Transistion To Leatherworking

[Jkirk3279]

Hi.

My name is William Carr, and our family owns The Trim Shop in Edwardsburg, MI.

Since around 1974, we’ve done tarps, custom boat covers, boat upholstery, and recarpeting pontoon boats.

We have two sewing machines; a Consew 226r with a Servo motor, and we just upgraded to a Pfaff 1245 that I’m planning to put a Servo motor in.

It’s time to switch gears in this business, as fewer people have boats now as versus 1974.

Plus, the Pontoon boats just keep getting bigger and the full covers heavier.

So; I thought about doing car interiors, and that remains a possibility.

But ideally, something smaller, shippable; something like... leatherworking.

That would make it possible to advertise online and bring in work past the radius people will tow a boat.

I’d love to hear how people here got into leatherworking. Custom holsters, etc, would be a joy to do, in my opinion.

Since the usual learning from an apprenticeship route doesn’t seem likely, I hope someone has a story about how they started on their own, identified their customer base, grew a market, and prospered.

Right now, I’m doing a Harley seat in leather. I’ve done enough boat seats to recognize how to make a pattern from the original, and I’m working on learning to pattern from scratch.

Anybody have inspiring stories of hard work and determination yielding success?

[zuludog]

In Britain there is a lot of interest in restoring & rebuilding classic cars and other vehicles, including military vehicles. Also historical re-enactment groups, so you could consider

Hoods, covers, tonneau covers for open top cars; covers & tilts for military vehicles

Look at soldiers from any period - Roman, Middle Ages, right through to Napoleonic period and beyond. Lots of haversacks, knapsacks, belts, ammunition pouches and so on, in canvas and leather.

American War of Independence & Civil War?

Covers for restored and replica covered wagons? (perhaps I've been watching too many cowboy films!)

There must be websites & magazines for this sort of thing, do your homework and see if you can spot any opportunities. Could offer to do a collaborative job with one of these groups at cost, just to get your name established, and would also help you find out what's required

Car interiors would be good, but I suspect you would have to invest in a lot of stock & equipment for a relatively small & specialised market. But you can wait months to have such work done, so perhaps there is a gap in the market. Concentrate on one make at first?

Now and again on this forum people have enquired about tuition & courses, on leatherworking of course. Can't remember the exact prices, but in Britain the cost of a leatherworking course is about £125 per day; £225 per weekend; and a few hundred for a week - that's just for the course, then you have to pay for accommodation. Could you offer something like that, but on your kind of work? Ask a local motel so you can offer a package deal

[Jkirk3279]

Okay, thanks to the guy from Northern England.

I was hoping someone would have advice on getting started.... you know, holsters, etc ?

[electrathon]

With your history and ability I would recommend that you do auto interior "kits". Find a popular car, pattern the seats, make a install video and sell it. There is a big demand for quality, do it yourself install kits. You will do them repetively so they get easy to do fast.

[Jkirk3279]

The Harley Seat came out pretty good. The customer was happy.

I discovered afterward that spray glue comes in even stronger bond than our usual; I should consider that when doing something with concavities.

photo.php