What continent do you live on?

And which chair of Paul’s are you trying to make?

That makes it easy. Oregon Leather Co on NW second a block north of Burnside or Tandy Leather on NE Whitaker Way near 122 Nd Ave will have what you need and all the leather working tools for more advance projects. Tandy seems to have a better selection of stuff like fasteners on display. Oregon leather probably has all that in the back. They move lots of leather and it’s a small show room.

Oregon leather has a remainder heap by the front door you might want to pick through. The last project I did I found some for 2 seats and enough for a couple tool rolls left over ( and a couple strops) for about $20.
It’s luck of the draw.

That particular stuff was about 1mm thick, so 2-3 oz. Looking at Paul’s video it looks like he is using maybe 4 oz stuff. Since it’s supported by the ply, thickness isn’t a big deal. Go by feel. Some leather is tanned softer than others.

For upholstery you want chrome tanned , I’d say anywhere from 2-6 oz, the foam will wear out before the leather does. 6 oz might be a tad thick for the small seat.
just make sure you allow proper room around the sides of your plywood.

the thinner stuff will be easier to work. On the 1 mm, I used a muslin under layer to make sure the foam was shaped right and then put the leather over that.. you might consider gaffer’s or duct tape around the edge of the ply to soften wear points.

And I found a large rotary Olfa fabric cutter makes short work of foam and leather. If your wife sews get your own damn cutter to avoid strife.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Larry Geib.

@ed

Most of those descriptive names don’t mean much to me since I don’t buy all that much leather. They are usually a description of how the leather was dyed and finished. Sometimes they dye with a marbled effect, some leather is pressed to look like the hide of a particular animal. Sometimes they make it look like alligator. I see one of the ones in your link says Ostrich.. I presume that means they pressed it while wet with a stamp that simulates that type of hide. ( sort of like chicken skin) Sometimes the finishes are made to hide ( enhance) flaws in the hides. These are real animals on an open range mostly they get life scars just like we do. . Really fine leather is from cows or horses that are coddled when raised. I used to live in horse leather farm country in Pennsylvania and the fences were even padded so the horses didn’t scar.

When I see Laredo I think of veg tanned leather with a pebbled finish pressed into it often seen on cowboy boots. but it may just mean the impression.

That’s why I said originally you should go by look and feel. I haven’t dealt with enough leather to know what to expect from the descriptors. Pay more attention to how the leather was tanned and the thickness. Chome or oil tanned will be generally soft and dyed dark to hide the blue color the chrome imparts to the raw leather. If you see a light color is usually vegetable tanned. Expect that will be pretty stiff. Lastly , pay attention to whether they tell you it’s top leather ( the outermost layer of a hide) or a split inner hide under it. The split will be less durable and less waterproof. They can buff a split to look like top leather, sort of.

Hope that helps.