for general sling practice, you can usually get away with tennis balls in public areas.
With tennis balls, More people tend to want to learn what you're doing than tell you to stop.
So always carry a spare sling and several tennis balls so they can have a go.
The butterfly sling is a really good place to start as far as tennis ball slings goes.:
https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1344443925/15If you use loop attachments like i do, then you domn't need to find leather.
Because it grips the pouch at the sides without putting any stress on the holes, you can use: canvas, denim - almost any reasonably tough material