Pollock Pines, California

Leather goods made one at a time, by hand

Handcrafted leather goods inspired by old-world craftsmanship, built with premium materials, timeless character, and a respect for honest tradition.

The Paul Bunyan Wedge Pouch standing upright on a cut log, its riveted flap closed over a copper-toned pull

Stitched by hand

Saddle-stitched with two needles through every hole. It is slower than a machine and it fails better: one stitch at a time, not all at once.

Cut and finished here

One bench, one pair of hands, in Pollock Pines. Nothing is drop-shipped and nothing is finished somewhere else.

Made to the job

Sheaths fitted to the blade, belts cut to the wearer, pouches built for what actually goes in them. Most pieces here started as a commission.

The Shop

What comes off the bench

Six things get made here regularly. Everything else is a commission, and most of these started as one.

Belts

Cut from a single strap, edged and finished by hand, and fitted with a buckle you can take off and move to the next one.

See belts →

Slings

A shepherd’s sling, hand-stitched with braided cord. Made because people kept asking for one.

See slings →

The bench

Slow on purpose

Hand stitching takes as long as it takes. The trade is that a hand-stitched seam fails one stitch at a time, where a machine lock-stitch can unzip along its whole length from a single cut thread.

Edges get burnished rather than painted, patterns get prototyped and thrown out, and pieces get remade until they work for the person who has to carry them.

“I forgot how meditative stitching by hand can be. Hours and hours of endless repetition only broken by the occasional finishing know then on to the next piece. You can lose yourself in thought.”

William Montgomery, from the workshop
The Montgomery Leather market booth under a white canopy, tables dressed and stock laid out

In person

Find it on a table, not a screen

The stand runs at the Thursday night market and the Saturday morning market. A stockist in Placerville, Spa-520, keeps a selection on display. Everything else is on Etsy.

“The most beautiful Italian leather by Montgomery Leather. The craftsmanship is AMAZING.”

Spa-520, Placerville, CA — stockist

Talk to the person who makes it

No sales desk and no order form to fight with. Call or text the workshop and you are speaking to the bench.