How to Make Leather Strap Shelves

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Why settle for boring, premade floating shelves when you can make your own custom shelves with a bespoke leather accent? In today's project video, we'll show you how to make floating shelves with beautiful leather straps. This small detail will add a touch of elegance and style to your home. Make these leather strap shelves for your living room, home office or den — the possibilities are endless!

Video Chapters:

Tools & Materials Overview — 0:26 min.
Cutting & Roughing the Leather Straps — 1:39 min.
Gluing the Straps Together & Adding a Finish — 2:10 min.
Trimming & Punching Holes in the Straps Using a Template — 3:10 min.
Marking Guideline & Sewing — 3:35 min.
Burnishing & Beveling the Straps — 3:46 min.
Mounting the Shelves — 4:05 min.
Upcoming Project Teaser — 5:28 min.
Outro — 5:48 min.

Materials List:

Natural Vegetable Tanned Leather Side 2 to 3 oz. #123696
Fiebing's Pure Neatsfoot Oil 16 oz. #123802
Fiebing's Leather Dye (We used color Light Brown #123860)
Fiebing's Leather Balm With Atom Wax Neutral 4 oz. #123841
Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement 4 oz. #123837
Fiebing's Gum Tragacanth 4 oz. #123820
Tex 90 Thread
#18 Sewing Machine Needle

Also Needed:

1" x 8" x 4" Solid Maple Boards (from any hardware store)

Tools List:

Sailrite® Leather Strap Cutter #123268
Sailrite® Stainless Steel Leather Roughing Tool #123300
Sailrite® Leather Glue Brush & Container Set #123317
Sailrite® Leather Press Roller #123301
Sailrite® Scratch Awl #123270
Sailrite® Round Maul 1# #123969
Sailrite® Hole Cutter 1/8" #125478
Sailrite® Flat Head Leather Utility Knife #122558
Sailrite® Leather Double-Sided Sanding Sticks #123965
Sailrite® Leather Edge Beveler 5-in-1 Set #123299
Sailrite® Leather Edge Dye Pen & Container Set #123316
Sailrite® Multi-Size Leather Slicker #123330
Sailrite® Adjustable Leather Wing Divider #124919
Sailrite® Deluxe Fabricator® Sewing Machine Package (110V) #400600

This is a quick and easy leather project. In fact, it’s a great beginner project for leatherworkers just getting into the craft. You can make one shelf in about 30 minutes. Plus, only a handful of tools and supplies are needed, making this a great budget-friendly leather project. Make these shelves for yourself, or make them as a gift.

While making these leather strap shelves, you'll learn some essential leather crafting skills that you can use on future projects. Here are just a few of the techniques you'll quickly master:

How to cut leather.
How to glue leather pieces together.
How to dye and condition leather.
How to sew decorative stitches.
How to bevel and finish leather edges.

These DIY leather straps are completely customizable. We chose to dye and sew our straps for a more finished look, but if you like the look of natural veg tan leather you can skip these steps.

Sailrite® stocks undyed vegetable tanned leather in several weights and hide sizes. Choose from leather sides, leather panels and leather belly. We even offer a one-pound bag of leather scraps so you can practice dyeing, tooling and stitching without sacrificing your project leather.

What did you think of this beginner leather project? Do you have suggestions for more leather craft DIYs? Leave your project ideas in the comments section below. Your suggestion might become a future Sailrite Workbench video!