Leatherwork and Tanning
I've spent over 15 years working with leather, obsessed one might say, and the last decade of that as a tanner too. This has led me deeper down the rabbit hole of historical leatherworking, making replicas for museums and living history enthusiasts. Thus, the only way to make authentic leather goods is to make the material also. This has led me further away from modern commercial leather, and now I only truly find joy in working with my own leathers tanned by myself or by other tanners I work with.
I typically enjoy making Early Medieval era items, but also make things from other time periods such as Jacobite Sporrans, coracles of all ages, and I also produce historically inspired modern items such as deerskin rucksacks. I'll likely only take a commission on if its something I find inspiring to work on. As always, follow the material, and enjoy the journey!
My hides are either tanned by myself, or by Peter Ananin or Brian Whyte, two other tanners I work with closely. I'm mostly focussed on Scottish deerskin, but sometimes have Goat or Sheep for a specific project. I work with bark tanned hides, that we tan mostly with mostly Valonia (acorns) or Chestnut.
Hides are mostly incinerated in the UK or sent to be chemically tanned, so at the bare minimum were using a waste material, giving it new life, and creating something beautiful with it. it is also the closest we can come to historical leathers, and gives us more control over the material for making authentic replicas.
I run a sheepskin tanning course once a year over the Easter weekend at Moorforge viking settlement in Cumbria.
Details can be found HERE>
My journey with leatherwork has been a long one. I started out making bushcraft items, and a lot of modern kilt wear and everyday items. Here is a small gallery to show previous work over the years. Though there is a treasure trove of leatherwork content on my Instagram going back a decade.
I sometimes run courses making items such as belts. You can find these in my shop as well as tickets for the Ancient Caledonia Camp where we explore a range of skills and crafts.
