In the Beginning

In the beginning, I sat back and admired leatherwork.

At fiveleft* leather, Lincoln’s constructions – put together with minimal stitching and clever interlocking parts – appealed to my planner’s mindset. My well-loved fiveleft DayGoods bag made from hand-dyed vegetable tan is one such example. It perfectly fits a letter-sized notebook and an electronic device and is held together with straps woven through the sides. It’s basically a good-looking, vertical, messenger bag.

Things kicked into gear at Lonsdale Leather*. After two courses with LL’s Dom, who is ever patient and skilled, I bought the basic tools of an anvil, a punch, harness needles, waxed thread, rivets, and some leather. The rest of the stuff I already had at home, so it was not such a leap to just start making.

* I do not receive financial compensation for sharing business names.

Making

I sketched a laptop sleeve in my sketchbook, marked out a pattern onto scrap Tyvek, cut, punched, and stitched together my first project. There were so many mistakes in that firstborn. Mainly, don’t hand punch and hand stitch together 9 oz double bend. I’m lucky that my start didn’t end me with carpal tunnel syndrome. 9 oz weight is reserved for straps, so use 5/6 oz.

More projects filled the sketchbook, reinterpreted as 2D patterns, and transferred onto leather. The first year was spent making and giving away a lot of leatherwork with the intention of learning through pilot projects. I found leathers that I favoured. Basically, for all the hours invested in making and stitching, don’t skimp on quality leather. Even among full-grain leathers, there are grades.

Currently, my go-to leathers are Italian Maremma (9 oz bend, 5/6 oz, 2/3 oz), Italian Volanato (4/5 oz), Manhattan pull-up (5 oz), Odyssey vegetable tan (4/5 oz), and Italian Corrosion (2/3 oz).

Launching

A year and several thousand saddle stitches later, Hideout Leatherworks is ready to meet the world. We hope that you enjoy browsing and maybe pick up something special from the shop. Thank you for stopping by.

-Nancy Vo (2025)