DIY Woven Leather Footstool

The Sailrite^® Project Team is back at it with another fun leather DIY! We rehabbed an old, wooden footstool and turned it into a charming, distressed leather footstool. How’d we do it? We removed the existing woven fabric top and replaced it with leather strips, creating a woven leather stool that will add style and personality to any room. Let’s get started with today’s tutorial.

What’s not to love about this no-sew project? This leather footstool comes together easily with just a handful of leather-crafting supplies and some basic upholstery tools and supplies. We decided to dye our natural veg tan leather a warm brown color because we were going for that classic leather look. You can dye your leather any color or leave it undyed and let the veg tan leather darken naturally with age and use.

If you’re looking for quality leather-crafting supplies, look no further. We carry a wide assortment of Fiebing’s products. We have everything you need — from dyes and paints to conditioners and cleaners — to create one-of-a-kind leather goods.

Materials & Tools List:

• Natural Vegetable Tanned Leather Side 2 to 3 oz. (Small) #123696
• Fiebing’s Leather Dye Medium Brown 4 oz. #123864
• Fiebing’s Leather Sheen 4 oz. #123842
• Fiebing’s Pure Neatsfoot Oil 8 oz. #123801
• Gingher^® Leather Scissors Right Handed #123749
• Sailrite^® Long Nose Upholstery Staple Gun #121411
• 21 Gauge 3/8" Staples (Stainless Steel) #58010SS
• Sailrite^® Leather Strap Cutter #123268
• Fiebing’s Wool Daubers (12 pack) #123846
• Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" #102400
• Spring Clamp #50211
• Measuring Tape
• Scratch Awl
• Soft Cloth
• Gloves

Watch our short video to learn how to create your own woven leather footstool. And if you prefer written instructions, below the video is a full step-by-step tutorial.

DIY Leather Stool Instructions:

1. Measure your stool frame length and width for the strip lengths. Add 2 inches to that length for wrapping the strips around the bars and stapling to the underside of the bars.

2. Determine how many strips you want on each side and how much space you want between the strips. This will help you determine how wide to cut your leather strips.

Based on the bar lengths of our stool frame, we determined that we wanted 1-1/4-inch-wide strips with about 1/8 inch of gap between each strip. We suggest measuring the length of each stool side between the posts and then determining how much gap you want between each strip. The amount of gap is a visual preference, but we think between 1/8 and 1/4 inch of gap looks visually pleasing. From there, you can determine how wide to make your leather strips.

3. Use a strap cutter to cut your leather strips to achieve uniform strip widths. A strap cutter also makes cutting leather strips fast and easy.

4. Apply a coating of Fiebing’s Neatsfoot Oil to the veg tan leather strips to add moisture to the leather before dyeing. Allow to dry for a couple of hours.

5. With a wood dauber or other application tool, apply a coating of Fiebing’s Leather Dye in a circular motion. Multiple coats will further darken the leather. Coat the sides of the leather strips as well. Set aside to dry.

6. Buff the dyed leather with a soft cloth. With a clean soft cloth, apply a finishing coat of Fiebing’s Leather Sheen to the dyed strips. Set aside to dry.

7. Measure and mark the wooden bars with a scratch awl so your leather strips are evenly spaced along the bars.

8. Use a spring clamp to hold the strip in place while you staple the leather to the underside of the bar, hiding the staple from sight. Staple all the strips in one direction. Then rotate the stool to repeat the process, making sure to weave in and out of the leather strips already stapled to create the woven pattern.

9. Enjoy your woven leather footstool!