Leather library
Every journal, keyring and accessory I make begins life as one of the hides below.
Leather has always fascinated me because no two hides are ever the same.
Every scar, wrinkle and mark tells the story of an animal’s life, and from the day your journal arrives, it begins collecting your story too. That’s one of the reasons I love working with traditionally tanned leather so much. It becomes more beautiful the more it’s used.
Meet the leather
I wish you could feel (and smell!) each piece before buying, but in our virtual world, this is the next best thing.
Provenance is extremely important to me when choosing leather. I want to know where each hide comes from, and that the tanning process has as little environmental impact as possible.
It’s taken me years to find my holy grail of tanneries, and the quality of leather I prefer working with and using day to day, so let’s meet each colour and find out where it’s from.
- Acorn brown - Badalassi, Italy
- Aqua blue - Badalassi, Italy
- Berry red - Badalassi, Italy
- Briar embossed - Horween, USA
- Moss green - Badalassi, Italy
- Mustard yellow - Badalassi, Italy
- Plum purple - Badalassi, Italy
I prefer working with leather that is between 1.8mm and 2.2mm thick. I find this gives me the best feel and stiffness for my journals and accessories, whilst knowing they’ll last you for years to come.
Badalassi Pueblo, Tuscany, Italy
I love working with this leather so much that it probably makes up around 80% of the leather I use.
It has the most beautiful, matte texture that gets better and better with daily use as it develops a deep, rich patina unique to you. Exposure to the elements, along with the natural oils in your hands will cause the surface to smooth over and develop a soft, subtle sheen.
It is dyed right through, rather than having the dye painted onto the surface of the hide. Colours may darken, especially the blue as daylight will develop the bright turquoise into a deep, rich teal over time.
Here’s my Aqua A5 journal after about a year of daily use alongside a piece of unused Aqua blue leather.
You’ll see that my journal’s also picked up little scuffs and scratches, each one of which tell our story together.
Watching the patina develop over time is one of the joys of working with, and using a high quality, traditionally tanned leather.
Horween, Chicago, USA
This is a very special leather. Again, it’s a full grain, vegetable tanned leather, that is treated with a higher blend of waxes and oils during the tanning process than the Badalassi leather. As a result it tends to have a slightly smoother, waxier finish.
I’ve bought many Horween hides over the years as it’s very popular with my customers, and the flesh side (the back of the hide) can either be waxy or slightly fluffy. Either way it will age beautifully.
The embossed finish on this leather brings to mind the thickets and hedges around the lanes of our farm, hence the name ‘Briar embossed’.
Please note:
Leather is a natural product, and over an entire hide there will be subtle colour changes, variations in thickness, scuffs and scars. I work around these to ensure as even a finished piece as possible.
Occasionally I’ll make a piece that highlights a scar or tannery stamp (the printed stamp on the rear of the leather). I love how these details celebrate the history and provenance of the leather. As they’re rare, they’ll only appear from time to time. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram if you’d like to know when one becomes available.