If you are going to use a stencil to create a unique design on the leather, now is the time. It's best to do it before you have the pieces sewn together. I made the mistake of doing it afterwards. It still worked fine, but it would be best to do it before sewing.

To use the stencil, I placed it onto the dampened leather. I then used a smoothing tool (you could also use the back of a spoon) to smooth or push over the specific stencil I wanted transferred to the leather. Once done, I took out the swivel knife and cut along the lines. Re-wet the leather if it dries out. Then take out a basic beveling tool and your mallet and start by going around the outside edge lines with the tool. Tap it with the mallet and move it along the line a little, tap it again, move it along and continue on until you're done. Then, do the same with the inside lines. If you hit it harder, you can create deeper contrast and darker marks. Lastly, I used a tool that I had on hand for hair and used it along the center areas and out to create and interesting line texture. I also used the mallet and some letter stamps to create my intials on the piece.

After that step, it's now time to punch holes into the leather. First, I use some leather glue (or rubber cement) and place a small amount between the two pieces of leather, only along where the seams will be sewn. I try to place the small piece on the larger one evenly. Place a book or something heavy on top of the glued pieces to help them adhere better, and quickly. Sometime in this step, I also cut a piece off the left side of the leather to create the angled top piece. I just used a ruler, placed it on an angle and cut the leather after wetting it.

After gluing the pieces together and secure, I take out the 4 prong diamond hole cutting tool and the mallet. I go along the stitch lines created in the last step, to use the mallet to make the holes. If you want to make sure the spacing is even, then after creating your set of holes, place one prong from the end of the tool into the last hole you just made, when making the next set of holes. This way the spacing is very precise and even.

Creating the holes doesn't take too long. Then, I tend to sew using a saddle stitch and two needles. I've attached a video explanation that shows how to prep leather for sewing, and how to sew with two needles with a saddle stitch. In the video, the man is creating the holes one-by-one with an awl. I used to sew that way, but it takes a lot longer for me and tends to be more dangerous! I like the 4prong diamond punch a lot now. Whichever way you want to sew it is fine though.

When I punched the holes through the leather, I punched them through both layers of leather at once. If your leather is much thicker, this might not be feasible. Once the holes are punched, I then completed all the sewing. It looks like the sewing may take a very long time to complete as well, but I did it in the evening while my son was watching a movie. My hand was a bit sore, but I finished it!