Leather Mustache

I love working with leather. Its one of the few textiles that is naturally water resistant super strong and believe it or not more environmentally friendly than any completely man made cloth. leather is a by product of the food industry and if we didn't give it a second life not only would most definitely be in a landfill, It would also completely end the story of the animal that it came from. there are some great documentary's out there if you'd like to learn more. There is one more thing I love more than leather and that is my children. I cherish any chance I have to enjoy leatherwork with my kids. So when my 7 year-old son asked if we could make a disguise together i jumped on the opportunity! The Leather mustache is perfect for a first project to do with kids. you can be as complex or as simple as you like and you really don't need fancy tools. Below are the supplies with alternates most would have on hand:

Vegetable tan leather. sorry cant substitute this one unless you want to make it out of clay or something.

Mustache cookie cutter to trace-can also use a paper cut out

swivel knife- You can just use a butter knife if you don't have one

Modeling tool- A nail or dull flat head screwdriver can be used as a substitute.

Razor knife- Sharp scissors' will work just fine Elastic- string would work

Leather punch- You can punch the holes with a nail

Dye- eh who cares about fancy leather dye use paint markers or whatever it may not last forever but they're kids I don't think they'll be wearing this when they're 30

Get a paper towel and dampen it with water. Then rub it evenly across the leather just enough so it changes color. This is called casing the leather. Be careful DO NOT soak the leather it will make it super squishy and hard to work with. Once you have "cased" your leather you can trace it with your modeling tool or substitute tool. if the line is hard to see you can go over it again until you have a nice clear indent to cut along.

Now that you have your shape traced you can cut it out and poke the holes for your string. We used a regular razor knife but if you don't have one you can use some sharp scissors. BE CAREFUL razor blades are very very.....VERY sharp and have no morals. They are rude and never apologize. The last one that cut me acted as If it didn't hurt anyone at all and just did their job.

to make the holes we used a punch about the same size as the elastic string. You can use a nail if you don't have a punch. We eyeballed a spot near the corners that looked about right for them.

Wet "case" your leather again. This step is all about the art. I'm no Banksy or anything i just made squiggly lines that I thought looked about right. I used my swivel knife but you can use a butter knife for this part. After My son and I were satisfied with our master piece, I went over the lines once more with a modeling tool to make the lines a little neater. This makes the cuts look more like smooth grooves instead of sharp and jagged.

Once that's done its time to dye it. I used Fiebings leather dye. You can use any number of things you have on hand that would stain your skin. there's a lot of home brew dye recipes out there a search will show you many options.

While the dye is wet flex your mustache into shape while its wet. you could do this before dying but kids are impatient. alright I AM impatient and why add another step. Once you have thoroughly dyed your mustache and undoubtedly your fingers and shaped it the way you like you get to wait. Ha thought you were ready to look like a 1970's biker cop didn't you. ( sorry couldn't help it)

once its dry ( the time depends on how you dyed it) you can tie your string on and your done.

Thank you for taking the time to learn a new skill and share in one of the oldest materials used by Humans. I hope you enjoyed making it as much as my son and I did.