Make your own acrylic templates quick and on the CHEAP. DIY leather tools to save you time & money!

[@junoleatherworks]

Great idea. That will certainly last longer than cracker and cereal boxes and poster board!

[@dougmulle2627]

Lol I use those too

[@NotSoWittyNow]

I do the same thing with plastic dou-tangs I got on clearance at Staples. works great for making durable reusable templates.

[@dadhands]

That’s a great idea!!

[@michaels2208]

Great idea. I'm going through my patterns trying to make sure I'm organized and have a good sample. I'm what was once called frugal, but my teen calls a cheap ass. I could do this and it wouldn't take up anymore room that what I have. Thanks!

[@ThebigGametDad]

Your awesome thank you for this :D

[@prairieironandleather]

I like it's see through so you can include or avoid any character or blemishes in the hide.

[@dadhands]

Yeah! That’s why I like these little clear ones haha totally forgot to mention that 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@donnaroberts164]

Excellent idea! Thank you for sharing.

[@sherylloyd1937]

Yay. I can do that

[@philipcasteel5845]

This is such a great idea! I have been making an extra piece of whatever I want to replicate from leather, and I just have a box of those. It sucks because Im using enough material for a whole product as a template, and they deteriorate REALLY fast... Not rot, but as it is a natural material, starts to change shape and need to be double checked and such... Thanks for the tool tip!

[@dadhands]

You’re welcome Philip 😊 I’m glad you found the video helpful and I very much appreciate your kind words!

[@dougmulle2627]

What a great idea!! So much better than my pop tart boxes. I'll be looking for some today

[@dadhands]

Awesome! Hope you found some 😊

[@dougmulle2627]

@@dadhands nope not at my Dollar General

[@dougmulle2627]

@@dadhands ya know if I had just gone to Dollar tree like you said in the video, I could have saved a bunch of time! Lol. I finally found some last night.

[@dadhands]

@@dougmulle2627 glad to hear you found some! 😊 Sometimes they can be hard to find, the Dollarama I go to doesn’t always have them, so I usually grab a few just to be safe when they do.

[@51watty]

What a fantastic idea.

[@johnnyc.5979]

That's an idea I didn't think of. The dollar store is such a great place to find things to improvise. I personally go to Goodwill, and find file folders. I cut them to A4 size, since most patterns are usually this size. I make my own patterns in Illustrator, and print to my brother laser, always choosing the option for "extra thick" paper. If you don't do that, when the paper comes out of the printer, the toner slides right off the paper. I experienced that when I printed mailing labels, and the USPS barcode would come off in places, and then it couldn't get scanned and my parcel would be delayed (true story, and I'm rambling). Anyway, for me, the file folders are thicker than most card stock, and I can usually get a box at Goodwill for less than five dollars, so much cheaper than any store. But I will admit your way doesn't require you to keep printing patterns when you need them.

[@dadhands]

That’s a rad idea too!! Thank you for sharing that 😊 I actually really appreciate the ramble too, I do it all the time, and honestly, I think you probably also saved someone else the headache of finding that out for themselves too haha. I’m a big fan of trying to find lower costs ways of doing things. It’s no secret that this is a very expensive craft, and I would much rather put the money into leather and hardware if I can find other areas to save some bucks. I have a pal that’s even printed patterns off on label paper so they didn’t have to trace it onto the cutting board material too. I may have mentioned that in this video haha but I have a total noodle brain and can’t remember.

[@valerieconrad6332]

Thx for this practical idea.

[@craftyterrier]

Great idea! Thank you for sharing 🙂

[@taylormedia1000]

A GREAT IDEA !!

[@sherylloyd1937]

Sticker paper yes!

[@guidelineuk]

Very clever 💯🔥

[@dadhands]

Thank you! ❤️🙏🏻❤️

[@Sunraes73]

This is what I use as well. 😊

[@dadhands]

Awesome ☺️🙌🏻

[@michelleparks]

This is probably cheaper than the pattern sheeting I got from Weaver. Thanks for the idea!

[@dadhands]

You’re welcome ☺️

[@BorealLeatherworks]

Good job.

[@dadhands]

Thank you kindly my friend! 🤗

[@automotivedyi1984]

Thank you

[@dadhands]

You’re welcome 🤗

[@cn-lo3dn]

nice idea thank you i am also a customer of oaleather buy most of my leather from them i only wish i found a place where i could buy those nice hardware that dont seem to be available in this part of the world c.noel vancouver canada

[@dadhands]

Thank you so much! For custom hardware, it’s best to approach a manufacturer, or sometimes people will laser engrave existing snaps and what have you 😊

[@MarkDennehy]

Nice source for the plastic. I've done the same with 1mm thick plasticard (ABS plastic sheets) for both leather and wood templates - stuff gets sold for modelling pretty cheaply on amazon and everywhere else and it has the nice benefit that if you're making something like a notebook cover, you can stick some of the plasticard in there to give a stiff backing to write on in the field so it's not just a unitasker :)

[@dadhands]

Great idea ☺️ I use that stuff in model making too!

[@kimeoff6301]

​. Mm!,? P