1. Mark the shape you want to cut out with a pattern
Select a large piece of leather, also known as a ‘side’ and place a paper pattern onto it to mark out your cutting lines. You can use any kind of paper to make your pattern. Remember to make it in advance to ensure it matches the precise measurements needed to make your design.

2. Attach the pattern to the leather
Use little pieces of sticky tape to stick the four edges of the pattern down onto your side of leather. This allows you to mark out the size of your piece perfectly and gives you a precise cut.

3. Draw around the edges of the pattern
Use a pencil and a ruler or triangle to draw thin lines onto your leather, to mark out your pattern so you know where you have to cut.

Check to make sure you can see the lines before removing your pattern, to help you make a precise cut.

4. Cut your leather with a knife
Once you have removed your pattern, carefully cut along your pencil lines using your knife or cutter. Using the ruler or triangle to guide you makes the cut more precise. And it also helps keep your fingers away from the knife and avoid any accidents.

Press the edge of the knife gently into the leather and drag it along the edge of the ruler. You can repeat this step to reinforce your cut.

Now you’ve learned the basic technique for cutting leather you can design beautiful hand-made accessories! If you liked this tutorial and would like to progress with Annoni Bags, don’t miss his online course: Handmade Leather Bag Creation for Beginners.

You may be interested in:

- Soft Toy Creation for Beginners, a course by Maria Mandea.
- Decoration Techniques with Acrylic Resin, a course by Flo Corretti.
- Wooden Spoon Carving, a course by Barcelona Wood Workshops.

And if you want to explore craft in more depth:

- Top 15 Courses for Those who Love Crafts.
- 20 Craft Artists to Follow in 2021.
- Free Patterns to Make a Leather Bag With Your Hands.