Day 17

Today I made a ton of wallets again.  The owner took me to lunch with the manager and we talked about new pattern ideas.  I wish they would trust me to do one alone.  I like to think I would be good at it. :)  The manager asked me to check over his pattern instructions again.  It was full of spelling and grammar mistakes and any suggestions I made pertaining to understandability were brushed off.  I'm still not certain why he wants me to check it over, but I really hope the instructions don't make it out the door.

Day 16

The manager may be tired of giving me one-on-one instruction.  I clicked parts all day.  Part of it was fun because a lady ordered two-sided bracelets made of sparkly funky leather.  I wonder what she could possibly use them for and who her demographic is.

Day 12

I finished the green purse today.  It is on the retail floor for $150!  I saw the table runner priced at $350.  I think leather may be a good career choice If they sell.

Day 15

Finally finished the purse after many problems.  I may have ruined it on the last step by slicing the trim too deep.  I spent the rest of the day staying out of the manager's hair and clicking out shapes for an Amazon order.

It is pretty amazing what college can get you.  I get to do all the fun stuff because I'm an intern.  Most of the guys there either say they want to do what I'm doing or act interested..  I'm sure they're just as capable but my collele status allows me to come in and get straight to the good stuff.  Stay in school kids.

Day 14

Today I almost finished the biker wallets and found out that I had been told to use the wrong snaps.  Dang snaps.  They are the bane of my existence.  The wallets got fixed and I started on another color of the purse I made a few days ago.  I thought I would remember how to do it, but I need serious help.  I got pretty frustrated at one point because I kept messing up.

Day 13

Pretty boring day.  The manager didnt show up, so I just clicked out some bracelets and made some biker wallets.  They are fairly inexpensive for all the work involved.   I suppose I will get faster.  I bought a ton of leather scraps today.  I'm also wishing really hard for my own machine.

Day 11

I'm in hog heaven.  I'm working on a purse from scratch and I get to design some parts of it myself.   I dont think I could pay for better instruction, but I'm getting paid!  Best case scenario: I carve out a nice little spot for myself here and they hire me to do design after graduation.  I would love it!

Day 10

I completed the purse from the manager's pattern.  He asked if it needed any changes but he was not receptive to my answer.  I guess I wont tell him the whole thing needs to be rewritten.  What if the owner sees it and finds out that I checked it over?  Anyway, here is my eight hour purse!

Day 9

I spent most of the day making Roper Wallet inserts.  It involved a lot of double-sided tape.  They went into little do-it-yourself packets so customers can make the outside pretty part.  I finally finished my table runner too.  It is going out on the retail floor for over $200.  I'm pretty proud.  My next project is doing a trial run of a purse pattern that the manager made.  I got to pick out the leather and I have to make corrections to his instructions.  They are pretty bad thus far.  I wish I could rewrite them completely but I know his pride would be hurt.

I really want my own shop.  I'm dreading my last day there because I will no longer have access to the wonderful tools and knowledge available to me now.

Day 8

The manager wasn't there in the morning to help me finish the table runner so I started filling an order for bracelets.  I was told to use the wrong tool, and the owner came by and told me to start over.  After doing all of them correctly, he came by again and decided that the snaps were defective and I needed to use different snaps. So I put 100 new snaps into the bracelets.  That took me till lunch.

After lunch I started on the table runner again.  I sewed on the trim and the manager took me to the store to pick out fabric.  We glued that down and finished the trim.  It looks amazing.  All that is left is to add tassels. I hope it sells for lots of money!  It's nice to be trusted with such a large project too.  I have two days off now....I need the rest!

Day 7

I made about 50 wallet inserts.  They're quite the handy little product.  Customers can just make a cool looking exterior and not worry about the pockets.

I also got to start on a fun new project.  One patchwork, hair-on hide, table runner has been made and they were talking about selling it for $200-$300.  I got to start the next one.  I started out by learning how to use the airbrush to make a stencil and fading design on a piece of leather.  Then I cut out and sewed the pieces of leather together.  It looks like tomorrow I will be adding trim and backing.  It will be gorgeous.

I appreciate how much the company takes care of its workers.  Today they brought in pizza at lunch.  It seems like every couple of days there is a nice treat for everyone.  It's nice to see a company who is growing so much and realizes that it will be the employees who continue to help it grow.

Day 6

Today I remade the "perfect" belt.  Stressful, but do-able.  At lunch I started a bracelet and bought some lizard skin for the patchwork corset I have sitting in my brain.  The owner took me to lunch again with some other employees.  I spent most of the afternoon sanding and finishing cabinets for the new shop add-on.  Not too fun, but I'm more than happy to help for the experience of working here!

Day 5

Today was a rough one.  I spend a good portion of the day helping shelaq new cabinets for the new shop.  I worked on my sandals at lunch and sanded a small portion of my pinky off.  Then, right before I left for the day, I was working on a belt that was going to be in a magazine, so it had to be perfect.  The second to last step was to press the logo of the company who was going to sell it into the back.  It slipped at the last second and was crooked.  So tomorrow, I start on a new perfect belt.  No pressure.

The good news is, the manager made a great pair of flip-flops for his daughter....so he can  teach me how to make some good ones!

Day 4

Today was belt day!  I learned how to make a belt from start to finish.  First, a nice hide (one whole side) was picked out and the longest chunk was cut out.  Then it was fed through a cutter to make 1 1/2 inch strips.  The strips are fed through a machine to shave off the bottom layer  to the perfect thickness.  Two layers are then glued together with contact cement.  The layers go through another machine that rounds the edges nicely.  (See picture.)  The pieces are then taken to the clicker machine where a dye cuts a nice end and holes for rivets.  The edged are barnished [yes, with a "b"] with wax to make them run smoothly through belt loops and the whole belt is sprayed with lacquer and then buffed.  The last step is adding hardware.

