Time to Reflect and Breathe

End of the Year.

What a year.

Twenty days into 2021 and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

Around this time last year I was hanging pictures on the walls of my studio. I had notebook pages filled with plans for what I hoped to do in 2020. A month later I would be reading about about Covid in the US. A month after that I would pick my son up from preschool for the last time. Shortly thereafter I went to my studio, packed up what work I thought I could do for the next few weeks, and prepared to follow quarantine rules.

March 22nd, 2020.

In the ensuing weeks my problems compounded. I was nearly out of leather when everything shut down. My tannery which normally takes two weeks to get me a leather order was down to a skeleton crew. More leather wasn’t going to arrive for at least six weeks. Rent was due soon and I didn’t have much to sell.

I have a page in my notebook called “How the Hell do I Make Rent with What I have?” Underneath is an inventory of all the leather I had on hand. I knew exactly how much I could produce but I had to make sure that everything I made I sold or I wasn’t going to be able to cover all of my expenses that month.

To design, produce, and completely sell out a collection in under two weeks is a tall order. I knew I had to make something remarkable, something that coudn’’t be found anywhere else, and still be able to offer it at a fair price.

The 2020 Pandemic Collection getting made.

So I went to my “toolbox” and pulled out all the stops. I hand dye everything. The two toned items are always popular. I did a sgraffito project a while back they people loved. I took those two ideas and drew up some ideas for my best selling designs. I got to work.

The collection sold out in 16 hours.

I’m not telling you this to brag. I want to illustrate an important lesson I learned. When you push yourself to produce the work that you are uniquely suited to make and then channel that into what your customers are asking for you end up with extraordinary results.

So this year I’m looking to liberate myself from what my peers are doing. I’m focusing on what I can do. Part of that will be a mental shift from thinking of myself as a craftsman and more of as an artist. I’m looking to expand the creative work I do and let that influence the leather work I do.

Most importantly I’ve learned how resilient we all are. So much has changed and there is so much uncertainty. But when you keep showing up you find that there are other’s who will show up with you.

For 2021 I wish you more of the same. More slowing down and exploring our surroundings. More sincere connection with loved ones. More being mindful of how we choose to spend our time and money. More time outside and more time thinking about what kind of future we’d like to live in.

The Finished Bag

Making a Mercer Part 6.

Start to finish it takes 2-3 weeks to get here. From starting with sides of un-dyed leather to the final stitch.

The last step to anything is to condition it and give it a final polish. The importance of proper conditioning can’t be overstated.

Well oiled and moisturized leather is strong, beautiful, and flexible. Once the leather dries out it will crack. Once that happens there is nothing that can be done to fix it.

I recommend continuing to condition the leather every six months hereafter. Over time the leather will grow a bit softer and darker. The repeated application of conditioner + time will result in the deep rich patina that only vegetable tanned leather is capable of.

I think of everything I make as a collaboration between me and those that will use my work. What I’ve made here is the starting point. What this bag finally becomes is up to the person that uses it.

Thank you for following along.

The End.

The Big Stitch

Making a Mercer Part 5.

So far we’ve cut. We’ve dyed. We’ve shaped. Now it is time to put the whole thing together.

This is done with a special stitch called a saddle stitch. One long thread, with a needle on each end, is passed back and forth through the slanted holes that will make up the seam. Since both the front and back of the seam are stitched at the same time this technique creates a unique situation in which each stitch is held in place by the stitch before and after it. This is a much stronger and more durable stitch that anything that can done on a sewing machine. It can only be done by hand.

It is a slow and steady process. To give you an idea, a three foot long seam done on a machine might take 20-30 seconds. The same seam done by hand can easily take 2-3 hours depending on the complexity of the seam. When you look at the bigger picture however, 2-3 hours on a seam that might last a few decades doesn’t seem like that much time.

If you were to ever wonder why handmade leather goods are so damn expensive this is why.

All the Small Things

Making a Mercer Part 4.

This next step I think of like getting my mise en place together. All of the small components have to be made and then attached to the bag.

This step includes adding handles, riveting and stitching the top of the bag to the back, attaching the d-rings where the shoulder strap will connect to the bag, and the tuck clasps that will keep the bag closed.

The tuck clasp is installed with little screws on the back. Another strip of leather has been stitched in place to strengthen the part of the bag that will be pulled on to open the bag and add an interesting detail to the otherwise plain front.

