Beginner Leatherworking Project: How to Make Leather Coasters

X-HT-300746

Are you a beginner leather crafter or a DIYer interested in getting into leatherwork? Coasters are a fantastic beginner leatherworking project. You can use leather scraps while practicing skills like cutting, gluing, sewing, beveling and burnishing — all in a small and simple project. A leather coaster is a great beginner project because the shape is simple, it doesn’t require a lot of complicated sewing, and you only need a handful of tools and supplies. In today’s quick leather DIY project, we’ll show you how to make a square coaster with rounded edges and stitching around the perimeter. The stitching adds an attractive, finished look to the coaster. Join us for this simple leather project.
Materials List:
  • Stonewall Caramel Chrome Tanned Leather 2 to 3 oz. Side & Panels #126366
  • Natural Vegetable Tanned Leather Panels 4 to 5 oz. #124868
  • Fiebing's Gum Tragacanth 4 oz. #123820
  • S-18 All-Purpose Adhesive 4 oz. #124192
  • Groz-Beckert® #18 Leather Sewing Machine Needles 135x16 Triangular Point (10 pack) #123832
  • Tex 90 UV Bonded Polyester Thread
Tools List:
  • Clear Acrylic Ruler Square 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" #123091
  • Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter 60mm #965511
  • Sailrite® Self Healing Double-Sided Cutting Mat 24" x 36" #123133
  • Sailrite® Leather Press Roller #123301
  • Sailrite® Flat Head Leather Utility Knife #122558
  • Sailrite® Leather Burnishing Machine #123327
  • Sailrite® Adjustable Leather Wing Divider #124919
  • Sailrite® Leatherwork Sewing Machine #300800
  • Sailrite® Battery Operated Thread Burner #122432
  • Barry King #00 Grooved Edger #122992
  • Sailrite® Multi-Size Leather Slicker #123330

Our coaster is made of two layers of leather — a thin layer of chrome tanned leather on top and a thicker layer of vegetable tanned leather on the bottom for thickness and rigidity. You can use just one layer of leather as long as it’s rigid enough. 

We’re using scrap leather from our Stonewall Chrome Tanned Leather collection for our coaster’s top layer. This gorgeous dyed chrome tanned leather has a vintage, distressed look that will add a high-end, luxury look to your next leather craft project.

X Ht 300746 2
Choose from nine stunning colors in the Stonewall Chrome Tanned Leather collection.

 

Ready to learn how to make leather coasters? Follow our step-by-step written instructions with photo tutorial below.

DIY Leather Coasters:

1. Cut slightly oversized squares from two pieces of leather. We used one piece of 2-3 oz. chrome tanned leather and one piece of 4-5 oz. vegetable tanned leather. But you could use any firm leather that gives the coaster rigidity.

X Ht 300746 3

 

2. Use contact cement to adhere the pieces together. Glue the back side of the chrome tan to the top grain side of the veg tan. Use a water-resistant contact cement. We recommend S-18 All-Purpose Adhesive.

X Ht 300746 4

3. Use a leather press roller to smooth the glue between the layers and adhere the layers firmly together.

X Ht 300746 5

4. Use a square ruler or acrylic ruler to cut the coaster to its final dimensions. 

X Ht 300746 6

5. Round all four corners of your coaster with a flat head utility knife or corner punch.

X Ht 300746 7

6. Sand the corners of the coaster to smooth them out.

X Ht 300746 8

7. Mark your stitching guideline with a wing divider. We marked our stitch line about 1/8" from the edge. 

X Ht 300746 9

8. Sew around your coaster, sewing over the first two stitches to lock your stitches in place. Use a thread burner to trim and seal your thread ends. 

X Ht 300746 10

9. Bevel the edges of the coaster. Since we used a softer chrome tan piece for the top layer, we just beveled the veg-tan piece. We used a very narrow grooved edger — size #00 or #0 work best.

X Ht 300746 11

10. Finish the edges. We recommend burnishing, dyeing or painting the edges for a polished look. For this example, we burnished the edges with gum tragacanth. Evenly apply the gum trag with your finger and burnish with a wood slicker or canvas cloth.

X Ht 300746 12

Optional step: Apply a water-resistant topcoat like Resolene. Our Stonewall Chrome Tanned Leather is already water resistant, so we skipped this step.

How did your coaster turn out? Tag #sailrite on social media so we can see all the bespoke leather crafting goods our customers are making. And if you have more ideas for leather projects, leave your suggestions in the comments section below. Happy crafting!

!