Our Story

Rhodes Leather is devoted to creating bespoke finely-finished leather goods.  While we may at times have some inventory, the best way to do business with us is to look at pictures of what we have made for inspiration and get in touch!  Whatever you are looking for in leather, we will be happy to talk through it with you, and can either work with you to have us make it or refer you to some other local makers who can help out.

Bespoke leatherwork should not be an inexpensive thing.  The processes involved in creating these goods is long and very involved.  We have seen “hand-made” leather items out there for prices that must mean they are mass-produced in factories (sweat-shops?) with very very low labor costs.  We hand-make our goods in our house, primarily in the living room, with the occasional trip to the garage for messier tasks like sanding or dying.  There is a lot of personal attention and time given to each project.  Be assured that each item we produce will be made with an attention to detail that is not possible on a mass-produced scale.

 

Our hand-cut, hand-dyed, hand-stitched, hand-finished goods are made through an intensive process that includes minimal mechanical means—this means each stitch hole is punched by hand and then sewed using saddle-stitching.  This process is long and hard, but worth it.  Saddle-stitched good have a distinctive look, with slanting stitches, and are very strong relative to machine-stitched goods.  Each hole has two threads passing through it, each independent of the other, so two threads are holding each stitch together.  In machine-stitching, the two threads are actually looped around each other, meaning when one breaks, the other is also freed.  We have a little sewing machine that we plan to use in bags and other long stitch-lines, but we haven’t actually figured out how to use it yet…  For now, even bags and belts, with their long stitch lines, are punched and stitched by hand.