This process is by far the longest part of anything I make. Extra attention is required because any missteps at this point will result in things like the bag being crooked when closed or the handles coming off under stress. Bad things all around.

It is exciting to see all of the separate parts coming together. I start to finally get an idea of what this briefcase is going to look like.

Kind of a seeing the forest through the trees moment.

Mid-riveting on this Mercer. Those metal bits you see sticking up will be nipped off then rounded over to set the rivet in place. This is the strongest way of attaching something like this to a bag. Built to last.

Aging Gracefully

Patina

Ah. Vegetable tanned leather. Among all the wonderful things it does (the smell, that creaky noise it makes when it’s new) the way it ages is it’s best property.

A good patina is built with years. No two things will age the same. The way you carry it. How you choose to take care of it. The stress of the day and the weight of time. All imprinted like a signature. Unique to you. A collaboration between you and time.

There is no trick to developing a good patina. Clean and condition every six months. Use it as much as you can. Learn to appreciate the dings and stains that happen. Someday those will be your favorite parts.

Mostly it is a question of stopping to pay attention and accepting the little imperfections that color in our days.

Some day someone will see this thing you’ve made and know that there is a story there. Just as you were that person once too.

My two toned Belhoste in indigo and chestnut. The title picture is at 6 years of age. This picture is at 3 years.

Custom Colors

Making a Mercer Briefcase Part 3.

This is the part of the story where I get to tell you this isn’t an ordinary Mercer.

I’ve started offering custom color options with made-to-order items. Maybe I’m stodgy but I didn’t think there would be that much demand for it. Which is strange since I’ve built my business around hand dyeing.

I’ve only done a few in custom colors but I love what people are coming up with. It’s a challenge for me as a maker. Helping decide what parts should be changed so the result is different but still looks like my work. I don’t want the colors to look gimmicky and including them in a way that makes sense is a new challenge.

It’s fun too. I think of all of my work as collaborative. I make the raw material, but in my mind the finished product is years old and worn in. So anything I make is a project between me and the person I am making it for. This is just taking that one step closer to direct collaboration.

On this Mercer the owner has chosen sapphire blue for the handle and d-ring attachments. It think it’s going to look stunning. The kind of thing that gets you to stop and take a second glance.

Freshly dyed, sapphire blue leather. Drying on the corner of my workbench.

Someone once told me that if you don’t tell people where you stand they will put you in your place.

When I started Wright & Rede I wrote out ten core principals that I feel any worthy business must follow. I keep a copy on my desk at the studio and I refer to it often. When I need advice or have a big decision to make it’s what I turn to first.

The Manifesto

1. Everything has a cost. Be that cost time, money, thought, or respect. Something of value has a worth greater than what is spent for it. Create things of value.

2. Any commercial entity acting in modern society has a responsibility to the welfare of the community from which it profits.

3. There are no substitutes for integrity, style, or common sense.

4. Complacency breeds mediocrity. When deciding between two choices, choose that which is less comfortable.

5. If it's cool, but not useful, it's not cool.

6. The best solution is always the simplest one. Avoid artifice and gimmickry.

7. Beauty and practicality are not mutually exclusive. Create beauty in the commonplace.

8. Authenticity cannot be bought, sold, or copied. It can only be lost.

9. Aiming for the lowest common denominator will only create something that is beneath us all.

10. Be the author of your own story. Write one that is worth retelling.

Making a Mercer. Part 2.

Hand dyeing.

I started Wright & Rede with $150.00 I had set aside from my tips waiting tables in a restaurant. In the early days I had to be creative with how I spent that money.

Leather is typically sold by the side (half a cow). On average that’s 20 square feet and can cost between $100-$300. So in the beginning my $150 would buy me one side, which meant one color of leather at a time.

I realized that if I purchased un-dyed leather I could have all the colors I wanted if I dyed it myself. Problem solved. I soon discovered that hand dyeing is an art form in itself. There is a reason large scale tanneries do it with sprayers or in vats.

I’d describe hand dyeing as similar to watercolor painting. I have a rag loaded with wet dye. The first place I set it down on the leather is going to get a big dark blob. Then there will be streaks, blotches, and areas that just don’t take as much dye. It used to drive me nuts. I wanted the uniformity I saw in professionally dyed leather.

