Moroccan Pouf | Leather Joints

I’m working on a Moroccan Pouf design and posting some early prototypes. Still iterating on a few things, particularly how to make the leather joints stronger. Feedback/ideas appreciated.

Materials: NYC-based. I went to District Leather for the hide and SIL for thread/sewing supplies.

Prototype 1: Took 4 hours to sew so I decided to focus on a no-sew seam.

Prototype 2: Panels reduced from 16 to 8. Removed sewing with a laser-cut joint. The joints are interior, which concealed it well, but caused issues when stress was applied.

Prototype 3: First 1:1. 16 panels. Joints are exterior, which resolved the interior and increased strength of joints.

Prototype 3: Pleased with how the “look” turned out. Had to unfortunately end up gluing the 1:1 since the joints didn’t fully hold under my pandemic poundage (used “Boot Glue”). Working on a new seam that’s stronger. Goal is to make a zero-waste stitch that uses only leather, and no glue.

Really enjoyed using a traditional Moroccan design to make a larger volume, and recognizing that the laser bed size constraints are similar to the available leather in one cow hide.

I’ve mocked up about 5 different joint designs, but haven’t quite gotten there to make them strong enough.