National Leathercraft Day Date in the current year: August 15, 2024

Leather is a strong, durable, and flexible material made by tanning animal skins and hides to prevent decay. It can be used to make an impressive variety of items ranging from clothes, footwear and accessories to sports equipment and protective gear.

Leather making is one of the world’s oldest arts and crafts. There is evidence that hideworking and tanning were practiced 400,000 years ago, and the earliest confirmed leatherworking tools are dated 5,000 BC. During those early times, people made leather from the hides and skins of animals they hunted or raised for food and used it for clothing, shoes, and shelters. Ancient civilizations found new uses for leather; it was used to make bags, boats, harnesses, belts, armor and shields, scabbards, quivers, waterskins, and even jewelry.

The modern art and craft of leatherwork began to develop in the Middle Ages. Throughout the Middle Ages and early modern era, craftsmen came up with and mastered new techniques that allowed them to make a wide range of high-quality leather items such as fancy shoes and bags, hats, aprons, book covers, and even furniture.

Before the Industrial Revolution, all leather items were handmade and thus expensive. The Industrial Revolution changed that: new technological processes and machines made it possible to mass produce leather goods. Of course, leather still wasn’t the cheapest of materials, but technological progress made leather goods more widely available and affordable.

Today, leather manufacturing is a multi-billion dollar global industry, but traditional leather crafting is still practiced by people around the globe. For some, it’s just a fun hobby, while for others, it’s a full-time job that pays the bills and a creative outlet at the same time.

Leathercrafters use a variety of techniques – some ancient and some new – to turn pieces of leather into craft objects or works of art. These techniques include dyeing, painting, carving, stamping, molding/shaping, laser cutting/etching, perforation, and pyrography. Using these techniques with a great level of skill, leathercrafters create unique, exquisite and durable items that can serve their owners for years and even decades.

National Leathercraft Day was launched in 2018 by Tandy Leather, an American retailer and wholesale distributor of leather goods and related products. It is meant to celebrate the art and craft of leatherwork and highlight the skill and creativity of leatherworkers.

There are many ways to celebrate National Leathercraft Day. You can wear your favorite leather jacket or shoes, buy a new leather product from a local leathercrafter, sign up for a leathercraft class or watch leather crafting tutorials on YouTube, and share photos of your favorite leather piece on social media with the hashtags #NationalLeathercraftDay and #LeathercraftDay to spread the word.