Its been a long time

Well,

It has been a while since I've posted anything because there is going to be a major website overhaul with a new online store! So stay tuned.

The Tumbler Machine

There is a sense of historic romance when I see the wooden machines that make our leather. This particular machine is a tumbler. Leather slowly rotates in the barrel for six to ten hours for the desired pebbled texture.

Finished Leather

A finished vegetable tanned leather with a high gloss coat. This leather has not been processed to remove any marks or wrinkles on the leather surface.

Inroduction

Greetings to all the leather fans,

As my part of my first blog post I thought it would be a great idea to dive right into the basics of leather. As a leather accessories designer, knowing the material is an important part of the design process. Knowing which leather to use and how it can be used is a combination of creative design, functionality, and craftsmanship. Below is a brief interview of me done by Steven, a freelance writer living in Irvine.

Q: What is special about the leather you use and how is it beneficial?

A: Well, there are two ways in how leather is made. one is what’s called vegetable tanned and the other is chrome tanned. We use vegetation which is a natural tanning process. Vegetable tanned leather is more durable and does not use synthetic materials to create the leather. The result is a natural look and that has a high quality finish and texture.

Q: What is the process do you use to color your leather and will it affect the leather?

A: Natural (vegetable tanned) leather is beige colored. For some of our products like the wallet interiors and hand tooled belts, they are uncolored. Leather that is a different color from beige will have a layer of coloring painted on top of the leather or will have the coloring soaked into the fibers that is done during the creation process. In the photograph below you can see how natural the grey water based color soaks into the leather looks. It has a natural look that retains the personality and texture of the original leather.

Q: Please explain the idea of using vegetable tanned leather, how is it processed?

A: Vegetable tanned leather is how leather was originally made thousands of years ago. It is made by using vegetation - plants or foliage. Normally bark, leaves, and other foliage make up the secret ingredients in a liquid formula that raw animal skin soaks in for months to create leather. Making leather in this natural process is time consuming and requires dozens of steps and rotations to create the finished leather product.

Q: what is the biggest obstacle for using it?

A: Using vegetable leather leaves it in a natural state, so a lot of things that you don’t think about, like pores or veins, may have a hint of an impression on the surface. There are some people who don’t appreciate the natural character of leather. Leather is uniquely individual in fashion that it is a natural material and not a synthetically created fabric. This concept of leather is something we would like to expose more people to: an appreciation of the natural and individual characteristics that make leather unique.