【明報專訊】Leather crafting is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art.

◆Tools and materials

．Leather hide is a treated piece of animal skin for you to work on.

．As leather is thick, you need to punch holes with chisels(鑿子) with the help of a hammer (槌子).

．Then you can sew them with needles and spools of colourful waxed linen threads(蠟線).

◆Did you know?

Leather can be made from the skin of a wide variety of animals. They have different strengths, durability and patterns. Cows and sheep are common sources of leather. However some weird kinds of leather come from salmons, alpacas(羊駝) and ostriches(鴕鳥)!

◆The trend

Many young people love handmade items for their uniqueness. In many workshops and interest classes people are taught how to make leather items of different sizes, ranging from a small key holder to a briefcase (公事包). (picture 2)

◆World record

The earliest leather shoe is 5,500 years old and was discovered by archaeologists in Armenia(亞美利亞). The shoe is made of cowhide (牛皮) and was found containing grass, which may have served to maintain the shape of the shoe. The shoe is roughly equivalent in size to a current women's size 7 but it is not known whether the shoe belonged to a man or a woman. (photo.3)

■Glossary

spool (n) 小卷

durability (n) 耐用度

weird (adj) 古怪的

archaeologist (n) 考古學家

[Smarties' Power English 第206期]