It was when I stopped looking for something that looked factory made that I really started to see the potential. I’ve always belived that the best crativity comes from limitations. So I leaned into the inconsistencies.

After eight years of practice I’ve developed a method I’m pleased with. Using heavy dilutions of dye combined with multiple passes, and some confidence with what I’m doing, I am able to produce work that is unique to me. No one will ever be able to apply dye in quite the same way. Much in the same way two painters will paint the same scene differently or that no two finger prints are the same.

As a result each and every piece I make is completely unique. What I once saw as a handicap has become something by which I define my style.

Making a Mercer Briefcase.

Part 1.

The first step to anything I make is cutting out large strips of leather.

The leather I use is vegetable tanned leather from Wickett & Craig in Pennsylvania. You’ll notice the leather is un-dyed at this point.

Using a very sharp clicking knife, I’ll cut a section of leather that is slightly larger than what I need. After the leather dries from the next step, dyeing and currying, the leather will shrink a little.

The templates set out on the leather. I’ll spend a few minutes looking at the grain and surface marks on the hide to decide if there is anything I want to avoid or highlight.

Once I have my templates where I want them, I will take a straight edge and use a scratch awl to make a light line along where I want to cut. I’ll then go back over that line with a heavier stroke with the awl. This creates a little groove for the knife to ride in when I make the final cut.

All cutting is done with a sharp blade. I keep a strop on hand to make sure. I’ll remove the straight edge, set the knife in the cut line, and cut it free hand. With the groove from the awl there aren’t any wandering cuts.

All that is left in this step is to make a note on the back of each strip to let me know what they are and what color. Then its onto dyeing and currying.

Template Making

A Daily Dispatch

Finalizing a design is something I’m notorious for. There is always one little tweak to get in before it’s done. Then another….

I’ve offered the Mercer briefcase for a couple of years now. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that up until now I’ve been making them by reconstructing them from my notes and taking measurements off mine when the notes fail me. It’s no way to act like a professional.

The actual process of template making is very satisfying. It’s the termination of the design process where everything comes together and gets a little polish. Once a nice, crisp template is finished on the bench I can finally start to let go of the project a little.

I have a few rules for making a template:

1. Never assume anything is a 90* angle or square. Start by making two sides at 90* to each other.

2. Once you have your squared sides EVERYTHING gets measured from those sides.

3. Templates are marked in pencil. When the template is complete I’ll go back over the marks with a Micron.

4. Any holes that need to be punched will get a red X over them.

5. Notes about things to look out for or mistakes to not repeat get written in pencil in the middle of the template and will be added to as things evolve.

6. Take pictures of the finished template when it’s done.

The first time through with a new template I’ll open a word doc and write out all the steps I’m taking. I’ll go back and edit this every time I make that design. The benefits of doing it this way are threefold.

I’ll pay much closer attention to what I’m doing. I’ll be less likely to repeat any mistakes. If I ever need someone else to make this bag I’ll have the instructions on hand.

Finally, snacks. Studio snacks are key.

My custom and housemade scratch awl and a bowl of pretzels.

Say hello to my little friend. 

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Meet the Hillard Front Pocket Wallet. 

-- HILLARD A roofer; a tiler or slater.

This was the most requested design I don't make. To be honest I refused to make them for a long time. It's a very popular style of wallet but I never felt they worked very well. I've tried them in the past and discovered that once you fill the pockets on the outside with cards it's nearly impossible to get anything in or out of the center pocket. And that's really annoying.

 The answer turned out to be a simple redesign. One side of the wallet is left open halfway down the side. This allows for the wallet to expand while still leaving the center pocket accessible.

The real test was seeing if that would make the center loose enough that things could fall out. I ran a test by leaving the exterior pockets empty, placing a single business card inside, turning it upside-down, and shaking the hopes and dreams out of it. Worked like a charm.

The fully stitched side held the card in place regardless of what I subjected it to. The result is a super slim wallet with easily accessible slots for cards and cash that fits perfectly in a front pocket (or sure a back pocket, suit jacket pocket, loose in a tote if you want to be a rebel). 

Why call it the Hillard? If you turn it upside-down I think the pockets look like roof shingles. There is a method to my madness. 