What an exhausting process!  I hope customers  can tell and care and craftsmanship that each belt takes.

I also started some flip-flops at lunch today.  I need to take advantage of all the tools and machinery at my disposal.  Hopefully I'll finish the shoes tomorrow and get some tips to make the next pair even better.  Best case scenario:  I can buy some dyes in the shape of soles to use with the clicker.  Cutting the leather was the hardest part.  I heard somebody say today that one particular dye was $1000.  I don't think my hope will become a reality any time soon if that's the price.   One can dream though.

One guy was making belts for Silver Dollar City to see if they could sell.  I mentioned an idea for a bracelet I had and he told me to tell the shop manager.  I may someday....

Ideas:

1. bracelet with ribbon laced through

2. shoes made out of the suede that is cut off in the splitter

3. find a way to recycle all the leather scraps

4. woven backpack

5. leather anklet with bells attached

6. embroider a strip of fabric then attach to leather belt

Day 3

Today I learned how to make wallet inserts.  Having the clicker machine to cut out parts makes construction so much easier.  It would have taken me an hour at home to do what we did in 3 minutes.  I need to keep that in mind if I work from home.  If there is someone else who can do a part of a project much quicker than I can, it is worth the money.  I helped repair a purse clasp that was broken.  I had to use the scary Brother sewing machine.  It only goes super fast and I'm not able to sew in a straight line.  I mostly used the handwheel to be more accurate.  It probably wasn't impressive to the manager, but I'd rather be a little slower than have a poorly finished product.  I spent most of the afternoon helping the owner make leather bundles.  It is so much fun to see all the different types of leather.  The owner talks about what certain pieces are used for and I can tell that he is excited to know that someone will receive and bundle and be happy.  He  also told me the story of how he started his business.  He really has a passion for what he does.  I hope he asks me to help every time he does bundles.

Day 2

The day started with me finishing the wallets I had started the first day.  So much work goes into such a seemingly simple product.  An experienced shop worker would have taken about an hour to complete the 12 wallets, but in all, it took me about five hours.  I'm glad they're patient with me.  I also produced some wallet clips from start to finish.  I learned how to use a Toro sewing machine.  It is set up with a free arm and a guide so that belts can be sewn in about 30 seconds.  Quite a handy tool- easy to use too.  All the shop guys go play frisbee golf at lunch and invited me.  It was so nice to get outside.  It sure makes the day shorter.  After lunch the owner took some time to show me a bit about pricing.  There was a shipment of remnants from the Justin boot factory.  Different pieces of all shapes and sizes were unpacked and priced.  I think the pricing rule is the most they think they can get out of a piece.  I'm still astounded at the amount of knowledge all the employees have about leatherworking.  They are all happy to share it too.

Day 1

What a wonderful day.  It is amazing to be in a work situation where there is so much to learn.  Having the "intern" title helps a lot too, because anytime a person is working on a project that is new or interesting they pull me aside to show me how it's done.  I am mostly working in the workshop side of things.  Some of the tasks look really easy, but after trying them myself, I can see it takes a lot of skill and care to work quickly and accurately.  I can already see that after working here all summer, I will have many of the skills I'll need to do projects on my own.  I'm actually allowed to use my free time on my own projects.  And I get scraps and throwaways for free or cheap.  I can see my leather collection getting out of control.  A few other people who work there have their own Etsy shops and most everyone works with leather in their free time.  They appreciate their jobs and the people they work for and with.  I couldn't think of a better place to spend the summer.

A few things I worked on and learned:
1.  Setting snaps for bulk orders of bracelets.  (It's camp season!)  Bass Pro also ordered 20,000 bracelets to use all over the US for their kids' crafts.  Snaps from China are crappy.  An employee saw how hard the snaps were to get on and off and alerted the owner.  He immediately took steps to fix the situation and airmailed us some better ones to use.

2.  It is said that the owner is there over 70 hours a week.  He is in his 60s and I can barely keep up with him.  He isn't afraid of physical labor and will do anything he asks his employees to do.  He was sure to ask me my goals and asked me to lunch with the manager.  He helped explain his pricing method and told me how much the store grows by the year and month.  The number is astronomical.  His selling diversity over the internet, mail order to prisons, and brick-and-mortar store has made sure that anyone who wants his product can get it.

3.  The "clicker" is a machine that presses dyes into leather to punch out shapes.  Leather scraps from belts and other projects are used to cut tiny shapes such as bracelets and key fobs.  The original large piece of leather has already made money by the time it gets to the clicker bin, and it makes even more after shapes are created.  (Great use of a by-product.)  I punched out WAAAAY to many bracelets and some other shapes.  I wouldn't want to do that job all day, but using the technology is fun and  new right now.  There are a lot of craftsman who pay the store to make cost-effective parts of their own products.  For example, one woman tried to make her own leather straps for her handmade handbags.  By the time she had picked out leather, cut, dyed, and buffed the straps herself, she realized that it was worth it to pay a seemingly moderate amount for someone else to do it quicker.  So the store makes her handbag straps.  Another customer is a furniture store who has little tags made with their logo stamped in.  Cool idea.

4.  The owner and I pulled bundles of leather off of the warehouse shelves and placed them into variety bundles.  He is able to get remnants from the Coach handbag factory.  What a beautiful bright selection.  And for the customers, it's a great deal- Italian leather at a fraction of the price it would be.

5.  I began the project of making 12 checkbook covers from scratch.  I used the clicker to cut out fronts and pockets.  Then I glued the pockets on the edges and began sewing them on.  It was my first experience with an industrial sewing machine.  I am super pumped to learn how to use one this summer.