Notes from the workbench.

Occasional notes on materials, technique, and what is currently on the bench — not a marketing calendar, just what is actually happening in the workshop.

In-Depth Guides

Minimalist Wallets & EDC

Leather Watch Straps

Leathercraft Patterns & DIY

Workbench Notes

On saddle stitching, and why it is not just tradition

A sewing machine makes a lockstitch: one thread on top, one on the bottom, locked together at each puncture. Cut it anywhere along the seam and the whole line can unravel. A saddle stitch uses two needles and one waxed thread, each pass crossing through the same hole from opposite sides. Cut one stitch and the seam next to it holds — because there is no single point of failure. It is slower to sew by hand than to run through a machine, which is the actual reason most factories do not use it. It is not nostalgia, it is a mechanically different — and more durable — seam.

Why the numbering starts at the workshop, not the product line

Every piece is numbered in the order it is actually made, not by SKU or product line. That means a watch strap and a wallet made the same week sit next to each other in the sequence, not in separate counters reset for each design. It is a small detail, but it is the difference between a number that describes marketing tiers and a number that describes a single, continuous body of work.

What is currently on the bench

Testing a slightly heavier vegetable-tanned hide (approx. 1.4–1.5mm) for the next run of card holders, to see whether the extra body holds its shape better over the first few months of carry without adding noticeable bulk. More on this once there is something worth reporting.