After many attempts where I would take 3–4 photos at the beginning and then forget to continue, I finally managed to photograph the entire process of making a leather keychain, from start to finish.
This keychain is made from two types of leather, which I first glued together using contact adhesive.
The two pieces are different, and they are glued together on the flesh side of the leather.
The cutter is made of steel and mounted in a wooden base.
I have a leather cutter in the shape of a guitar. I use it by placing the leather over the cutter and gently tapping it with a rubber mallet.
Once I have the shape, I go around the edges with a tool that marks a line which I will use as a guide for making the stitching holes, keeping them at an equal distance from the edge.
After seeing the colors on both sides, I decided that I didn’t really like the combination and that the guitar was getting lost in the texture. So, using the same process, I made a new guitar using only red leather.
I added a small plastic rivet to the new guitar, which looks like glass.
All that was left was to stitch the two pieces together, using two needles at the same time, alternating between the two sides.
The thread is specially made for leather and is waxed.
Finally, I applied some leather balm to the guitar, to condition the leather and give it a nice finished look and I attached the leather piece to the keychain hardware.
