Double Wammy in Kendal!

This weekend I’ll be in two places at once – well, my work will be displayed in two places at once! I’ll be at the brewery!

  1. Craft Market Kendal at the Brewery Arts Centre – Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
  2. Witherslack Artists and Makers Group’s Pop-up Exhibition by kind invitation of David Penn at Artspace, The Factory – Saturday and Sunday 

It’s worth going to both as there’s more than me to see!

Craft Market Kendal

At the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal. Fri 24th 5:30 – 8pm, Sat 25th 10am – 5pm, Sun 26th 12 – 5pm

At the Brewery there’s 44 other selected makers. More info on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftmarketkendal/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Craftmarketkendal

Open Studio at The Factory with the Witherslack Artists and Makers

At the Artspace, The Factory, Aynam Road, Kendal. LA9 7DE – 25th to 26th November

At the Factory, as well as the other 8 Witherslack members there’s also the Open Studio event. More info about this on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_factory_open_studios/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/factorykendal

Craft Courses for 2024!

I’m offering some craft courses from home next year. Three different courses over nine different dates.

You can come along and learn to make a phone case, a book cover or a belt. I’ll provide the leather, cake and lunch, you bring your book, phone and trousers!

You can book on now (for you or someone else) by filling in my booking form. Head over to my website and click the Courses link.

This would also make a great Christmas or Birthday gift for someone!

More details on my website: https://morganleather.co.uk/leather-craft-courses/

New Trial Pricing Structure

Hi all, I’ve just launched a new pricing structure where you decide on what to pay me! Sounds mad? Well, maybe, yes, but I’m putting my faith in you, and everyone else I make things for. You’re all really nice people and I’m confident you’ll do what’s right!

I’m also doing this as a trial for just one product to start with. If it works then I’ll slowly roll it out for all my products.

So, I decided to try it with my billhook sheaths first. Here’s how it works…

Basically, I want to be fair to you and me, and offer different amounts that you can pay me. You decide how much! I appreciate that some people have more spare money than others, especially in the world of billhook users! And I find that most of these folk are really lovely people, so I can trust that you and them will choose the price that suits best.

  • Price 1 – The Lowest Price – If a customer doesn’t have much disposable income then they can choose this price. This covers material costs for me, plus enough for postage and my lunch! I get nothing for the hours spent cutting out, dying, sewing, etc. But that’s ok because I’m confident that someone else will help out by choosing a higher price!
  • Price 2 – A bit more
  • Price 3 – The Middle Price – This is the ideal price I’d like to sell my sheaths at. I think it’s fair and puts me and my customer as roughly equal-earners, based on material costs and the time it takes me to hand-make the item.
  • Price 4 – A bit more
  • Price 5 – The Highest Price – If I’m paid this amount I would be very grateful, as would those people who can only afford to pay the lowest price. The extra allows me to offer the lower price to, for example, hard-working coppice workers who earn very little for the good they are doing for woodland habitats! Thank you! It also helps me out a little more too. A bit like giving me a tip!

So, there you have it. What do you think? Makes sense? Still think I’m mad? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

My billhook sheaths come in 4 different flavours. Here’s a link to them (and the new prices) in my Etsy store. I’d really appreciate you passing this on to anyone that may be interested.

Thanks for reading!
Tony

Leather-Bottomed Willow Baskets!

I’ve been making a few willow baskets recently, but with leather bases. Really getting into it!

Willow weaving has been a hobby of mine for longer than I’ve been making leather items, so it’s great to combine both disciplines.

If you’d like one then I currently have two in stock in my Etsy shop:

Come and Make a Leather Book Cover!

A5 British Leather Brown Book Cover

I’ll be running a small workshop on the 23rd March this year to show you how to make a leather book cover, like the one above. You’ll learn to measure and cut veg-tanned cowhide, dye and oil the leather, and stitch all the pieces together by hand to make a beautiful cover for your favourite notebook or sketch book.

Red British Leather cover for Moleskine notebook

More info and booking instructions can be found here:

The skills learnt on this course will allow you to go ahead and make many other leather items.

The course will run for a day at my house in Carnforth, from 9:30 until 4:00 (or until everyone’s finished!).

What’s included in the price?

Lunch (soup, cheese and bread), biscuits, tea and coffee, and hopefully a good chatter and laugh!

Leather and hardware are included to make a simple cover made from standard cowhide, up to A5 size.

If you’d like to make a cover for a larger book then we can work out the extra cost on the day, but to give you an idea, an A4 book cover would cost an extra £10 for the extra leather.

There’ll also be a slight extra charge if you’d like to use more expensive leather (such as the oak bark tanned leather) or if you want closure straps and pen holders added to your design (£10 – £30 extra).

Bring your own favourite book to make a cover for (please let me know dimensions) or you can purchase an A5 or A6 book from me (£6 extra).