I heard a great bit of advice yesterday. "When you look back at your life, your defining moments will not be your greatest hits, but the times you were knocked down and defeated and felt like giving up but didn't." I have been in business for myself for six years. There are forty-three marks on a six year old piece of scrap leather I keep in the workshop that reads "Starting a business freak outs." Each one is a moment when I was ready to give up. A moment where I didn't know why I should bother, or got overwhelmed with not knowing what I was doing, or a surprise bill came in I didn't know how I was going to pay, or I felt embarassed/guilty/stupid/useless. Forty three times I was ready to walk away. But I didn't. It is easy to slip into the habit of measuring yourself by other people’s successes. But that is only part of their story too. A very small part at that. It doesn't matter if you win every battle. You only have to win more than you lose. The only way that is going to happen is if you keep showing up to the fight.

Being a small business owner in the world of social media is a strange thing. At one point in time you were just a florist or a sign painter. Now you have to be florist/photojournalist or painter/photojournalist. It makes me wonder about all the great work out there I’ll never see because the artist doesn’t know how to speak the social media language. I often struggle with posting on here. I don’t want to flood your feed with “here’s my product do you want to buy it?” but often I just don’t have anything interesting to say. I think it is important to get some quiet in your head. Not just from the noise around you but also your own internal noise. How many things have you heard today that we’re really worth listening to? How much was just noise?

I grew up and live in the rust belt. Utilitarianism is our bread and butter. It’s ultimately why I gave up on a Fine Arts career. I couldn’t wrap my head around the value of art. You can’t eat it. You mostly can’t sleep under it, or wrap yourself up for warmth. What’s the actual point? “It looks nice.” was too hard of a pill for me to swallow. It’s funny to me that now through my craftsmanship I’m working my way backwards to the answer. If you are looking for a purely utilitarian wallet, make one out of duct tape. But somewhere inside I know there is something more important that pure utility. Yes, it should have to work well, but it has to do something more to be of value. It should make you feel good when you touch it. Or become a small part of how you identify yourself. I think that might hint at the utility of Art. You can look at something someone else made and find something of yourself in it

I start off every year by looking back at what I have learned in my previous year. I write it down so that I'll remember it when I'm neck deep in work and too busy to think. The lesson I'm thinking about today will be an unpopular one, but one I have given a lot to learn. The Hustle, and the lifestyle that we small business owners proselytize about, is a myth and if you are not careful it will kill you.

In our culture we have this ideal image of the independent business owner giving it all to succeed. It's part of the story we tell. The long hours, the late nights, the stacks (finished and unfinished) of work that we use to prove how busy, and thus successful, we are. I'm guilty of it too.  A month ago I was bragging about working at least 12 hours a day 7 days a week to keep up. Your see it in credit card commercials, blog posts, and Instagram. We make insider jokes about it to each other. In fact I just noticed I did it in the first paragraph of this post. Really though, we are all just helping perpetuate what is ultimately a perversion of the great American Dream. If you try hard enough, and are willing to work for it, you will succeed.

The problem with that ideal is what happens on the flip side when your feet actually hit the pavement. If by working hard you can succeed then if you are not succeeding you are not working hard enough.

When you are your own boss success is murky at best. I can attest, and anyone I have asked has agreed, that you never reach an end point. You never get to a point where you've had enough. There is no peak to stand on and look back on your accomplishments from. We are business owners. We are Hustlers. There is always another peak.

When you tether your success to your effort the problems that you create become manifold. The truth is that effort doesn't equal success. Some people are born to rich parents who will bank roll their business. Some people ooze social grace and will succeed based off their ability to network even if they make shit work. Some people are just stupid lucky. For most of us the best way to get ahead is by throwing a bunch of effort behind it. The creates a problem similar to the race to the bottom-line we see with large corporations. If you can make it cheaper than your competitor then you win. So you end up with a bunch of cheap stuff. With small business owners this is a race to out work each other. It's called the Hustle. If you work 15 hour days and I work 16 hour days then I win. Instead of crappy imported goods you end up with crappy over worked business owners.

So who cares if I work hard? It's my choice, right? Here is why it matters. You are only human. You live in a physical body. A body that needs sleep, and food, and social interaction, and rest, and to be able to set down burdens, and to live life and experience the world that you only get the one chance to be a part of. If you ignore these things for too long it will really and actually kill you. This problem is compounded by the fact that you can't come up with good ideas when you are tired. You can't give good customer service when your are pissed off. You make mistakes when you are distracted. You end up trading away the days at the end of your life for some hours poorly spent in the middle. Sooner or later the one will catch up to the other.

