Greetings from Dubai.
I'm Stephen, from Dublin, Ireland originally but living away from home for all too long now. I've always been a sucker for beautiful hand crafted leather items, sadly never saw fit to invest. As with another passion of mine, I stumbled upon leathercraft by virtue of a chance encounter. Some things I've made have been well received so I'm now encouraged to develop my learning, technique and understanding and the roads I've taken have lead me here. I won't exaggerate by telling you that I've spent time with leathercraft professionals in all parts of the world. My regular work takes me to all continents. And I've never been as singularly impressed as I am with the knowledge, delivery and attitude of Philip here. And I've seen them in Hong Kong, Osaka, New York and France. And my appreciation to all who have contributed here. I've certainly learned plenty from you guys too. Some of it, unfortunately too late, having invested in certain tools and equipment. None the less, water under the bridge.
I look forward to reading your accounts and learning from your successes and (should I say it?) failures. As with all learning processes, it would be a real shame if something positive weren't taken way from the errors we make - small and not so small.
Thanks for getting this far down. You can move on to the next post.
Regards,
Stephen
How Do.
@smithdal a warm welcome to Dublin. Ireland is a country that enjoys all four seasons during each day. I would suggest a strong level of contingency planning when you venture out. The best I suggest is the Dublin Leather store in Inchicore (Inchy-Core). It's in the city, bus 13 (to Grangecastle) from O'Connell St will get you there as will busses 68 or 69 from Hawkin's Street, just off O'Connoll Bridge. It's primarily a supplier of upholstery leathers but it was once a large scale glove manufacturer. You can get hides, tools, chemicals and a free cup of tea if you go there. They often have courses and such on so look them up.
Otherwise, there's little I can think of. The "Tandy" supplier sold off their business and now it operates out of a warehouse unit the size of a kitchen in a Dublin suburb and regrettably, it charges a premium for tools and accessories. I'm always keen to help a guy out, but since I travel a lot, I'm well placed to source such things worldwide.
If you feel adventurous, take a bus to Kildare town (or Kildare Village Outlet mall). At the end of the street is a workshop of Garvan DeBruir - a furniture maker and leather craftsman. I'd suggest calling him or otherwise communicating before you go in case he's unavailable. Same goes for the leather store in Inchicore. The proprietor is a university lecturer so between lectures and his university office hours, it might not always be open.
Hamburg is a place I've not fully explored. There's an epic old school gym if you're into that. Olympus I think its called. Otherwise it's the Atlantic Hotel by the lake for tea.
I hope this has been of some use. Please enjoy your time away and you can all standby for the freakish mistakes I've made along the way.
Stephen
@stephenkgavin Welcome, Stephen. Great idea to put up mistakes (and early work, too, perhaps?) as a way of learning.
I'm traveling to Dublin and Hamburg in July ... can you recommend in a few weeks. Can you recommend good leather shops to visit?
Thanks!
@stephenkgavin Welcome Stephen! I really appreciate the kind words, so many thanks 😀
I would be really interested to see some of your projects so far (as well as many other members!), perhaps you could post some of your creations on the Share Your Projects section.
Thanks for joining us!
Philip