Leather craft – Spellbinding craft of Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh has given rise to incredible handicrafts. Among the wide range of alluring handicrafts leather craft is one of the chief craft works in Himachal Pradesh. It is no more a craft work but it has become an inseparable part of the life of the Himachalis.

Leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, colouring techniques or both. It is a major craft of Himachal Pradesh. The place that is extremely popular for their fantastic leather works is Chamba. They are designed with colourful embroidery made from yellow, red, green, blue, black, gold and silver. The pieces of leather works are so attractive that they instantly attract tourists. As a result, these crafts are highly in demand. This craft not only contributes to the luxury and need of the people but it also gives a hike to the economy of the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Tools

Dyes, oils, shoe polish, Cam tool, pear shader, beveler, seeder, veiner, glue guns, staple guns, leather splitting machines, leather preparation tools, punch pliers, leather decoration tools, mallets and stamps.

Materials

The main and most important raw material is leather. Different types of leather are required in this purpose as all patterns don’t suit a particular type of leather.

Popularity of Leathercraft

The leather craft of Himachal is very popular all over the world. The chappals and slippers that are crafted in Chamba are highly renowned and the first choice of the tourists. This leather chappal of Chamba is well-known because of its comfort and lightness.

Craft Process

Basic Structure

First, the craftsman prepares the basic structure of the leather craft. Like he may either choose to prepare a chappal or a shoe. Then he builds a pattern for the same on paper and trace it on leather. Before, starting the crafting work first the leather has to be stamped and dyed. After that it is given a preferable shape.

Stamping Leather

First, the craftsman dampens the leather by applying some water on it. As the leather gets damp it will acquire a dark color. When the leather is completely wet then it becomes soft and perfect for creating stamp impressions on it. In the next step the craftsman place the stamp on the piece of leather and creates preferable impressions on it.

Dyeing Leather

Dyeing is a very important process of leather craft. For dyeing leathers the craftsman mixes the dyes with spirits and alcohol. Alcohol is used to dye leather because alchohol gets nicely absorbed in leather and thus the color becomes long lasting. Various types of stains like highlighters or antiquing are often used by the craftsman in order to give a definition to some of the specific parts. Sometimes oil and shoe polish are also used for dyeing purpose as oils make the color darker and long lasting.

Carving Leather

The process of creating designs on leather is called leather carving. In the process of leather carving several tools are used such as cam, seeder, pear shader, beveler, swivel knife etc. Punching tools are also used in order to make holes inside the leather. The craftsman can create any kind of designs on the leather by proper use of the right tool and his imagination.