So what do you want me to do about it, Jordan?!? Stop. Just stop. Don't buy into the Hustle. Start by sitting down and defining success. Define it in real terms. Something check-listable. An end point. Then take a good look at what you really have to do to get there and decide if its worth it. Reassess on a regular basis to see if you are getting there and what it is costing you to get there. Be ready to fail. Not in the positive "fail upwards" and learn from your mistakes fail. I'm talking about the ugly someone-else-won-by-being-shitty-and-undeserving kind of fail. That's going to happen and it's okay. You are human. Take it on the chin, and then go home and play with your kids, take a walk in a park, drink a beer and catch a fish while watching the sun set. For the love of God don't post about it. Stop selling. Stop working. Drink it in. When you look back on all of your days let them be filled with moments of a life well lived. Life is about the journey not the destination. You can take life at a stroll and savor every step, or you can hustle through it. The choice is yours.

I have a long history of listening to audiobooks. What started has a habit during my morning commute has followed me into the workshop. Recently that habit has transitioned into listening to podcasts while I work. I'll be honest, I'm really not a big fan of the listening-to-two-strangers-yammer-on (get to the point already) format you often hear, but the revived tradition of radio drama is really appealing to me. So I've compiled a list of some of my favorites for you to check out.

The Black Tapes

Spooky! If the hosts of NPR were to join the X Files. The first podcast I really got into. Join Alex Regan has she she explores the paranomal and tries to unravel the mysteries of the Black Tapes.

Lore

" Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction. "

Author Aaron Mahnke explores to dark sides of our history. Ghouls in Irish graveyards, globe trotting serial killers, the monsters inside us all. It's all here and all true.

LifeAfter

A new podcast about what happens to our social media presence after we die. A really outstanding cast of actors and a great plot had me finding busy work around the workshop just so I could stay and listen to another episode.

Reply All

Not an audio drama but one of my favorites. Alex and PJ are like the Lewis and Clark of the internet. They explore the weird and mysterious while producing a show that is a lot of fun to listen to.

Maker's Broadcast

The newest podcast on the list. At the time of writing there are only two episodes released. Each episode features a visit to the workshop of a maker in England. There is no narration, music, or ads. Just one person talking about their work and why they do what they do.

Kick out the jams and dance like you know what you're doing.

Sometime around puberty I felt the need to add a soundtrack to my life. Music has been a constant companion for me ever since. These days it's more Raffi than Radiohead, but one of my favorite parts of the day is stepping into the workshop and losing myself in my work while bobbing my head along (and occasionally singing poorly) with my current playlist.

Can we just talk about this for a minute. During a recent conversation with a good friend about marketing yourself as a small business I was given the well intentioned advice that I need to sell an aspirational lifestyle. I've thought about it a lot. I just don't think I can swing it. Here is the truth of it. This is the first fancy latte I've ever ordered. It got cold while I took pictures of it. I'm only sitting in this coffee shop because I'm meeting a customer that wants this knife. I was up until 1:30 last night trying to figure out what a media kit is and how to make one. Then my website went down and I lost what progress I had made. I'll be up until 1:30 tonight to try to fix it. I'll get up 5 hours later to take care of my son for the day. I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to point out that my life is just as good/crappy as yours. The flip side is that someone is about to pay me actual money for doing what I love. All this aspirational living is bringing everyone down if you ask me. It's good to want to aspire to more, but don't let the coffee get cold in the meantime.

It is the little moments in a journey that can define it for you. When I was 24 I went to visit my family living in Ireland. Last night over dinner we were talking about our favorite memories made there. For me it was smoked salmon, raw onion, and fresh sweet butter on a slab of brown bread. I had just gotten off the plane and we had stopped at a pub for a bite to eat. It was around 5 o'clock in the evening on a cold, wet day in February. As we walked up the hill to the pub the air started to smell like peat smoke as people got home from work and started to warm their houses. Every time I smell chimney smoke or sip on a little smokey whiskey I'm standing outside that pub, smelling the warm fires of home and about to eat one of the best meals I've ever had.

You can spend your time getting 10,000 new followers or getting one of them to buy something. 

One is about business while one is about your insecurities. One is about aspirations, market positioning, and status. The other is an actual result. One is about possibilities the other is what is possible. A business is a means of being paid for your work. You can't pay your rent in Likes.