A quick search of the internet will throw up hundreds, if not thousands of handmade items. But what actually constitutes a handmade item?

The Cambridge Dictionary has its meaning as

“Made by someone using their hands rather than a machine”

With that in mind lets have a look at what companies and businesses class as handmade. Obviously, I am going to base this on leather goods as that is my craft. I will go through the basic process of crafting a leather belt and compare the differenc...

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So you want to buy a Conwy Handmade Leather Belt but you are worried about how to buckle it?
Well check out this post on how the traditional Conway buckle works

Firstly pass one end of the strap through one of the loops. Pass the leather through from the back of the buckle with the grain side out (The nicest side of the leather)

Secondly pass the same point on the belt back through the other loop on the buckle.

Locate one of the three punched holes over the Conway buckle's centre pin and push it ...
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My range of handmade leather camera straps have gradually been increasing. They now include my signature plaited leather camera wrist straps.
Plaited leather still keeps the strength and durability of a leather camera strap, but adds the uniqueness of the plaited leather camera strap. Hand stitched for the ultimate style and individuality as always.
Colours include the standard black; Dark Brown which is referred to as Dark Havana; Australian Nut which as a red hue to it; and Tan which was once...
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How do you measure your Dog’s existing collar to get the right sized Handmade Collar from Oakside Saddlery?

First take your a look at your current collar on your dog. Does it fit OK? If not now is the time to make so changes. Make a note of which hole the collar is buckled to and then remove the collar from the dog.

Lay the collar out flat and measure from the inside edge of the buckle to the hole that it was buckled to.

You can see the mark on the collar where it was buckled to on this pictur...

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A new belt that has just joined the Oakside Saddlery line up. The Hereford handmade leather belt is a wide leather belt with a double or twin pronged buckle and two leather loops.

Buckle

The Hereford has a large double prong West End roller buckle fitted for the ultimate in form and security. The two prongs buckle into matching holes making for a stylish finish to a beautiful hand-crafted leather belt.  This twin pronged buckle is available in two widths; a 50mm (2 inch) wide buckle, and the mo...

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So you have problems when you buy a belt! It is either too long and has a huge long bit hanging round your waist, or it buckles on the last hole and sticks out! Neither of which improve on your style.
So to get around this why not order handmade? And to be honest it probably wont cost you any more than a fancy shop brought one.

So what do you get when buying from me?

A Bespoke service
Every item that I make is made to order. That's right I don't stock any 'standard' sizes.

Made to Measure
As I only...
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Time for a look at one of my new belts. The quick release Oxford handmade leather belt with Marshalsay Buckle.

Leather

As always this Oxford Leather belt uses to grade bridle butt leather from Metropolitan Leather. At between 3.5 – 4 mm it is some of the best leather you can buy. It is very supple but supremely strong. A super smooth finish to the grain making for a true one of a kind leather belt. There are not too many markings on the leather, but that is what makes leather unique.

Buckle

The...

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A work in progress for a padded camera neck strap. I've worked out the padded neck part but not sure what to put on the ends to connect to the camera. My thinking has been to stick with what I know and buckle a couple of small bridle cheekpieces to the ends with hook billets to connect to the camera fittings. Or should I stitch webbing straps with standard camera fittings? or something else? Any ideas?
As my photos show I haven't got a clue about cameras!
Si
www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk


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Personalisation of any item is a good thing! And how better to express this than by ordering handmade.

Colour

The three leather dog collars above are; from left, Dark Havana, Black, and Australian Nut.Dark Havana is a dark brown coloured leather, Australian Nut has a reddish hint to it, and black is, well, black! 

Stitching is carried out by hand and can either blend in or contrast. So above we have brown stitching on a dark Havana collar, Yellow stitching on an Australian Nut collar, and on the...

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One advantage of ordering your leather dog lead from a UK based Cordwainer is that you can ask for that special one-of-a-kind design. That is the case for this heavy-duty, multi-length Slip lead.

At 1 1/2 inches wide the lead is design to fit a giant Boerboel dog.

The rings stitched along the length of the lead allow for adjustments in much the same way as my standard multi-length leads. They are stitched in to place by hand using three lines of hand-stitching at 8 stitches to the inch.

The slip...

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The point when making leather is the part of a belt or strap that passes through the buckle. There are a variety of designs and styles that a Cordwainer can use, and sometimes traditional methods dictate what style of point a strap should have. Nowadays, on leather belts and the like, this is just a case of personal preference.

There are two styles of point that I use and both are traditional designs.

Cathedral Point

The cathedral point, or harness point, is probably the most common point end in...

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The Lincoln handmade Leather Belt appeals to the Equestrian market due to its use of a solid brass horseshoe buckle from Abbey England, but it need not stop there! The Lincoln Belt is at home with any casual style and is well suited to jeans as it has a maximum belt width of 1 ½ inches. Not only that but the same horseshoe buckle can drop down to ½ inch or 12mm for a skinny belt if required.

Leather

As always my Lincoln Leather Handmade Belt uses top quality English bridle Leather that is aro...

