Restoring vintage leather pouffe advice (with pics)

[Greenartywitch]

I was given this large 70 year old pouffe today, originally bought in Egypt :).

I have experience of up-cycling furniture, but I have never worked with leather.

Would anyone have any advice on the best way to add & sew the missing patch of leather (as pictured)? where could I source the patch and what needle and thread should I be using?
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Any advice is much appreciated.

I would think a curved needle would work best. You can buy leather on ebay. You needs a small piece which is a similar thickness to the existing leather. The colour can be changed with leather dye if it isn't quite right but you can only go darker so start lighter. You also need special thick thread for leather.

@Geneticsbunny

Thank you so much! that's so helpful.

Also, you probably want to premake the thread holes before you attach the new bit of leather otherwise sewing with a curved needle will be impossible.

I’d go to a charity shop and see if I could find an old bag to cut it from. Definitely pre punch the leather for stitching and use two threads to sew from either side so the stress is on the stitch not the leather.

Thank you both for the additional advice! really helpful too.

Funnily enough I was thinking of having a look at old leather bags in charity jobs today :).

Ooh there's a challenge!

I'd really recommend this leather restorer - I used it for an old sofa recently after using LOADS of products, and this is the only one that worked. AND it comes in a lovely teal that I think would work for your patches!

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EI81BU

I'd try a colour restorer and then go over the whole thing with a general beeswax type leather wax. Makes a huge difference.

Thank you for the additional advice.

I have used Scratch Doctor products in the past to restore the colour on my leather sofa and to paint an armchair a completely different colour! They are indeed good products to us.

I have managed to find an old leather bag in a charity shop this morning that I can cut up and use to fill in the missing bits of leather so that is a good start :).