My only advice it to use real leather! It is so much more rewarding. I make a lot of leather and suede utility belts and accessories and working with the real thing is just fantastic, no need for hems!! A sewers dream ;) I buy my leather in bulk from ebay or amazon. A lot of tanneries or leather distributers sell their scrap leather that they would normally just throw away for pretty cheap! You gotta search around a bit, but I have found several shipments of large miscellaneous pieces for about 40-60 bucks. A steal if you think about how much a full hide can cost.