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I am by no means a fashion expert so I may have ‘borrowed’ a lot of these style tips from people who are more in the know!

Essentially Men’s belts can be placed in to two styles; Casual and Formal, with each suited to a particular situation.

The Formal Belt

Should men even wear a belt with their formal wear? I'm going to say yes! That is because it would be pointless of me not to if I want you to read this and then buy one of my belts! So lets forget the ins and outs and look at formal bel...

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The usual reason is that many belt buckles are named after towns. This is more than likely that that style of buckle originated in that town.

If a buckle is not named then my naming convention goes to the town from where my first order for that belt originated.

Simple really!

So if you want to be the first with a belt named after your town, pop over to Oakside’s Custom Belts and design your one=of-a-kind masterpiece!

Si

www.oaksidebelts.co.uk

www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk

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Measuring your dog for a slip collar

The measurement that I require to make your leather handmade slip collar is not the same as a traditional collar. This is due to the way that a leather slip collar fits on your dog. As a slip collar does not open it needs to be able to pass completely over your dog's head without pinching or rubbing.

To measure you will need;

• A fabric tape measure,

• and your dog of course!

Simply take your tape and measure around the largest part of your dog's head....

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Measuring your dog for a Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside Saddlery couldn't be easier!

Method 2

Using your dogs existing collar to measure for your new handmade Leather Dog Collar. You will need the following items;

• Your dog's collar.

• A fabric tape measure or other ruler.

How To

Before removing your dog's collar check the fit and note which hole that the collar is buckled to.

• Remove the collar and lay it flat.

• Lay your measure alongside the collar.

• Take the measurement from the inside of the o...

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To measure your dog for your new Handmade Leather Dog Collar from Oakside is quite simple really.

Method 1

You will need the following items;

• A fabric tape measure (this can be in inches or centimetres)

• Two fingers

• And your dog

Hopefully you have all three of these otherwise you may have to improvise!

Place the fabric tape around your dogs neck where the collar will go. The tape needs to have enough slack to easily slide two fingers underneath it. This is the size of the collar that you should order...

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The Sighthound Collar

A sighthound is a type of hound that catches its prey by using shear speed and agility. It uses, as the name would suggest, its keen vision to keep this prey in sight at all times. Sighthounds have a long, lean, and flexible body; long legs and neck, and a deep chest. This all comes together to create the perfect, high-speed, hunter.

Breeds of dog associated with being a Sighthound include;

• Greyhound

• Whippet,

• Lurcher

• Afghan Hound

• Borzoi

• Wolfhound

• Saluki

To name but a few.

Sighthoun...

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My standard dog lead is a traditional leather lead made with practicality in mind.

A simple but useful leather dog lead that does exactly what it is meant to do!

Leather

The leather is my standard bridle leather, very strong and durable, perfect for my leather dog leads. Why have a nice collar and then scrimp on the lead? There are a variety of lengths;

• Short 24 inches (60 cm)

• Medium 36 inches (91 cm)

• Long 48 inches (121 cm)

• Extra Long (152 cm) (I'll cover this one in a later post)

And a variety of w...

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So you have been looking for a handmade leather belt. There are many available from really cheap ones – to really expensive ones, and I mean really expensive, even some made from human skin!

So why would you choose one of my handmade leather belts?

Maybe it is just because you like to support UK small business? Whatever the reason, I would like to think that you choose to buy a leather belt from Oakside because you like the look and quality of my work!

I am trained as a Cordwainer (someone who...

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Plaited collar

My plaited dog collars are made from English Bridle leather, the pre-eminent leather available. It is hard wearing, long-lasting and has an excellent finish. My plaited leather collars are available in either Black, Dark Havana, or Australian Nut Bridle leather with the entire collar made from a single piece of leather, with no joins in the plait.

Buckle

The buckles that I use are either; solid brass roller buckles or stainless steel West End Buckles. I use stainless steel West En...

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So you have an idea for the perfect collar for your dog. And no matter how much you have scoured the web you just can’t find exactly what you are looking for! This is when a Bespoke Cordwainer comes in handy. Give me your ideas and I will see what I can do.

Some of the specific requirements I have been requested to make are listed below

• ·         Extra wide to protect an old injury.
• ·         Brass instead of leather loops.
• ·         Wide boar hound style collar.
• ·         Double pronged buc...

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You have been looking for a proper leather dog collar, just like you remember having years ago! But no matter how much you look you just can't seem to find one. Well look no more!

My handmade Traditional Leather Collar is made the old Fashioned way using English Bridle Leather which is very strong and long-lasting, solid brass or Stainless steel fittings ensure that there is no rust, and hand stitched with linen thread.

I hand stitch the fittings using an old traditional method which passes two...
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Hi all,

My name is Simon, I am the Cordwainer at Oakside. My two websites are www.oaksidesaddlery.co.uk and www.oaksidebelts.co.uk. I specialise in hand stitching heavy English Bridle leather and making bespoke leather dog collars and leads, horse bridles and hand made leather Belts.

I hope to be able to use this blog to inform you about some of the products that I make, give you an insight into leather and the skills that I use, and to also provide some advice to help you make an informed deci...
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