- Joined
- Dec 15, 2017
- Messages
- 1,525
Yep Leather.... In the past few weeks besides being sick I have scouted out at the local level the conditions of the leather crafters and their representation at the local craft fairs or weekend farmers/ craft markets.
Yesterday's venture into the crowds at the apple fest up here in Elijah was informative.
There were only two leather "craft" booths out of approximately 120 attendees.
One actuality had hand sewn( which translates into hand sewn on a machine) leather wallets and minimalist card holders plus some catchy, to some , liquor tumbler leather wrap around college team bedazzled leather coozie.
$ 30.00$ for the coozie, $50.00 for the card holder $60.00 for a full size bifold wallet.
This vendor had good product quality but all their products had no dressing or smoothing on the flesh side and minimal edge burnishing.
Not bad considering the quality of the leather used and time involved.
The other "crafter" was selling a lot of close to the same inventory plus belts custom fitted on site at half the price of the other booth ...... But this inventory was over 90% Chinese machine sewn ( not hand sewn) .
The belts were probably 7 or 8oz single thickness units for $40.00 each.
To make the short story longer I would not buy one. As one would say
" looks neat ,works fine, last half time."
Wallets and card holders $30.00 each with advertised RFID protection added but the RFID mesh was just stuck to the inside on the leather where it will be easily knocked loose.
This is just a short recon report on what is available in our area concerning our craft of interest.
Yesterday's venture into the crowds at the apple fest up here in Elijah was informative.
There were only two leather "craft" booths out of approximately 120 attendees.
One actuality had hand sewn( which translates into hand sewn on a machine) leather wallets and minimalist card holders plus some catchy, to some , liquor tumbler leather wrap around college team bedazzled leather coozie.
$ 30.00$ for the coozie, $50.00 for the card holder $60.00 for a full size bifold wallet.
This vendor had good product quality but all their products had no dressing or smoothing on the flesh side and minimal edge burnishing.
Not bad considering the quality of the leather used and time involved.
The other "crafter" was selling a lot of close to the same inventory plus belts custom fitted on site at half the price of the other booth ...... But this inventory was over 90% Chinese machine sewn ( not hand sewn) .
The belts were probably 7 or 8oz single thickness units for $40.00 each.
To make the short story longer I would not buy one. As one would say
" looks neat ,works fine, last half time."
Wallets and card holders $30.00 each with advertised RFID protection added but the RFID mesh was just stuck to the inside on the leather where it will be easily knocked loose.
This is just a short recon report on what is available in our area concerning our craft of interest.
)
