People ask two questions before booking. Do I need any experience, and will I actually finish something. No, and yes.
Here is the whole three hours.
Before you arrive
Nothing to bring and nothing to prepare. Leather, thread, tools and an apron are here. Wear something you do not mind getting dye or wax on, and take rings off if you would rather not have them marked.
The first twenty minutes
Choosing the hide. You see the side it comes from and where your panel is cut. Full-grain vegetable-tanned leather has scars, brand marks and wrinkles, and understanding why those stay is the first thing that changes how you look at leather goods.
Then the piece is chosen. Something that can be genuinely finished in the time, not a kit that gets assembled.
Cutting
Marking to a pattern and cutting to the line. Most people are surprised by how much force a sharp blade does not need, and how much a dull one does.
Marking and punching
The stitch groove is set, then holes are punched with an iron and a mallet. This is where the room gets loud and where everybody relaxes, because it is the first step that feels like making something.
Punched holes push fibers aside rather than removing them. That is why the leather closes back around the thread later.
The saddle stitch
Two needles, one thread, alternating through each hole. It takes ten minutes to learn and a lifetime to make tidy, which is a fair description of the whole craft.
This is the longest section of the session, and the reason a machine seam and a hand seam behave differently is explained in saddle stitch versus machine stitch.
Edges
Beveling, sanding, wetting and burnishing until the cut edge closes and shines. Almost nobody expects this step and almost everybody says it was their favorite. It is the difference between a piece that looks homemade and one that does not.
Stamping
Initials or a name, set with brass letters into damp leather. One strike each. The method is described in hand-stamped brass.
What you leave with
The piece you made, finished, in your hand. Not a kit to complete at home.
It will not be perfect. Somebody's stitch line will wander and somebody's corner will be proud. That is what a first piece looks like, and in a year it will be the one they still have.
Practical details
- Beginner Workshop. $145 per person, three hours.
- Private Group Session. From $125 per person, minimum six people. Birthdays, bachelor and bachelorette parties, family groups.
- Corporate Team Building. From $2,500, up to four hours, at the studio or on site.
The studio is a working bench rather than a shop floor, so sessions are arranged in advance. Book or ask at studio workshops.