The kind of leather used for general purposes is basil; it should be selected of an even texture and of a light colour, as the lighter coloured basil takes the oak varnish stain better than the dark.
Great care must be taken to select it soft and free from blemishes, as if dark and rough leather is used, the work when finished, even by skilful hands, will not have so good an appearance as the production of much less skilful artists, where good basil leather is used.
The skiver leather is used for making grapes, or very small leaves and flowers, and can be obtained at the same place as the basil leather; this kind is also very useful for thin stems and any minute portion of the work.
Sketch, either from nature, or from the example annexed, the leaf you intend to copy, upon pasteboard; cut it out very carefully; then place a piece of basil in _cold_ water for half a minute (not longer), unless the leather is unusually thick; the leather should then be taken out of the water, and pressed in a linen cloth until the surface becomes dry. Being thus prepared, lay it quite flat and place upon it the pasteboard pattern, holding it firmly down with the left hand, while with the right, draw a line round the pattern with a fine hard black lead pencil or the veining tool: while the leather is damp cut out the leaf with a pair of scissors or with the leather-cutting knife, as occasion may require; when smaller or larger leaves are required, a reduced, or enlarged, sketch should be taken, a pattern made of it in pasteboard, and applied in the same manner as described above, cutting out as many leaves as you require, and generally making about four sizes of them, as varying the sizes of the leaves adds much to the beauty of the foliage. Leaves all the same size would have a very formal appearance, as they must be veined before they are allowed to dry; too much leather must not be wetted at a time, nor more leaves cut out than can be veined. To vein the leaves, mark them with the veining tool on the smooth side of the leather strongly, by pressing heavily on the leaf, where a thick vein is required; and more lightly where only finer ones should be visible; for raised veins employ the end of a fine pair of scissors for the large, and a hard steel pen for the smaller veins. Being veined, the leaves should be bent and moulded as they are to appear upon the work when it is completed: they should then be dried rather quickly, as it greatly assists in the hardening.