Italian leather for A6 journal
A Selection of Leather Book Covers

Drop me a message if you have any questions.

Happy New Year Sale!

15% off my Leather Items in my Etsy Shop

I’m running a sale for the rest of January on all the items I have in stock in my Etsy shop! These are the READY TO POST items. Here’s a few examples:

Italian Leather Tote Bags: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/718736760/
Pocket knives and pouches

Joseph Rodgers Pocket Knife: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1107376816
Whitby Pocket Knife: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1105712205
George Wostenholm Pruning Knife: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1105650393
Whitby Large Pocket Knife: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/845772759

Pocket notebook and phone case: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1051560965
Necklace knife: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/824743138
Rite in the Rain Notepad: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1037581822
Green A5 Luxury British Oak Bark Tanned Leather Notebook Cover: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1103338912
Mora carving knives: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1107358784
Brown A4 Luxury British and Italian Leather Notebook Cover: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1103342498
Coin or Guitar Pick Pouch Leather Keyring: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/722084615
Leather Moleskine or Leuchtturm Cover Pocket Size Notebook: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1108353289
Rectangular Coin Purse: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/601779840
Leather Cover for a Pocket Size A6 Journal Notebook: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/959231521
Leather Jotter Pad for A6 card and paper: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1001098718

…plus lots more!…

Head over to my shop here and look for the items that say “15% off”!
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/UKMorganLeather

Here’s to a Happy 2022. I reckon it could actually be a good one!

Pocket Knives and Pouches

I’ve had a variety of pocket knives for over a year now. I was meaning to sell them sooner but didn’t get time to make pouches for them until recently. So here they are, ready to buy from my Etsy shop!

These are all EDC (Every Day Carry) knives, meaning that they are fine to carry with you in public as the blades are less than 3 inches long and non-locking.

George Wostenholm knife, made in Sheffield

This knife is the most expensive knife, seeing as it’s actually made in the UK! Non-locking blade less than 3 inches, so safe to carry in the pouch. The pouch either fits in your pocket or attaches to your belt. Available to buy from my Etsy store.


American Buck Ridgeway knife

Another EDC knife. Very stylish with a beautiful wooden handle. Available to buy from my Etsy store.


Whitby olive wood penknife

A very simple and sleek design with smooth wooden handle and non-locking EDC blade. Available to buy from my Etsy store.


Whitby lambs foot shape carbon steel blade

Another EDC blade. Beautiful feel and a blade that can easily be kept sharp. Available to buy from my Etsy store.


Whitby slip joint knife with drop point blade

This knife has a nice chunky and contoured handle. Very useful for a good grip when out in the wet weather. EDC blade, so good to carry with you at all times. Available to buy from my Etsy store.


Italian leather

I decided to make all of these pouches from two different coloured Italian veg-tanned leathers – Amber and Cognac. The Cognac has a lovely antiqued look about it. The amber will develop a darker patina over time. The leather is 2 to 3 mm thick and very durable, but with a subtle non-stiff feel, making it easy to insert and remove your knife without it being overly tight.

I’d be happy to make a bespoke pouch to fit your knife too, either from similar Italian leather or from a firmer British leather. Drop me an email ([email protected]) and we can discuss your requirements.

Please note: I can’t sell knives to people under 18 years old as this is illegal in the UK.

Letter Stamp Set

Earlier this year I treated myself to a new letter stamp set!

I’ve been wanting one of these sets for a while now and finally decided to go for it. The letters are 7mm high and very clear. Cut from solid brass and amazing quality. Here’s a few examples:

So, if you’re looking to personalise a leather item with your name, initials or a quote, then I now have the means to do this neatly! Drop me a line if you’re interested.

A Busy Year and a Holiday

It’s been a while since I last updated you. In fact I think it was January! The year continued to be really busy, helped by people locked-down and enjoying some online retail therapy! Orders finally quietened down around July, when shops began to open and people became more adventurous, leaving their houses to go on holiday. So Kath and I took the opportunity to switch my Etsy shop off, switch on the out-of-office auto-reply emails, pack up the van and head to the Scottish hills and lochs!

We found an amazing beach on the north coast of Scotland with hardly anyone about. Beautiful weather and blue seas. Absolute paradise and a well earned rest for both of us.

Enjoying views across to Skye and the Outer Hebrides in my newly refurbished deck chair, covered in leather, of course!

It didn’t take me long before I had to get some leather out though! Here I am stitching a patchwork notebook.

I finished making this patchwork notebook by a river in the Cairngorms. Such a beautiful and inspiring location!
An amazing array of pebbles on a beach on the East coast.

Can’t wait for our next trip…! I hope you all managed to get away somewhere nice this year.

And I’ll try my best to keep you more up-to-date with leather work, up-coming exhibitions, etc. Feel free to give me a kick if you’ve not heard anything from me in a while!