Selecting and Cutting Leather

All of our blanks are measured and cut by hand, making the best use of what are often randomly shaped pieces of leather - especially those which were once part of a piece of upholstered furniture (as pictured). We try and tetris the different sizes out of each piece so there is as little waste as possible, and smaller bits go for other projects. Anything at least 1” wide can be used for closure tags.

Our notebooks are made in small batches - usually doing one or two processes in bulk over a period of time. Choosing what to cut out is often a hard decision with so many leather types, colours and textures to pick from, so it tends to be a case of selecting what feels right on the day and working with that. It is lovely to be able to work with materials with such different qualities - the rich heritage leathers, veg tans which smell amazingly leathery and feel silky smooth, and the more varied textures of the recycled leather which can differ from stiffer to supple from one piece to the next.