NEEDZ MOAR LEATHERWORKING!

So I was at the shop one day and it was a regular recession retail Friday (aka SLOW WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT - I've taken to bringing a lengthy book to the shop to at least be semi-productive) and in walks this typical looking homey, wearing some fitted jeans and a generic looking flannel.  

"Oooh, a customer, maybe we'll actually make a little green today", I naively thought.  

At that precise moment, a bunch of other customers herded into the store and things got a little hectic, as I was the only one manning the shop.  As it turns out, nobody wanted to buy anything and had set out to the shop to just mess up the displays, so I was worked up for nothing.   Inevitably, I would hear a little a bit of the customers making casual conversation and I picked up that the first customer, named Sonny, was a carpenter by trade.  

Wow.  I mean, Jesus was a carpenter, right?  I'd always daydreamed of being a skilled artisan.  Getting apprenticed to a master-craftsmen, rising to the rank of journeyman and then earning the right to be called a master of your craft is just so darn romantic!  Working with your hands, being your own boss, keeping your own schedule.  Seems like the life to be had for every pencil-pushin' button-masher imprisoned in their own cubicles.  Of course I was almost immediately interested.

We talked it up - chopped it up for a good hour.  He was a good dude.  Very down to earth and humble.  Willing to admit that the "life" just wasn't all that, that it was largely imagined and idealized.  He was just as chained to his craft as everyone else is chained to their jobs.  He had gone into it blindly, no master-craftsmen for him to latch onto.  In fact, he said he pretty much sucked hard at everything he put his hand to until he got a lot more skilled, and actually found a niche.  Well now he's one of the world's foremost carpenters in the field of S&M Dungeon-craft and his workshop is busy year-round.  So you can imagine why I chose not to show any pictures considering the perverse nature of his pieces, but it was interesting to say the least.  And he left the shop without buying anything to boot!

Well this got me thinking.  You can learn most anything online.  So why not try something I'm interested in?  Most denim aficionados become semi-interested in leather by nature of the vice (almost anything that ages beautifully is worth considering as adornment), and anything handcrafted (especially from Japan) has a price tag that is hard to justify except for in a moment of weakness, so why not try myself?  A belt can't be that hard to make.  So let's make it happen, cap'n!

Images courtesy of Corter Leather.

Slub-a-Dub-Dub!

I've worn my BSPs (not every single day) for about 13 days now, and here's an update on how they're doing.  

I took a pic of their hairy goodness with sunlight seeping in through the window.  Notice the indigo-colored thread used for the arcuates.  They'll look nice once the denim starts to fade.

Here's the denim laid out in natural light.  You can see where they've stretched and where the combs/whiskers have start to set.

Orange Selvedge!  I got them hemmed/chain-stitched at The Stronghold in Venice last week.  I took off about 3 inches, and the Union Special chain-stitch machine worked its magic in under 15 minutes.

Some belt evo.  This hefty belt from Tanner was natural before I oiled it with mink oil and let it age.  Oh, and I got a little thinner in the process, hence the belt notch moving.  

A New Day

SUP.

So today a tidy little package came in for me from Sydney, Australia by way of a Superfuture transaction gone right.  The seller said it'd be here in a week and he was true to his word, perfectamente.  

My size 32SE05BSP's were here to play.  They come with a ginormous inseam (39 inches pre-soak) but the good thing about the unsanforized cotton is that it'll shrink up to 3 inches in the inseam, so they'll fit post-soak just fine, with some stacking.

I figured I'd give my other jeans (that I shot yesterday) a nice wash in Dr. Bronner's herbal and gentle soap concentrate (peppermint!).

And then also take a picture of my old Imperial Dukes that I dug out of my dusty drawers.  These weren't bad, my only complaint was that the pockets were a tad obnoxious and the leg opening was too large (I did hem them about 4 inches).  They do look pretty nice though, apart from the cellphone in front pocket fade and the unbalanced whiskering.

And now the new project.  I love how The Flat Head cotton fades, but the fit was too off for me to my heart into my other jeans.  Maybe I'll give them to someone else with more junk in their trunk to finish off, if they're willing.  I'd hate to see them do nothing.  So the BSP's are the perfect option for me.  Slim-straight with a small leg opening, a fit thats snug on my waist and will fit better once the starch comes out and the cotton softens up.  I can't wait.  Now I'll be able to remember the first day I put them on (I can never remember dates, for the life of me.)  Here we go baby.  Novemeber 20th, 2008.