Canvas

Fabric and Canvas goods will be one of the new additions in the next few months.

New Hides

Indigo Stained

I don't really buy many pieces of clothing. When I do, it usually takes me a bit of research on sizing because I'm pretty tall, so I was happy to finally find a nice workshirt offered by Rogue Territory. As it was made out of raw denim, the first thing I did was soak it in hot water to soften it up and make sure I didn't get indigo all over the couch or car seats. It bled a lot, which I was happy about, but somewhere inbetween the sink and the clothes line it dripped all over a chunk of 6oz leather. While I thought at first it was just water, the leather dried to reveal that indigo had indeed stained the leather, and it was stunningly beautiful. So this one kind of fell into my lap: indigo stained snap wallets. 

I only had enough for three, so this is a very limited offering. Each one is hand numbered, and in the spirit of denim each one comes in a "red tab" heavy canvas bag that I made up on my new sewing machine. They have 6 card slots and a bill slot on the inside, and I used some new handmade coin concho snaps. The shells have been oiled to lock in the indigo- though I don't know if the stains will get darker or lighter, they're locked in. The inside is natural untreated as usual.  Available in the store now!

Rivet Rules

Rivets can be confusing, especially when trying to figure out whether they have a "top" and a "bottom". Truth is, they don't- they have a smooth side, and then they have the rough side where they're hammered together. Rivets should be peened- that is, hammered round or smooth with a ball head hammer- and then the smooth side can be domed if it's facing out using a dome punch. I personally like a flat rivet, because I like that the leather around it reacts to the shape. 

The rivet rule is simple- the smooth side goes on whichever side of the piece that will be making contact with the most fragile items. On saddles, the smooth side is facing in so the animal doesn't get irritated. On bags, I usually face rivets in on the front or back, where things like laptops would get scratched, and face them out on the sides and bottom, because they come into contact with skin and I don't want anyone getting scratched (even though I hammer them nice and smooth, can never be too careful). On the Brewster collection I face them in, because I think they look nice and they won't get caught on pockets. 

Here's a bag I finished today. It's about 10x12", all hand dyed black with hand brushed nickel hardware. lots of rivets in a couple different sizes, facing a couple different ways. I like using different sizes because smaller rivets just look better on smaller straps. 

Used

Ryan runs a great blog over at Simple Threads. He's created this wonderful image of his Corter bifold, which I think really captures the true spirit of "Handmade in New England". Head over for more photos of his Corter collection along with great menswear inspiration.