Workshop · 8 min read
Inside the Workshop: From Hide to Finished Bag
Cutting, skiving, stitching, burnishing. Eleven steps and one clicking press above a dry cleaner.
Marcus Adeyemi — Co-founder, leather · January 26, 2026
Every run starts with a side of leather on the cutting table and a marker. Hides are not uniform — there are growth wrinkles, thin bellies and scars, and where you place a pattern piece decides whether a strap stretches in year three.
The order of operations
- Hide selection and marking around defects
- Clicking press for panels, hand-cut straps from the firmest part of the back
- Skiving the fold edges so seams sit flat
- Edge sanding, dye, and hand burnishing
- Flatbed and post-bed stitching with waxed thread
- Hardware set with solid brass rivets
- Load and zipper cycle testing on the first unit of every run
- Light oiling, stitch-by-stitch inspection, cotton dust bag
Why small runs
We cut in batches of a few dozen because that is how many units two people can inspect properly. It is also why a colour sometimes sells out for six weeks — we would rather be out of stock than ship a bag with a wandering seam.
A note on honesty
We sell bags, so read this with that in mind. Everything above is what we tell friends who ask, and most of it costs nothing. If a cheaper bag does the job for how you carry, buy the cheaper bag.
