Leather is needed to smith or improve leather armour while leather strips are needed to create all types of armour. By using the tanning rack at most blacksmith workstations, you can turn pelts into leather, or turn leather into leather strips. Leather Armour is created by using the pelts of animals that you have killed.The tasks he gives appear under ' Miscellaneous' in your Quest log. To begin improving the Smithing skill, talk to Alvor in Riverwood. The Smithing skill is used to create weapons and armour using metals and other materials available in the land of Skyrim, or to improve existing weapons and armour.