Been Away For Too Long, New Work !

[WScott]

Best wishes on the launch of the new website

I perused the old one and like what I saw. Very impressed with your focus on local supplies, handmade and quality goods

Cool stuff

[corter]

Hey Corter,

Funny that you posted this very recently. Your stuff is really what got me thinkin about starting in leathercraft.Your designs are simple and clean, and your craftmanship is quality and (in the best way) utilitarian. I feel like I'm finding myself in a very similar spot to where you were in 6 or so years ago; I have an unexplainable drive to design and produce qualitty (leather) products. With that in mind, where did you start? Where did first start selling what you produced?

Thanks for the inspiration,

Hoggy

Thanks dude! I started right here, on the pages of this forum. Learned everything from reading, then did it myself. I started selling my stuff on another forum relating to Japanese fashion- Japanese stores didn't sell to the US yet, so I made similar stuff and sold it here to kids my age (in college at the time). It kind of grew from there. The only advice I can give you is to admire other people's work, but only copy the work ethic. Be original in your design. Study the market, find holes, then fill them. It's much easier selling a product that no one else makes than convincing someone to buy your version of a product lots of people make. And it's nearly impossible to scale a handmade leather goods company- it took me 5 years, and I'm barely able to produce what I need to.

I'm curious as to what saddle stitch method you use to pump out 10 products a day. I've seen from your blog that you have prepunched holes, do you Dremel them?

Thanks!

Two needle, no stitching pony, no clue what it's called. I've pretty much been at this 50 hours a week for the past 5 years, so I sew without looking these days and it goes pretty fast. The prepunched you see on the blog is the new production method, I have cutting dies made now because my hands started giving me troubles (at 25....ugh!) and I didn't want to machine sew for obvious reasons. However, when I was hand cutting everything, I memorized my shapes and did not use templates- they waste time. Learn how to cut a straight line without a ruler, learn how to cut a curve without a template or tracing, and you'll fly through work. I just use a 4 prong diamond fork from Tandy to punch, and I was at 25-30 pieces a day before I switched to die cuts. Now, needless to say, it's higher than that.

Lots of wisdom in these few words. Most leatherworkers spend far too much time on technique, and far too little on brand positioning. Clearly, you're way ahead of the pack not just because of your leather skills, but also your business acumen.

Thanks man! I'm fortunate enough to like simple stuff I think, it took me 5 years to even design a proper logo for the brand It is true though, you hit a much broader market without floral patterns in everything. Though I do like traditional leatherwork a whole bunch!

Edited March 29, 2013 by corter

[shinelightshine]

I love this. A really great approach to a beautiful minimal aesthetic and high quality. This is right up my alley.

[Aamber]

Thanks! Andrew- yes, fold the fabric at the edges and make the fabric piece slightly smaller than the leather shell on the sides and bottom, then glue it down good. That way your leather seams will hang over the fabric, so the fabric will never see daylight on the sides and bottom.

Greene- everything there is hand sewn (besides the fabric tote bag), I don't machine sew. I usually make between 50-100 pieces a week not including belts and bracelets, so needless to say I've gotten pretty quick saddle stitching.

that's admirable! hand stitching is so much better than the machine one! warmer and full of life!

[JosiahRs]

Corter, I have much respect for you! Having a successful brand at a young age is admirable! I only hope that i can make this obsession in to a business at some point!