Hello guys, my nickname is my real one, so that's a good start I guess.
I have always been somehow amazed by the leather - I cannot think of another product, natural one, coming from a living creature that can be used in so many ways and serve us for years and years.
If you think for a moment, the lifecycle of a leather is magnificent itself - It comes from animals, which are being carefully taken care of for so long. Once they're stripped off of their skin, it has to go through other long processes only for it to be ready to go its owner, who will then create something from it. During my research (a bit later on that later), I had the chance to visit one of the factories, which supplies the leather for leading automobile manufacturers, including Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti and others - I was proved wrong from most of my based on nothing assumptions, only to see that for example the dying of the leather can require 4 (!!!!) strong male individuals to be done. The leather in those places is taken extreme care of, stored properly, and gently handled, to the extend that one (in this case me) can feel bad for buying it if this very same person knows he might waste it in unsuccessful attempts to make a product out of it.
I have also always been the creative guy - not only in my daily life, but also in my career - being responsible for various types of communication and advertising related issues, I have never relied on mathematics of physical laws let's say, but on something inborn, which one can't really be taught in school. I have also always wanted to create something with leather, but due to time and funds related issues I haven't been able to. Until 6 months ago, when I decided, that I want to do something which will excite me, especially having in mind that I didn't have interested advertising related projects coming (I have passion for cars). As you will see I didn't have that much spare time - for 6 months however, I was able to find 4 leather suppliers, which are for he exact type of leather i want - very soft, smooth napa automobile grade leather. I have never expected the prices to be like that. First thing first - most big suppliers will tell you to contact one of their dealers. Do you know what the price for 55sq.ft. of car grade hide is? Well it can go all the way up to 520 usd. One can find it for 400-420 however with quality issues or other defects. I tried contacting some of the suppliers and with the help of a lot of properly executed communication I got a price for even single hides. One of the suppliers deals with a very special car manufacturer - less than 20 cars / year build, with starting price of 2.18 M USD. While they refused to supply me with the exactly same colors as the ones developed for the car manufacturer, they gave me an option for other 60 very beautiful colors. I was really happy. After that I managed to get a tour in the above mentioned supplier, whose base is with very high level of security by the way.
So yeah, this part is accomplished. I will order 2 hides (dark colors), the coming days, and I will try to snag a half of a hide of bright red color, in case they have leftovers. I also know the exact suede material which I will be using. I really enjoy working with the material, understand designing things out of. I plan to design laptop cases, sleeves (really simple), which will be done for my family at first. I do not have the sewing machines, time, or material but I cannot wait until I get to working the material - drawings, cutting it, taking care of it, mixing it with other materials.
I have a lot of questions, which are yet to be answered - currently researching self healing cutting mats and cutting tools for the leather - while it is very soft and very think - between 1.0mm and 1,4 mm (so less than 1/2 of an inch) I need the proper tools to cut very sharp edges (I just love sharp-oriented designs). I have seen those extremely big tables where the whole hide can be layed down - I think they are pretty expensive and I don't really want to invest in this, especially having in mind I am planning of making / selling no more than 5-6 cases montly (I dont have the time, you know). I will do everything, including gluing the suede to the inside of the leather (I have read this will also make the leather hold its shape, so the cases will not be that flappy and yet soft on the outside) but I will leave the sewing to a professional, which is also almost chosen. Thanks if you read the whole thing!
