Check out some of Women's Collection that was featured in a recent article in Town Magazine.  

Looking for the perfect gift for a traveler? Whether it’s for a holiday, graduation, or other special occasion -- these gift ideas for the traveler from Hand+Built Leather Goods will make meaningful presents for yourself or any world wanderer.

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A good-quality leather bag can be a dramatic statement piece as well as a practical accessory for both men and women. These bags are hardwearing, long-lasting, and if treated well, will look better as time goes on-- making them a great investment. But with so many choices and price ranges out there, how do you choose a leather bag?

How to Choose a Leather Bag

The three main things to look at when choosing a leather bag are: the type of leather used, hardware, and stitching.

Type of Leather

Pick up a piece of leather. Try bending it gently -- watching for sharp creases and signs of a coating on the top of the material. A good leather will wrinkle naturally like the soft creases on the skin of your hands.

When choosing your leather bag, invest in good quality leather. Quality leather ages well and is one of those rare things in life that looks better as it gets older! We recommend looking for bags and accessories made from "full-grain leather" to guarantee a superior product. This leather comes from the top layer of the hide, right below the hair, and is the most durable.

Hardware

When choosing your leather bag, examine the hardware. Try zipping or snapping the bag -- looking for a smooth closure. Check the D-rings that join handles or shoulder straps, and test the buckles, if applicable.

Cheaper hardware will often be the first thing to go on a bag, so take the time to choose a leather bag with high-quality fittings and hardware to ensure a longer-lasting accessory.

When choosing your leather bag from Hand+Built Leather Goods, we can include solid brass or copper rivets, matte nickel or antique brass d-rings, swivel clips, snaps and buckles. Each is attached carefully by hand for a truly custom-made product.

Stitching

Look carefully at the stitching when choosing a leather bag.

Was the bag sewn by hand or with a machine?

Stitching by hand can be stronger than machine and makes a more custom product. The hand-stitch on leather was pioneered by saddle makers who needed to use a very tough stitch through thick leather.

At Hand+Built Leather Goods we assemble and hand-stitch our bags and accessories with a 4-strand waxed polycord thread to secure the longevity of your leather goods.

Investing in a Leather Bag

Once you've examined the leather, hardware, and stitching, it's time to choose your leather bag and we certainly hope you'll invest in one from Hand+Built Leather.

We stand behind every product we make so much so that we offer a lifetime guarantee to the original purchaser. That’s right! If anything ever happens to your product, due to faulty material or craftsmanship, simply send it back and we will fix it or if we can't fix it, we will send you a new one.

Browse our catalog to learn more about our products, or email us at orders@handbuiltleather.com with any of your questions or ideas. We will work with you to make your bag that will be #BUILTFORLIFE and we can't wait to invest in you and your new bag!

What Is Full-Grain Leather?

Characteristics of Full-Grain Leather

Quality & Durability

I think you’ll agree that:

Finding the details of how your products are made is HARD.

But not for your next Hand+Built bag or accessory. 

In this post we dive a little deeper into the vegetable tanning process that goes into making the leather that we in turn use to make all of our handmade leather goods.

Let’s start with the basics. How exactly does tanning work? How does it turn a hide into leather? And why do we care?

Benefits of Vegetable Tanning

These days leather is used to make everything from the shoes on our feet to the case on our phones. Many of your everyday products use leather that has been either chrome tanned or vegetable tanned. At Hand+Built Leather Goods we used vegetable tanned leather because its benefits include:

• Longer lasting
• Has a more natural look and feel
• Builds character as it ages
• High durability and strength
• Biodegradability

However, it is not without its disadvantages. Vegetable tanning is a much longer process than other forms of tanning, like chrome and aldehyde, and requires a high consumption of water for production. As well, since it’s based on a traditional method, the number of tanneries that practice this craft are limited. According to Matt Bressler of Wickett & Craig, our leather source, their tannery is one of the only two left in the country; the other being Hermann Oak Leather in Missouri. Thus it is often associated with a high cost.

Learn the Tanning Fundamentals

There are a lot of complicated chemical words involved but essentially the water molecules in the hide cause decomposition. Collagen, the same protein targeted by face and lip fillers, is one of pillars of the skin’s structure and water sneaks in and begins to remove bricks from its base like pulling the bottom blocks of a Jenga tower. To prevent the H₂O attack, collagen needs to be stabilized; this is where tannins come in. Tannins with guns blazing charge in and replace water molecules with their phenolic groups, binding to collagen and offering extra support. Thus, the hide now becomes leather and can last for many years to come.

So where are tannins from?

The most common are obtained from woods like chestnut, quebracho, and oak; gallnuts like Turkish and Chinese gallnut or extracts from plants like sumac and catechu. 

Wickett & Craig uses a proprietary blend that includes the bark of Mimosa and Quebracho trees. 

Get a Unique Peak Behind the Scenes of Wickett & Craig’s Tanning Process

At Wickett & Craig “they’ve turned an age old art form into a science”. Check out the infographic below for more details on how they turn their raw hides into beautiful, sturdy leather.

 

Having done this for over 150 years some things about the process have changed. For example, because vegetable tanning is such a long process, tanners had to account for the change in weather conditions, especially between winter and summer months. In the modern era, tanners like Wickett & Craig now have “full labs that check to ensure a 90 degree temperature is consistently maintained,” according to Matt Bressler. As well, he’s seen the industry change shift from mostly using leather for horse products to fashion items.

Over the years, numerous industry changes, and trends, vegetable tanning has turned changed from the way things were done to a fine craft. Yet, it has stayed the course of time and produces unique, high quality leather that is sought after by those who want the best.

For more information about the vegetable tanning process visit: http://wickett-craig.com/

(author: Cassandra Ottawa)